232 COR 
COR'SE, a town of France, in the department of the 
Maync and Loire : feven miles north-eaft of Angers. 
CORSE, f. [corps, Fr.] A body. Not in ufe: 
For he was ftrong, and of fo mighty cor/e , 
As ever wielded fpear in warlike hand. Spenfcr . 
A dead body ; a carcafe : a poetical word: 
Set down the corj'e ; or, by faint Paul, 
I’ll make a corje of him that difobeys. Shakefpearc. 
Here lay him down, my friends, 
Full in my fight, that I may view at leifure 
The bloody ccrfc, and count thofe glorious wounds. Addif. 
COR'SELET,/ [corfelet, Fr.] A light armour for the 
forepart of the body : 
But heroes, who o’ercome or die, 
Have their hearts hung extremely high ; 
The firings of which, in battle’s heat, 
Againft their very corfdets beat. Prior . 
It is ufed to denote that part of an infedt analogous to 
the breafi in other animals. See Entomology. 
COR'SENED,/. [Sax.] Morfel of execration. The 
corfened-bread, panis conjuratus, or ordeal bread, was a 
kind of fuperftitious trial ufed among the Saxons, to 
purge themfelves of any accufation, by taking a piece 
of barley bread, and eating it with folemn oaths and 
execrations, that it might prove poifon, or their laft 
morfel, if what they aiierted or denied were not punc¬ 
tually true. Thefe pieces of bread were firft execrated 
by the priefi, and then offered to the fufpedted per- 
fon to be fwallowed by way of purgation : tor they be¬ 
lieved a perfon, if guilty, could not fwallow- a morfel 
fo accurfed ; or if he did, it would choak him.—The 
form was thus : We befeech thee, O Lord, that he who 
is guilty of this theft, when the exorcifed bread is offered 
to him in order to difeover the truth, that his jaws may 
be flint, his throat fo narrow that he may not fwallow, 
and that he may eaft it out of his mouth, and not eat it. 
Du Cange. The old form, or exorcifmus panis hordeacei vel 
ca/eiad probationem veri, is extant in Lindenbrogius, p. 107. 
And in the laws of king Canute, c. 6. Si quis altari mi- 
nijlrantium accufetcr, & amicis dejlitutus Jit, cum Jacramentaks 
non habeat , vadat ad judicium, quod Anglicc dicitur corfned 
& jiat Jicut Deus velit, tiiji Jiiper Jan chan corpus Domini per - 
mittatur ut fe purget: from which it is conjectured, that 
corfned bread was originally the very facramental bread, 
confecrated and devoted by the priefi, and received with 
folemn adjuration and devout expectance that it would 
prove mortal to thofe who dared to fwallow it with a 
fie in their mouths ; till at length the bifhops and clergy 
were afraid to proftitute the communion bread to lucli 
ralh and conceited ufes ; when to indulge the people in 
their fuperftitious fancies, and idle cuftoms, they allowed 
them to praCtife the fame judicial rite, in eating fome 
other morfels of bread, bleft or curft to the like ufes. It 
is recorded of the perfidious Godwin, earl of Kent, in 
the time of Edward the Confeffor, that on his abjuring 
the murder of the king’s brother, by this way of trial, 
as a juft judgment of his folemn perjury, the bread ftuck in 
his throat, and choaked him. lngulph. This, with other 
barbarous ways of purgation, was by degrees abolifned : 
though we have ftill fome remembrance of this fuper¬ 
ftitious cuftom in our ufual phrafes of abjuration ; as, I 
will take the facrament upon it;—May this bread be my 
poifon ;—or, May this bit be my laft, &c. See the article 
Ordeal. 
CORSEPRE'SENT, f [from corps prefent, Fr.] A 
mortuary ; and the reafon w hy it was thus termed feems 
to be, that where a mortuary became due on the death 
of any man, the beft or fecond-beft beaft was, according 
to cuftom, offered or prefented to the priefi, and carried 
with the corpfe. 7.1 Hen. VIII. c. 6. 
CORSEU'IL, a town of France, in the department of 
ike Wurth Coafts, and chief place of a canton, in the dif- 
C O R 
triCV of Dinan : two leagues weft-north-weft of Dinan* 
and four and a half eaft of Lamballe. 
COR'SHAM, in Wiltftiire, about half a mile from the 
great weftern road from London to Bath, ninety-eight 
miles from London, four from Chippenham, nine from 
Bath, and twenty-one from Briftol. It is a fmall, neat, 
well-biult, town, confiding chiefly of oneprincipal ftreet; 
has a handfome market-houfe, built of free-ftone in the 
year 1784, at the expence of Paul Methuen, efquire ; a 
parifh-church, which is very ancient; a charity-fehooi 
for ten boys; and pays one hundred and ten marks per 
annum to the queen. Corlham is on a dry ftony foil, and 
therefore not very fertile. The Saxon king Ethelred had 
a palace here ; and it was the feat of fome of the earls 
of Cornwall, one of whom, earl Edmund, in the reign of 
Edward I. obtained a charter for its market, and the in¬ 
habitants ftill enjoy feveral privileges'granted it by Rich 
ard, his predecelfor. The market is on Wednefdaysj 
fairs, the 7th of March, and the 4th of September, for 
cattle and toys. The chief fupport of Corftiam is the 
woollen-manufaclure, here being fome confiderable clo¬ 
thiers. The fields hereabouts are generally, inftead of 
hedges, inclofed with walls of ftone, piled one upon an¬ 
other without any mortar. The parifli, which is pretty 
large, is fprinkled up and down with many pretty feats. 
CORSIA'RA, a town of Perfia, in the province of 
Farfiftan: 100 miles fouth-weft of Schiras. 
COR'SIGA, an ifland in the Mediterranean, about 
ninety miles in length, and from twenty-five to forty-five 
in breadth, caXjed by the ancient Greeks Kyrnos or Kirnon; 
the Romans called it Corjica. In the time of Pliny, the 
number of towns was thirty-four, five or fix of which 
only exift at prefent. It is not one of the nioft agreeable 
countries of Europe, but not fuch as is deferibed by Se¬ 
neca, who was baniflied thither; he reprefents it as fur- 
rounded with rocks, and affording nothing but barren 
deferts, in want of water and bread-corn, and winter de- 
ftroying the olives. This is not a juft reprefentation : 
the inhabitants reap good harvefts in fummer, and gather 
plenty of fruit in the autumn; the warmth of the cli¬ 
mate is cooled by the fea-breezes. The air is healthy, 
except on the eaft coaft near Aleria, and fome few other 
places, where the marfhes exhale malignant vapours. 
There are feveral excellent ports on the coaft ; the inte¬ 
rior part is very mountainous ; a long chain of mountains 
divides it into two unequal parts, in which are difperfed 
thick forefts ; it is watered by a great number of rivers, 
well fupplied with fiftj, and the coafts abound with tunny, 
fturgeon, oyftcrs, &c. There are feveral mineral fprings, 
both hot and cold. Quadrupeds are in great number ; 
the horfes are fmall, but lively; affes and mules are like- 
wife fmall, but of wonderful fpirit and agility. Cows 
and oxen are tolerably large, but in general lean; the 
cows give but little milk, for want of better pafture ; the 
inhabitants generally make ufe of oil inftead of butter. 
Goats and fheep are in great plenty. Among the wild 
animals, is the mouffoli, an animal like a flag in fize and 
colour, but with the horns of a ram, extremely fhy and 
nimble: wild boars are common, as likewife foxes, but 
not wolves. Among the birds are eagles, vultures, tur¬ 
tles, wood-pigeons, thrulhes, partridges, pheafants, Sec. 
The fcorpion found in this ifland is without venom ; a 
large fpider, whofe fting is as ftiarp as that of the bee, 
feems the only venomous infefl in Corfica. Near Vico 
is a foreft of wood, faid to be capable of maintaining a 
numerous fleet. Oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, chef- 
nuts, and olives, flourifh here; the latter is one of its 
principal riches. Vines grow almoft in every part of the 
ifland ; the wines are fweet and ftrong, and generally ufed 
by the Germans inftead of mountain. Other trees are 
the mulberry, laurel, myrtle, &c. Wheat is cultivated, 
as likewife barley, rye, and millet. Bees produce a great 
deal of honey, which is liable to be bitter, and not much 
admired; but the wax is excellent. The mountains are 
rich in lead, iron, copper, and filver; a mine of the lat- 
