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the plan of that of Burgundy; declared Marseilles and Dunkirk free ports; granted premiums on goods exported and imported; regulated the tolls; established insurance offices; made uniform laws for the regulation of commerce; labored to render the pursuit of it honorable, and invited the nobility to engage in it. In 1664, two commercial companies were instituted to trade with the East and West Indies, to which the king advanced considerable sums. The colonies in Canada, Martinique, and particularly in St. Domingo, received new life from their union with the crown, and began to flourish. New colonies were established in Cayenne and Madagascar. For the purpose of maintaining these distant possessions, a considerable naval force was required. Colbert created this also. When he entered the ministry of the marine, the navy consisted of a few old vessels, which Mazarin had permitted to rot in the harbors. Colbert at first purchased vessels in foreign countries, but soon had them built in France. The ports of Brest, Toulon and Rochefort were repaired; those of Dunkirk and Havre were fortified. Naval schools were established, and order was introduced into all branches of the marine. In 1672, France had 60 vessels of the line, and 40 frigates: in 1681, victorious by land and sea, she had 198 men-of-war, and 166,000 seamen. By the advice of Colbert, Louis XIV caused the civil and criminal legislation to be improved, and the arts and sciences encouraged. Under the protection and in the house of the minister (1663), the academy of inscriptions was founded. Three years afterwards, he founded the academy of sciences, and, in 1671, the academy of architecture. The academy of painting received a new organization. The French academy in Rome was established. He enlarged the royal library, and the garden of plants, and built an observatory, in which he employed Huygens and Cassini. He began the mensurations of the meridian in France, and sent men of science to Cayenne. Paris was indebted to him for numerous embellishments, and many learned men in Europe received his patronage. But, notwithstanding all this, many objections have been made to this great minister. The most important is, that he promoted manufactures at the expense of agriculture, and left the peasantry without resources. With more justice, he is charged with having introduced an excess of minute and vexatious regulations into all branches of the administration. But Colbert must be judged with regard

to the circumstances under which he acted. He did all that was possible; not every thing he wished. He had not such an influence on the undertakings, resolutions and inclinations of his prince as was enjoyed by Sully. Sully gave the law to his master; Colbert received it from his. The former might be called the minister of the nation; the latter, only of the king. Henry IV and Louis XIV had both great aims; but the one for France, the other for himself; and this difference produced the most important results in their administration. Sully, ever independent and sure of approbation, enriched the state by a wise economy, which was promoted by Henry, who considered the people as his family: Colbert, always dependent and thwarted in his plans, maintained the state, notwithstanding the prodigality of the king, and rendered it flourishing, notwithstanding the burdens of numerous armies and expensive wars. He was forced to have recourse to measures which he desired to see abolished forever; and he predicted to the president, who recommended a loan, "You open a wound which our grandchildren will not see healed." As soon as peace permitted him to breathe more freely, he returned to his own principles, and corrected the consequences of measures which he had adopted against his own will so rapidly, that the end of his administration was the most splendid epoch of the reign of Louis XIV. Colbert was ambitious, but honest; and, living in a continual struggle with intrigue and jealousy, enjoyed no tranquillity. He died in 1683, at the age of 64 years, exhausted by incessant labor, worn out with anxiety and grief, remedying, with difficulty, the present embarrassments, and looking with apprehension to the future. The people of Paris, imbittered by new taxes on provisions, disturbed his funeral, and threatened violence to his remains; but the misfortunes which soon afterwards afflicted the state, opened the eyes of his enemies, and obliged them to respect the memory of him whom they had unjustly persecuted.

COLCHESTER; a town in England, in Essex, on the river Colne; 18 miles S.S.W. Ipswich, 51 N. E. London; lon. 0° 59 E.; lat. 51° 53′ N.; population, 14,016. It is situated on the north side of an eminence on the Colne, 8 or 9 miles from the sea. Vessels of 100 tons can come up to it. It contains an ancient castle, and has been encircled by walls, now much decayed. It is a place of considerable trade and manufacture. The principal manufacture consists of woollen cloth, particularly baize.

Oysters form a considerable article of trade. It sends two members to parliament; has two weekly markets, and four annual fairs. It is an ancient town, supposed to be the Colonia of the Romans, and the native place of the empress Helena, mother of Constantine. In 1648, this city sustained a memorable siege against the forces of the parliament, and did not surrender till after it had experienced the horrors of famine.

COLCHESTER, lord. (See Abbot.) COLCHICUM. The colchicum autumnale, or meadow saffron, is a bulbous-rooted plant, which grows in various parts of Europe, and which, of late years, has become quite noted as a remedy for that bane of a luxurious life-the gout. It is a very powerful remedy, and should never be used without the attendance and advice of a well-educated medical practitioner, as its effects might otherwise be highly injurious. It is now believed to be identical with the base of the eau médicinale, which has been, for so long a period, a celebrated empirical remedy for the gout. It is used in various forms, either the powdered root, or vinegar or wine, in which it has been steeped, or, which is considered the best, wine in which the fresh seeds have been steeped. It is also used with benefit in many cases of rheumatic affections, which often so much resemble the gout.

COLCHIS; a fertile country on the Black sea, now Mingrelia and Guriel, on the Rione (Phasis of the ancients). The expedition of the Argonauts first made the Greeks acquainted with this country, the original population of which, according to tradition, was derived from Egypt. The people were celebrated for frugality and industry. Strabo and others tell us that the inhabitants used to place fleeces in the streams, in order to intercept the particles of gold brought down from the mountains by the water. (See Argonauts.)

COLCOTHAR (also called crocus martis, and rouge d'Angleterre) is an impure, brownish-red oxide of iron, which remains after the distillation of the acid from the sulphate of iron. It forms a durable color, but is most used by artists, in polishing glass and metals.

COLD. (See Catarrh.)

COLDEN, Cadwallader, was the son of the reverend Alexander Colden, of Dunse, in Scotland, and was born Feb. 17, 1688. After studying at the university of Edinburgh, he devoted himself to medicine and mathematics, in which he made great proficiency. In 1708, he emigrated to 27

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Pennsylvania, and practised physic for some years, when he returned to England, and there acquired considerable reputation by a paper on animal secretions. From London he went to Scotland, and repaired again to America, in 1716. He settled a second time in Pennsylvania, but, in 1718, removed to New York. After a residence of a year in this city, he was appointed the first surveyor-general of the lands of the colony, and, at the same time, master in chancery. In 1720, he obtained a seat in the king's council, under governor Burnet. For some time previous to this, he had resided on a tract of land, about nine miles from Newburgh, on Hudson river, for which he had received a patent, where he was exposed, at every moment, to the attacks of the Indians, the tract being situated on the frontier. In 1761, he was chosen lieutenant-governor of New York, and occupied this station during the remainder of his life, being placed repeatedly at the head of affairs by the absence or death of several governors. During one of those periods, the paper intended to be distributed in New York, under the British stamp-act, arrived, and was put under his care, in the fortification called fort George. The people assembled in multitudes, under several leaders, and determined to cause the paper to be delivered up and destroyed. But, though the fort was declared untenable by the engineers, and the people threatened to massacre him, Colden defended his trust, and finally succeeded in securing it on board of a British man-of-war, then lying in the port. The populace burned him in effigy, and destroyed his carriages, in his sight. After the return of governor Tryon, in 1775, he retired to a seat on Long Island, where he died, Sept. 28, 1776, in the 89th year of his age, a few hours before nearly one fourth part of the city of New York was reduced to ashes.-Mr. Colden's productions were numerous, consisting of botanical and medical essays. Among them is a treatise, showing the causes, and pointing out the remedies, of the yellow fever, which, about the year 1743, desolated New York. He also wrote an account of the prevalent diseases of the climate, and a history of the five Indian nations. But the work which cost him most time and labor, was one published, at first, under the title of the Cause of Gravitation; but which, being afterwards much enlarged, appeared in 1751, with the title of the Principles of Action in Matter, to which is annexed a Treatise on Fluxions. He corresponded with many of the most dis

tinguished characters of the day, among whom were Linnæus, Gronovius, the earl of Macclesfield, doctor Franklin, &c. Mr. Colden always took great delight in the study of botany. His descriptions of between three and four hundred American plants were published in the Acta Upsaliensia. He paid attention also to the climate, and left a long course of diurnal observations on the thermometer, barometer and winds.

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor; an English poet, born in 1773, at Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire, where his father, who had a numerous family, was a clergyman. By the influence of friends, Coleridge, who was the youngest son, was admitted into the Blue-coat school, as it is called, Christ's hospital, London, a well-known charitable institution. Here he received an excellent education, and distinguished himself, even then, by uncommon talents and by his eccentricities. In his 19th year, he entered Jesus' college, Cambridge. Poetry and metaphysics were his favorite studies. A volume of his poetical attempts appeared in 1794, and excited great expectations, which he has but partially satisfied, owing to his invincible indolence and fickleness. In the same year appeared his Fall of Robespierre, a historical drama, which was well received. He did not escape the enthusiasm for liberty and equality, which then prevailed. At Oxford, he met with congenial spirits in the poet Southey, since so celebrated, and Robert Lovell. The three young enthusiasts left the academical halls with the view of reforming the political world. They agreed to begin in Bristol. Coleridge delivered lectures on the approaching happiness of the human race by means of republicanism, with unbounded applause from many enthusiastic young people. Conciones ad Populum, or Addresses to the People, and a Protest against certain bills then pending, for suppressing seditious meetings, also excited a great sensation in Bristol. In other cities, he was less successful, and his journal, the Watchman, attracted but little notice. He was indemnified by the success of a second volume of poems, which passed through several editions. Despairing of the reform of the old world, the young preachers of liberty took the resolution of carrying their theory into execution in the new, by the foundation of a state, which should bear the name of Pantisocracy. It was a great pity that this project was broken off by their acquaintance with three beautiful sisters, of the name of Fricker, whom Coleridge, Southey and Lovell mar

ried. Coleridge took up his abode in Nether-Stowey, near Bridgewater, where he formed an intimacy with the poet Wordsworth. Having no fixed support, he suffered some pecuniary embarrassments, but was fortunately relieved by the celebrated Messrs. Wedgewood, who enabled him to complete his studies in Germany. He learned German in Ratzeburg. His Biographia Literaria (London, 1817, 2 vols.) gives some account of his residence in Germany. Among other things, it contains some remarks on Eheling, and an account of a conversation with Klopstock (2d vol., page 237-253), in which the latter gives his opinion of Lessing, Göthe, Wieland, Kotzebue and others. Coleridge then went by the way of Hanover to Göttingen, where he attended the lectures of Blumenbach and Eichhorn. After his return, he wrote the leading articles for the Morning Post, translated some dramas of Schiller, and accompanied sir Alexander Ball, as secretary, to Malta. He returned from thence, however, without having obtained any permanent situation. He lives, at present, in private, and seems to suffer all the disadvantages of a literary life, against which he warns others in his biography. He gives lectures, which reward him but poorly, though his talents are universally acknowledged. The London booksellers, by whom his labors would be well received, complain that he cannot confine himself to any regular work. His Christabel has fine passages, and was very highly praised by lord Byron. The miscellaneous essays, which he published under the title of the Friend, are his most popular productions. He contributes to the Encyclopædia Metropolitana. A list of his works is to be found in the Biographical Dictionary of the living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland, and his likeness (with a biographical notice) in the New Monthly Magazine of April, 1819. Coleridge is considered, among his countrymen, as a wild and eccentric genius. For German literature he has a great predilection. Schiller and Göthe are his favorites. He is also well acquainted with German criticism, and seems to belong to the school of the Schlegels. He has an antipathy to French literature almost amounting to a passion.

COLIBRI. (See Humming-Bird.)

COLIC (from wλov, colon, the name of one of the intestines). The appellation of colic is commonly given to all pains in the abdomen, almost indiscriminately; but, from the different causes and circumstances of this disorder, it is differently

denominated. When the pain is accompanied with a vomiting of bile, or with obstinate costiveness, it is called a bilious colic; if flatus causes the pain, that is, if attended with temporary distention, relieved by the discharge of wind, it takes the name of flatulent or windy colic; when accompanied with heat and inflammation, it takes the name of inflammatory colic, or enteritis. When this disease arises to a violent height, and is attended with obstinate costiveness, and an evacuation of fæeces by the mouth, it is called passio iliaca, or iliac passion. Doctor Cullen enumerates seven species of colic. One of the most important is the colica pictonum. This is called, from the places where it is endemial, the Poictou, the Surinam, the Devonshire colic; from its victims, the plumbers' and the painters' colic; from its symptoms, the dry belly-ache, the nervous and spasmodic colic. It has been attributed to the poison of lead, and this is undoubtedly the cause, when it occurs to glaziers, painters, and those employed in lead works; but, though this is one, it is by no means the only cause. In Devonshire, it certainly more often arises from the early cider, made of harsh, unripe fruit, and in the West Indies from new rum. The characteristics of this disease are, obstinate costiveness, with a vomiting of an acrid or porraceous bile, pains about the region of the navel, shooting from thence to each side with excessive violence, strong convulsive spasms in the intestines, and a tendency to a paralysis of the extremities. It is occasioned by long-continued costiveness; by an accumulation of acrid bile; by cold applied either to the extremities, or to the belly itself; by a free use of unripe fruits, and by great irregularity in the mode of living. From its occurring frequently in Devonshire, and other cider countries, it has been supposed to arise from an impregnation of lead received into the stomach; but this seems to be a mistake, as it is a very prevalent disease in the West Indies likewise, where no cider is made, and where there is only a very small quantity of lead in the mills employed to extract the juice from the sugar-canes. One or other of the causes just enumerated may justly be said always to give rise to this species of colic. The dry belly-ache is always attended with some degree of danger, which is in proportion to the violence of the symptoms, and the duration of the disease. Even when it does not prove fatal, it is too apt to terminate in palsy, and to leave behind it contractions of the hands and feet, with an inability in their muscles to perform

their office; and in this miserable state of existence, the patient lingers out many wretched years.

COLIGNY, Gaspard de, admiral of France, born in 1516, at Chatillon-sur-Loin, distinguished himself, under Francis I., in the battle of Cerisoles, and under Henry II., who made him colonel-general of the French infantry, and, in 1552, admiral of France. He was distinguished for valor in battle, for strict discipline, and for his conquests over the Spaniards, in particular for his defence of St. Quentin. When St. Quentin was taken by storm, the admiral was made prisoner. After the death of Henry II, the intrigues of Catharine de' Medici induced him to place himself at the head of the Calvinists against the Guises. He formed so powerful a party, that the Catholic religion in France seemed to be in danger. Condé was more ambitious, enterprising, active; Coligny more considerate, prudent, and more fit to be the leader of a party; equally unfortunate in war with Condé, but skilled in remedying even what appeared irretrievable losses, and more to be feared after a defeat than his enemies after a victory, he was, besides, endowed with virtues, which he practised as far as party spirit and the violence of the times permitted him. The first battle between the Huguenots and Catholics (1562, at Dreux) was lost by the admiral, but he saved his army. When the duke of Guise was murdered at the siege of Orleans, he was accused of being the author of the murder, but he cleared himself by an oath: it was unnecessary, the nobleness of his spirit raising him above suspicion. The civil war recommenced with increased fury, in 1567. Coligny and Condé encountered the constable Montmorency at St. Denis. This indecisive action was followed by the battle of Jarnac (in 1569), which was fatal to the Calvinists. Condé fell, and the whole burden of command devolved on Coligny. He alone sustained his party, and was beaten again at Moncontour, without, however, losing his courage. An advantageous peace seemingly put a stop to this contest (1570). Coligny appeared at court, and was, with his adherents, loaded with favors. Charles IX gave him 100,000 francs, as an indemnification for his injuries, together with a seat in the council. From all sides he was warned not to trust to these caresses. As the admiral was leaving the Louvre, Aug. 22, 1572, his right hand and left arm were wounded by a shot from a window. A certain Maurenel had fired at him from a building belonging to the

monastery of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, according to the plan of Catharine de' Medici, probably with the knowledge of the duke of Guise. Charles testified the deepest sorrow, caused search to be made for the assassin, and said to Coligny, "My father, you have the wounds, but I the pain." This he said at a moment when the massacre of the Protestants was already prepared. The slaughter began on the night of St. Bartholomew's, Aug. 24, 1572. (See Bartholomew's Day, Saint.) The duke of Guise hastened with a numerous suite to the house of the admiral. A certain Behme, or Besme, at their head, entered with his drawn sword into the chamber of the old man, who, sitting in an easy chair, said, with a calm mien, to their leader, "Young man, my gray hairs ought to command thy respect; but do as thou pleasest; thou canst shorten my life but a few days;" upon which the wretch pierced him with several stabs, and threw the body out of the window into the court-yard. The corpse was given up for three days to the fury of the people, and finally was hung up by the feet on a gibbet, at Montfaucon. Montmorency, a cousin of Coligny, caused it to be taken down, and had it secretly buried in the chapel of the castle of Chantilly. An Italian carried the head to Catharine, who ordered it to be embalmed and sent to Rome.

COLIN, also COLLIN; a town in Bohemia, with 4400 inhabitants, 11 leagues from Prague, famous on account of the battle which Frederic the Great lost here, June 18, 1757, the first which he lost in the seven years' war. Colin is also known for the precious stones found there.

COLISEUM; a gigantic ruin in Rome. This building, which was 1612 feet in circumference, and contained 80 arcades, was the greatest amphitheatre which Roman magnificence ever erected. It was built by Vespasian, and is said to have been erected in one year by the compulsory labor of 12,000 Jews and Christians. Authors rank it above the pyramids of Egypt, and other wonderful works of the ancient world. It is said to have held about 110,000 spectators, of whom above 90,000 were seated. For the greater part, it consists of travertino, and has three rows of columns, one above the other; the lowest is the Doric, the second, the Ionic, and the highest, of the Corinthian order. Down to the 13th century, this monument of ancient grandeur remained almost uninjured; afterwards pope Paul II took all the stones from it which were used for the construc

tion of the palace of St. Mark, and, in later times, some other palaces were erected from its fragments. At present, care is taken not to touch the ruins of the Coliseum, but it is gradually crumbling away of itself, and in a few centuries, perhaps, nothing more may be seen of its upper part; the lower part, however, will last for ever. The enclosures in which the wild animals were kept are still standing, and remind us of the times when their builders were devoured by the beasts, to gratify the savage taste of the people. Benedict XIV caused a cross to be erected in the centre of the arena, where, every Sunday afternoon, Catholic worship is performed. A hermit resides in these vast ruins. The Coliseum received its name from the colossal statue of Nero, which was placed in it. There is in Rome a model of the Coliseum, as it was when complete, on a pretty large scale. The traveller, after having viewed this immense building by day light, should return to gaze again by the light of the moon, when its grandeur is really amazing.-Very recently, an enormous structure, called Coliseum, has been erected in Regent's park, London, chiefly by a Mr. Horner. It is divided into three parts the panorama, or grand view of London, of which many points of view are afforded by the ascent of a winding staircase (for people who do not want the trouble of walking up, an ascending room is provided); the suites of rooms for subscribers, and the conservatory with greenhouses and fairy creations. The whole shows great ingenuity, applied to objects of comparatively little importance.

COLLATERAL RELATIONS (collaterales); descendants of brothers or sisters, or the brothers or sisters of the ascending lines. In politics, collateral lines have often played an important part; and great jealousies have frequently existed between the collateral lines of a ruling family.

COLLATION is the comparison of manuscripts, in order to ascertain the true reading of an author. This is often a very important operation, as manuscripts were frequently made by people who did not understand what they wrote, or wrote very carelessly. Among the moderns, the Germans have done most in collation; for instance, Emanuel Bekker, of Berlin, for Plato; Niebuhr and Bluhme, for various authors in the libraries of Italy; G. H. Pertz, in regard to manuscripts relating to the early history of Germany, in the Italian and German libraries.

COLLÉ, Charles; a dramatic poet, born

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