C O V 



297 



C O V 



"Crttus COTTUS. See Ichthyology. 



II COTULA, a genus of plants of the class Syngenesia, 



^ e,ltr y- and order Polygamia Superflua. See Botany, p. 297- 

 "" r " COTYLEDON, a genus of plants of the class De- 



candria, and order Pentagynia. See Botany, p. 219- 



COTYLEDONS. See Botany, vol. iv. p. 36, 47. 



COUBLANDIA, a genus of plants of the class Po- 

 lyandria, and order Monogynia. It is placed by some 

 botanists in the class Monadelphia, and order Polyandria. 

 See Botany, p. 241. 



COUCHING. See Eye and Surgery. 



COVENANT, in the English law, is a species of con- 

 tract, whereby a party to a deed agrees to do or omit 

 s6me direct act. The remedy for a breach of such con- 

 tract is by a writ of covenant ; by which process the 

 plaintiff may recover damages, in proportion to the in- 

 jury which he has sustained. In the case of a covenant 

 real, to convey or dispose of lands, the remedy is by a 

 special writ of covenant, for a specific performance of 

 the contract, concerning certain lands particularly de- 

 scribed in the writ. It is upon this process, that fines 

 of land are usually levied at common lav/. See Fine, (z) 



COVENANT, in Scotish history, is the name given 

 to a solemn engagement entered into by the people, for 

 the preservation of the national religion. Its origin 

 may be traced to the reformation ; and the name was 

 evidently adopted from the frequent covenants of Israel 

 with God. During the progress of the reformation, the 

 covenant was twice renewed ; and it was at length re- 

 vived in a more permanent form, by the Tables, or com- 

 missioners from the different orders of Supplicants, against 

 the canons and liturgy of the English church, in the 

 reign of Charles I. 



This memorable deed was prepared by Alexander 

 Henderson, the leader of the clergy, and Archibald 

 Johnston, afterwards of Wariston, an advocate, in whom 

 the supplicants chiefly confided, and revised by the Lords 

 Balmerino, Loudon, and Rothes. It contained a gene- 

 ral profession of the reformed religion, and a minute ab- 

 juration of the rites, ceremonies, doctrines, and whole 

 discipline of the Romish church ; and enumerated a va- 

 riety of statutes, to vindicate the renewal of this into- 

 lerant confession of faith. A bond of union was sub- 

 joined, containing a declaration, that the liturgy and ca- 

 nons, as if expressly prohibited, were virtually renoun- 

 ced in the confession of faith ; and concluding with an 

 obligation to resist those innovations, to defend each 

 other, and to support the sovereign in the preservation 

 of religion, liberty, and law. On the 1st of March 1638, 

 this covenant was subscribed and sworn in the Grey 

 Friar's church at Edinburgh, by the nobility, gentry, 

 clergy, and burgesses. Copies were immediately circu- 

 lated throughout the different parts of the kingdom, and 

 within a short space of time, it was embraced, with the 

 most ardent enthusiasm, by almost the whole of Scot- 

 land. In the year 1643, the famous Solemn League and 

 Covenant was concluded between the Scots and English, 

 with the view of uniting the two kingdoms by the bond 

 of religion. 



In \660, the covenants were virtually repealed by the 

 general rescissory act; and, in 1663, a declaration was 

 passed by the parliament, to abjure the covenant under 

 severe penalties. See Laing's History of Scotland ; and 

 the article Scotland in this work, (z) 



COVENTRY, a city of England in Warwickshire, in 



VOL. VII. PART I. 



Lat. 52° 24' 26".3 N. and Long. 1° 30' 5".5 W. from Coventry. 

 Greenwich Observatory, as accurately determined for N ~ ""Y"^"'' 

 the spire of St Martin's church in 1790, in the course 

 of the trigonometrical survey carrying on by the royal 

 engineers. This city is 9' miles N.N.W. from Lon- 

 don, and 49^ miles N. of Oxford, situated on a gentle 

 rising ground on the river Sherburn. It is both a city 

 and county within itself sending two representatives ta 

 the House of Commons ; having a weekly market every 



ays, commencing 



Friday, and an annual fair of eight (!; 

 on the festival of the Holy Trinity. 



Its scite is chiefly on a remarkable stratum of red 

 sand, in some places hardened into stone ; whence, at 

 no great distance to the N.W. the coal strata begin' to 

 crop out to the day. The tillage lands in the neigh- 

 bourhood contain great numbers of rounded quartz peb- 

 bles, black, deep red, brown, white, and veined, from 

 the size of an egg to that of the fist, and with which the 

 streets are paved ; and in the neighbourhood there is a 

 quarry of soft grey stone, easily reduced to sand, which 

 serves the inhabitants for various domestic purposes, and 

 for mixing with lime mortar. 



Having never suffered considerably by the ravages of 

 fire, the city still bears strong marks of antiquity, in its 

 narrow, dark, and winding streets; and many of its 

 more ancient houses hang forwards so much, as almost 

 to meet above from opposite sides of the way, through 

 the absurd projection of their several stories beyond each 

 other as they rise in height. It contains three parish 

 churches, all standing in the same cemetery, in which 

 also there formerly stood a cathedral, now in ruins. The 

 steeple of the church of St Michael is reckoned one of 

 the finest in Europe, all its parts being in the truest pro- 

 portions to each other, insomuch that it was reckoned a 

 masterpiece in architecture by the celebrated Sir Christo- 

 pher Wren. The body of this beautiful church was 

 partly rebuilt in 1434. The steeple, which is 303 feet 

 high, was begun in 1372 by two brothers, Adam and 

 William Batoner, who expended upon it L. 100 yearly, 

 for 22 years ; and it had to be afterwards completed by 

 two ladies of the same family. The tower is richly or- 

 namented with niches, containing statues of saints; and 

 the taper spire rises majestically from an octagonal base. 

 Besides the three established churches, there are five 

 places of worship belonging to various denominations of 

 dissenters, a Quaker meeting-house, and a Roman Ca- 

 tholic chapel. 



There was formerly a monastery of Grey Friars, and 

 a beautiful octagonal tower and spire remain on the south 

 side of the city, formerly belonging to their church. — 

 These friars were celebrated for performing sacred mys- 

 teries, or pageants so called, to the people on the day 

 of Corpus Christi, which they exhibited on a moveable 

 stage in different parts of the city ; their scenes or inter- 

 ludes amounting to about forty, representing various 

 stories from sacred writ, from the creation down to the 

 final judgment. The Grey Friars' hospital was founded 

 in 1529, by William Ford, merchant, and augmented 

 by his executor William Pisford, and subsequently by 

 other benefactors. In this, fourteen poor aged persons 

 are maintained, for whom also a nurse or female attend- 

 ant is provided. St John's Hospital, in Bishop Street, 

 was founded in the reign of Henry II. ; and in that of 

 Henry VIII. became the property of John Hales, who 

 left an estate of L. 43 a year, since greatly improvedj to 

 2p . • 



