COR 
land make ufe of them at prefent; cutting the fkin of a 
leal, or the raw and failed hide of a cow, into long pieces, 
or even twilling them into ftrong ropes of twenty or thirty 
fathoms length. But thefe, in the fouth of England, and 
on the continent, were early l'uperfeded by the ufe.of iron 
chains. The maritime and commercial nation of the Ve- 
neti, that were fo intimately connected with the Belgae 
of Britain, ufed iron chains for their cables in the days 
of Caefar. But in the more diflant and refined countries 
of the fouth, both thongs and thefe'had long given place 
to the ufe of vegetable threads, and the arts of combining 
them into great ftrength. In this manner the Greeks ap¬ 
pear to have ufed the common rufhes of their country, 
and tire Carthaginians the fpartum or broom of Spain. 
And as all the cordage of the Romans was made of thele 
materials at their laft defcent on our ifland, fo the art 
of manufacturing them would be neceflarily introduced 
among the Britons. Under the Oiredlion of Roman artills 
their thongs of leather would naturally be laid afide, and 
the junci, or rufhes of the plains, worked up into cord¬ 
age. And what remarkably coincides with this opinion 
is, .that the remains of old cables and ropes are ftill dif- 
tinguifhed among feafaring people by the name of junk. 
The Roman fails, which were compofed of flax, in the 
days of Agricola, were afterwards made of hemp ; and 
our own are therefore denominated cannabis, or canvas, by 
our mariners at prelent. About that period the junk of 
the Britifh gave way to the fame materials; the ufe of 
hempen ropes, and of hempen nets for hunting, being 
very common among the Romans in the firlt century. 
CORD'ATED, aclj. An appellation given by natu- 
ralifts to any thing fliaped like a heart. 
COR'DAY (Marie Charlotte), the aflaflm of Marat, 
was born at Saint Saturnin, in the department of Orne. 
Leading at home a retired life, (lie fpent much time in 
reading ancient hiftory, whence fhe imbibed a zeal for 
liberty. Some family-affairs had drawn Iter to the houfe 
of an aunt at Caen, at the time when the young men of 
that town were enrolling under Wimpfen, in order to 
releafe the majority of the convention from the over¬ 
ruling Jacobins. The idea ftruck her that a Angle vic¬ 
tim might fave many : “ I confidercd (faid the heroine, 
in a letter which fhe wrote from her prifon) that fo many 
brave youths were going to Paris for the head of a mon- 
fler who did not merit fuch honour; and that the arm 
of a woman might be fufficient.” She had a letter of 
introduction from Barbaroux to the deputy Duperret: 
but this had no connection with the real motive of her 
journey, which; (lie had wholly concealed. She obtained 
admiffion to Marat under pretence of bufinefs: talked 
with him about the infurreCtions in the department of 
Calvados ; and, on hearing him fay that all the infur- 
gents fliould be lent to the fcaffold, (lie drew a dagger 
and buried it in his bofom, on the 14th of July, 1793. 
She was immediately arrefled, and confined in the Ab- 
baye. On her interrogation, fhe attempted no defence 
nor denial, but fpoke of Iter aCtiou as of a duty which 
Ate was proud to have difcharged, and as of a fervice 
done to her country. During trial fhe behaved with 
firmnefs and decorum, and gave her anfwers with calm- 
nefs and elegance. She hud a fine perfon, and poflelfed 
great beauty. Perceiving that home one was attempting 
to take her portrait, fhe changed her fituation to accom¬ 
modate him, and requelled that a copy of the drawing 
might be feat to her family, which was of conflderable 
refpeCt. She was fentenced to the guillotine, and buf¬ 
fered on the 18th of July, 1793, aged about twenty-five. 
Alter condemnation, fhe took out of her bofom three 
letters, which fhe requefted might be faithfully deli¬ 
vered. Two were addreffed to Barbaroux, and one to 
her father. On her way to the fcaffold, fhe fmiled with 
ineffable dignity on thofe ftreet-hags who purlued her 
with inlults. Not aware of all the formalities of punifh- 
ment, (he exprefied vehement indignation when the 
executioner hooped down to bind her legs, miffaking his 
COR 19.5 
aCtion for fome indecent outrage: but, on difcovering 
his real intention, fhe fmiled at her alarm, and aflumed 
a fuitable attitude. At the moment of placing her head 
on the block, the executioner plucked off the kerchief 
from her neck and fhoulders: a fudden blufh was then 
obferved to ovcrfpread her fkin ; and this laft impreflion 
of wounded modefty was vifible when her difmembered 
head was exhibited to the multitude. 
We have been induced to notice this extraordinary 
woman, not from literary merit, but from the'Angular 
firmnefs of her mind, and as having afted fo bold a part 
in the French revolution. From purer motives than 
thofe of Harmodius or of Brutus, fhe accomplilhed the 
murder of a fouler tyrant, with greater perfonal rifle, 
and in fpite of greater difficulties ; and fhe had not, like 
them, a reward to expeCt from f'uccefs. Yet thofe events 
have received the hallowed incenfe of the poet, and even 
the deliberate praife of the hiftorian! 
COR'DED, aclj. Made of ropes : 
^This night he meaneth, with a corded ladder, 
To climb celefl.ial Sylvia’s chamber window. Shakefpeare . 
CORDELE'R AS, mountains of South America, other- 
wife called Andes, which' fee. 
. CORDELIER', f a Francifcan, or religious perfon of 
the order of St. Francis. The cordeliers are clothed in 
grey cloth, with a little cowl, a chaperon, and cloak, of 
the fame, having a girdle of cord tied with three knots; 
whence their name. They are othenvife called minor 
friars, their original name. The denomination cordelier 
is laid to have been firfl given them in the war of St. 
Louis againft the infidels; wherein the friars minor hav¬ 
ing repulled the barbarians, and that king having en¬ 
quired their name, it was anfwered, they were people 
cordcliez, “ tied with ropes.” 
Cordeliers was the name aifumed by a fociety or club 
during the late revolution in France, becaufe they allem- 
bled in a convent formerly belonging to that order. They 
flyled themfelves alfo, “ friends to the declaration of the 
rights of man and of a citizen.” The Cordeliers, during 
the fyflem of terror, endeavoured to vie with the Jaco¬ 
bins, who overthrew them, and were in their turns over¬ 
thrown by the Moderates. 
CORDEMOI' (Geralde), a learned philofopher and 
hiftorian, born at Paris, and intimately known to M. 
Boifuet, who placed him about the dauphin in the qua¬ 
lity of reader. He inftrudfed that young prince with 
great afliduity; and in 1675 was received into the French 
academy'. He wrote a general hiftory of France, during 
the firft races of the French kings, in 2 vols. and fix dif- 
courfes on the Diftindtion between Body and Soul, which 
were printed together, in 1702, in quarto. He died in 
1684, a follower of the principles of Defcartes. 
COR'DES, a town of France, in the department of 
the Tarn, and chief place of a canton, in the diftridt of 
Gaillac : three leagues-and a half north of Gaillac. 
COR'DES TOULOUSIANES, a town of France, in 
the department of the Upper Garonne: twenty miles 
north-weft of Thcmloufe. 
CORDESHA'GEN, a town of Germany, in the circle 
of Upper Saxony, and duchy of Pomerania: ten miles 
weft of Collin. 
CORDES'SE, a town of France, in the department 
of the Saone and Loire, and chief place of a canton, in 
the diftridt of Autun: two leagues north of Autun. 
CORDEVOL, a river of Italy, which runs into the 
Piavo, between Belluno and Peltri. 
COR'DIA,y. [fo named by Plunder, 'from Euricius 
Cordus, whole true name was Henricus Urbanus, and Va¬ 
lerius his fon, German botanifts of the iixteenth century.} 
In botany, a genus of the clafs pentandria, order mono- 
gynia, natural order of afperifoliie. The generic cha- 
radters are—Calyx : perianthium one-leafed, tubular, 
toothed at the top, permanent. Corolla: one-petalled, 
funnel-form ; tube patulous, length of the calyx; border 
eredt. 
