movements of the Bacteria may be mentioned the nature of Zoogloea, the
formation and germination of true spores--which he observed for the
first time, and which he himself discovered in _Bacillus subtilis_--and
their resistance to high temperatures, and the bearing of this on the
fallacious experiments supposed to support abiogenesis; as well as works
on the bacteria of air and water, the significance of the bright sulphur
granules in sulphur bacteria, and of the iron oxide deposited in the
walls of _Crenothrix_. His discoveries in these and in other departments
all stand forth as mementoes of his acute observation and reasoning
powers, and the thoughtful (in every sense of the word) consideration of
the work of others, and suggestive ideas attached to his principal
papers, bear the same characteristics. If we overcome the always
difficult task of bridging in imagination the interval between our
present platform of knowledge and that on which bacteriologists stood
in, say, 1870, we shall not undervalue the important contributions of
Cohn to the overthrow of the then formidable bugbear known as the
doctrine of "spontaneous generation," a dogma of despair calculated to
impede progress as much in its day as that of "vitalism" did in other
periods. Cohn had also clear perceptions of the important bearings of
Mycology and Bacteriology in infective diseases, as shown by his studies
in insect-killing fungi, microscopic analysis of water, &c. He was a
foreign member of the Royal Society and of the Linnean Society, and
received the gold medal of the latter in 1895. He died at Breslau on the
25th of June 1898.
Lists of his papers will be found in the _Catalogue of Scientific
Papers of the Royal Society_, and in _Ber. d. d. bot. Gesellsch._,
1899, vol. xvii. p. (196). The latter also contains (p. (172)) a full
memoir by F. Rosen. (H. M. W.)
COHN, GUSTAV (1840- ), German economist, was born on the 12th of
December 1840 at Marienwerder, in West Prussia. He was educated at
Berlin and Jena universities. In 1869 he obtained a post at the
polytechnic in Riga, and in 1875 was elected a professor at the
polytechnic at Zurich. In 1873 he went to England for a period of study,
and as a result published his _Untersuchungen uber die englische
Eisenbahnpolitik_ (Leipzig, 1874-1875). In 1884 he was appointed
professor of political science at Gottingen. Cohn's best-known works are
_System der Nationalokonomie_ (Stuttgart, 1885); _Finanzwissenschaft_
(1889); _Nationalokonomische Studien_ (1886), and _Zur Geschichte und
Politik des Verkehrswesens_ (1900).
COHOES, a city of Albany county, New York, U.S.A., about 9 m. N. of
Albany, at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson rivers. Pop. (1890)
22,509; (1900) 23,910, of whom 7303 were foreign-born; (1910) 24,709. It
is served by the New York Central & Hudson River and the Delaware &
Hudson railways, by electric lines to Troy and Albany, and by the Erie
and Champlain canals. It is primarily a manufacturing city. Hosiery and
knit goods, cotton cloth, cotton batting, shoddy, underwear and shirts
and collars are the principal products, but there are also extensive
valve works and manufactories of pulp, paper and paper boxes, beer, pins
and needles, tools and machinery, and sash, doors and blinds. The value
of the factory products in 1905 was $10,289,822, of which $4,126,873, or
40.1%, was the value of hosiery and knit goods, Cohoes ranking fifth
among the cities of the United States (of 20,000 inhabitants or more) in
this industry, and showing a higher degree of specialization in it than
any other city in the United States except Little Falls, N.Y. The Falls
of the Mohawk, which furnish power for the majority of the manufacturing
establishments, are 75 ft. high and 900 ft. broad, a large dam above the
falls storing the water, which is conveyed through canals to the mills.
Below the falls the river is crossed by two fine iron bridges. The city
has a public library, a normal training school and the St Bernard's
(Roman Catholic) Academy. Cohoes was a part of the extensive manorial
grant made to Killian Van Rensselaer in 1629 and it was probably settled
very soon afterwards. It was incorporated as a village in 1848 and was
chartered as a city in 1870.
COHORT (Lat. _cohors_), originally a place enclosed: in the Roman army,
the name of a unit of infantry. The troops of the first grade, the
legions, were divided into cohorts, of which there were ten in each
legion: the cohort thus contained 600 men. Among the troops of the
second grade (the _auxilia_) the cohorts were independent foot regiments
500 or 1000 strong, corresponding to the _alae_, which were similar
regiments of cavalry; they were generally posted on the frontiers of the
Empire in small forts of four to eight acres, each holding one cohort or
_ala_. The special troops of Rome itself, the Praetorian Guard, the
Urbanae Cohortes, and the Vigiles (fire brigade), were divided into
cohorts (see further ROMAN ARMY). The phrase _cohors praetoria_ or
_cohors amicorum_ was sometimes used, especially during the Roman
republic, to denote the suite of the governor of a province; hence
developed the Praetorian cohorts which formed the emperor's bodyguard.
In biology, "cohort" is a term for a group of allied orders or families
of plants or animals.
COIF (from Fr. _coiffe_, Ital. _cuffia_, a cap), a close-fitting
covering for the head. Originally it was the name given to a
head-covering worn in the middle ages, tied like a night-cap under the
chin, and worn out of doors by both sexes; this was later worn by men as
a kind of night-cap or skull-cap. The coif was also a close-fitting cap
of white lawn or silk, worn by English serjeants-at-law as a
distinguishing mark of their profession. It became the fashion to wear
on the top of the white coif a small skull-cap of black silk or velvet;
and on the introduction of wigs at the end of the 17th century a round
space was left on the top of the wig for the display of the coif, which
was afterwards covered by a small patch of black silk edged with white
(see A. Pulling, _Order of the Coif_, 1897). The random conjecture of
Sir H. Spelman (_Glossarium archaiologicum_) that the coif was
originally designed to conceal the ecclesiastical tonsure has
unfortunately been quoted by annotators of Blackstone's _Commentaries_
as well as by Lord Campbell in his _Lives of the Chief Justices_. It may
be classed with the curious conceit, recorded in Brand's _Popular
Antiquities_, that the coif was derived from the child's caul, and was
worn on the advocate's head for luck.
COIMBATORE, a city and district of British India, in the Madras
presidency. The city is situated on the left bank of the Noyil river,
305 m. from Madras by the Madras railway. In 1901 it had a population of
53,080, showing an increase of 14% in the decade. The city stands 1437
ft. above sea-level, is well laid out and healthy, and is rendered
additionally attractive to European residents by its picturesque
position on the slopes of the Nilgiri hills. It is an important
industrial centre, carrying on cotton weaving and spinning, tanning,
distilling, and the manufacture of coffee, sugar, manure and saltpetre.
It has two second-grade colleges, a college of agriculture, and a school
of forestry.
The DISTRICT OF COIMBATORE has an area of 7860 sq. m. It may be
described as a flat, open country, hemmed in by mountains on the north,
west and south, but opening eastwards on to the great plain of the
Carnatic; the average height of the plain above sea-level is about 900
ft. The principal mountains are the Anamalai Hills, in the south of the
district, rising at places to a height of between 8000 and 9000 ft. In
the west the Palghat and Vallagiri Hills form a connecting link between
the Anamalai range and the Nilgiris, with the exception of a remarkable
gap known as the Palghat Pass. This gap, which completely intersects the
Ghats, is about 20 m. wide. In the north is a range of primitive
trap-hills known as the Cauvery chain, extending eastwards from the
Nilgiris, and rising in places to a height of 4000 ft. The principal
rivers are the Cauvery, Bhavani, Noyil, and Amravati. Numerous canals
are cut from the rivers for the purpose of affording artificial
irrigation, which has proved of immense benefit to the country. Well and
tank water is also largely used for irrigation purposes. Coimbatore
district was acquired by the British in 1799 at the close of the war
which ended with the death of Tippoo. In 1901 the population was
2,201,782, showing an increase of 10% in the preceding decade. The
principal crops are millet, rice, other food grains, pulse, oilseeds,
cotton and tobacco, with a little coffee. Forests cover nearly 1-1/2
million acres, yielding valuable timber (teak, sandalwood, &c.), and
affording grazing-ground for cattle. There are several factories for
pressing cotton, and for cleaning coffee, oil-cake presses, tanneries
and saltpetre refineries. Cereals, cotton, forest products, cattle and
hides, and brass and copper vessels are the chief exports from the
district. The south-west line of the Madras railway runs through the
district, and the South Indian railway (of metre gauge) joins this at
Erode.
COIMBRA, the capital of an administrative district formerly included in
the province of Beira, Portugal; on the north bank of the river Mondego,
115 m. N.N.E. of Lisbon, on the Lisbon-Oporto railway. Pop. (1900)
18,144. Coimbra is built for the most part on rising ground, and
presents from the other side of the river a picturesque and imposing
appearance; though in reality its houses have individually but little
pretension, and its streets are, almost without exception, narrow and
mean. It derives its present importance from being the seat of the only
university in the kingdom--an institution which was originally
established at Lisbon in 1291, was transferred to Coimbra in 1306, was
again removed to Lisbon, and was finally fixed at Coimbra in 1527. There
are five faculties--theology, law, medicine, mathematics and
philosophy--with more than 1300 students. The library contains about
150,000 volumes, and the museums and laboratories are on an extensive
scale. In connexion with the medical faculty there are regular
hospitals; the mathematical faculty maintains an observatory from which
an excellent view can be obtained of the whole valley of the Mondego;
and outside the town there is a botanic garden (especially rich in the
flora of Brazil), which also serves as a public promenade. Among the
other educational establishments are a military college, a royal college
of arts, a scientific and literary institute, and an episcopal seminary.
The city is the seat of a bishop, suffragan to the archbishop of Braga;
its new cathedral, founded in 1580, is of little interest; but the old
is a fine specimen of 12th-century Romanesque, and retains portions of
the mosque which it replaced. The principal churches are Santa Cruz, of
the 16th century, and San Salvador, founded in 1169. On the north bank
of the Mondego stand the ruins of the once splendid monastery of Santa
Clara, established in 1286; and on the south bank is the celebrated
_Quinta das lagrimas_, or Villa of Tears, where Inez de Castro (q.v.) is
believed to have been murdered in 1355. The town is supplied with water
by means of an aqueduct of 20 arches. The Mondego is only navigable in
flood, and the port of Figueira da Foz is 20 m. W. by S., so that the
trade of Coimbra is mainly local; but there are important lamprey
fisheries and manufactures of pottery, leather and hats.
A Latin inscription of the 4th century identifies Coimbra with the
ancient Aeminium; while Condeixa (3623), 8 m. S.S.W., represents the
ancient Conimbriga or Conembrica,. In the 9th century, however, when the
bishopric of Conimbriga was removed hither, its old title was
transferred to the new see, and hence arose the modern name Coimbra. The
city was for a long time a Moorish stronghold, but in 1064 it was
captured by Ferdinand I. of Castile and the Cid. Until 1260 it was the
capital of the country, and no fewer than six kings--Sancho I. and II.,
Alphonso II. and III., Pedro and Ferdinand--were born within its walls.
It was also the birthplace of the poet Francisco Sa de Miranda
(1495-1558), and, according to one tradition, of the more famous Luiz de
Camoens (1524-1580), who was a student at the university between 1537
and 1542. In 1755 Coimbra suffered considerably from the earthquake. In
1810 it was sacked by the French under Marshal Massena. In 1834 Dom
Miguel made the city his headquarters; and in 1846 it was the scene of a
Miguelist insurrection.
The administrative district of Coimbra coincides with the south-western
part of Beira; pop. (1900) 332,168; area 1508 sq. m.
COIN, a town of southern Spain in the province of Malaga; 18 m. W.S.W.
of the city of Malaga. Pop. (1900) 12,326. Coin is finely situated on
the northern slope of the Sierra de Mijas, overlooking the small river
Seco and surrounded by vineyards and plantations of oranges and lemons.
There are marble quarries in the neighbourhood, and, despite the lack of
a railway, Coin has a thriving agricultural trade. The population
increased by more than half between 1880 and 1900.
COIN (older forms of the word are _coyne_, _quoin_ and _coign_, all
derived through the O. Fr. _coing_, and _cuigne_ from Lat. _cuneus_, a
wedge), properly the term for a wedge-shaped die used for stamping
money, and so transferred to the money so stamped; hence a piece of
money. The form "quoin" is used for the external angle of a building
(see QUOINS), and "coign," also a projecting angle, survives in the
Shakespearean phrase "a coign of vantage."
COINAGE OFFENCES. The coinage of money is in all states a prerogative of
the sovereign power; consequently any infringement of that prerogative
is always severely punished, as being an offence likely to interfere
with the well-being of the state.
In the United Kingdom the statute law against offences relating to the
coin was codified by an act of 1861. The statute provides that whoever
falsely makes or counterfeits any coin resembling or apparently intended
to resemble or pass for any current gold or silver coin of the realm (s.
2), or gilds, silvers, washes, cases over or colours with materials
capable of producing the appearance of gold or silver a coin or a piece
of any metal or mixture of metals, or files or alters it, with intent to
make it resemble or pass for any current gold or silver coin (s. 3), or
who buys, sells, receives or pays a false gold or silver coin at a lower
rate than its denomination imports, or who receives into the United
Kingdom any false coin knowing it to be counterfeit (ss. 6, 7), or who,
without lawful authority or excuse, knowingly makes or mends, buys or
sells, or has in his custody or possession, or conveys out of the Royal
Mint any coining moulds, machines or tools, is guilty of felony (ss. 24,
25). The punishment for such offences is either penal servitude for life
or for not less than three years, or imprisonment for not more than two
years, with or without hard labour. Whoever impairs, diminishes or
lightens current gold or silver coin, with intent to pass same, is
liable to penal servitude for from three to fourteen years (s. 4), and
whoever has in his possession filings or clippings obtained by impairing
or lightening current coin is liable to the same punishment, or to penal
servitude for from three to seven years. The statute also makes
provision against tendering or uttering false gold or silver coin, which
is a misdemeanour, punishable by imprisonment with or without hard
labour. Provision is also made with respect to falsely making,
counterfeiting, tendering or uttering copper coin, exporting false coin,
or defacing current coin by stamping names or words on it, and
counterfeiting, tendering or uttering coin resembling or meant to pass
as that of some foreign state. The act of 1861 applies to offences with
respect to colonial coins as well as to those of the United Kingdom.
By the constitution of the United States, Congress has the power of
coining money, regulating the value thereof and of foreign coin (Art. i.
s. viii.), and the states are prohibited from coining money, or making
anything but gold and silver money a tender in payment of debts (Art. i.
s. x.). The counterfeiting coin or money, uttering the same, or
mutilating or defacing it, is an offence against the United States, and
is punishable by fine and imprisonment with hard labour for from two to
ten years. It has also been made punishable by state legislation.
COIR (from Malay _K[=a]yar_, cord, _K[=a]yaru_, to be twisted), a rough,
strong, fibrous substance obtained from the outer husk of the coco-nut.
(See COCO-NUT PALM.)
COIRE (Ger. _Chur_ or _Cur_, Ital. _Coira_, Lat. _Curia Raetorum_,
Romonsch _Cuera_), the capital of the Swiss canton of the Grisons. It is
built, at a height of 1949 ft. above the sea-level, on the right bank of
the Plessur torrent, just as it issues from the Schanfigg valley, and
about a mile above its junction with the Rhine. It is overshadowed by
the Mittenberg (east) and Pizokel (south), hills that guard the entrance
to the deep-cut Schanfigg valley. In 1900 it contained 11,532
inhabitants, of whom 9288 were German-speaking, 1466 Romonsch-speaking,
and 677 Italian-speaking; while 7561 were Protestants, 3962 Romanists
and one a Jew. The modern part of the city is to the west, but the old
portion, with all the historical buildings, is to the east. Here is the
cathedral church of St Lucius (who is the patron of Coire, and is
supposed to be a 2nd-century British king, though really the name has
probably arisen from a confusion between Lucius of Cyrene--miswritten
"_curiensis_"--with the Roman general Lucius Munatius Plancus, who
conquered Raetia). Built between 1178 and 1282, on the site of an older
church, it contains many curious medieval antiquities (especially in the
sacristy), as well as a picture by Angelica Kaufmann, and the tomb of
the great Grisons political leader (d. 1637) Jenatsch (q.v.). Opposite
is the Bishop's Palace, and not far off is the Episcopal Seminary (built
on the ruins of a 6th-century monastic foundation). Not far from these
ancient monuments is the new Raetian Museum, which contains a great
collection of objects relating to Raetia (including the geological
collections of the Benedictine monk of Disentis, Placidus a Spescha
(1752-1833), who explored the high snowy regions around the sources of
the Rhine). One of the hospitals was founded by the famous Capuchin
philanthropist, Father Theodosius Florentini (1808-1865), who was long
the Romanist cure of Coire, and whose remains were in 1906 transferred
from the cathedral here to Ingenbohl (near Schwyz), his chief
foundation. Coire is 74 m. by rail from Zurich, and is the meeting-point
of the routes from Italy over many Alpine passes (the Lukmanier, the
Splugen, the San Bernardino) as well as from the Engadine (Albula,
Julier), so that it is the centre of an active trade (particularly in
wine from the Valtelline), though it possesses also a few local
factories.
The episcopal see is first mentioned in 452, but probably existed a
century earlier. The bishop soon acquired great temporal powers,
especially after his dominions were made, in 831, dependent on the
Empire alone, of which he became a prince in 1170. In 1392 he became
head of the league of God's House (originally formed against him in
1367), one of the three Raetian leagues, but, in 1526, after the
Reformation, lost his temporal powers, having fulfilled his historical
mission (see GRISONS). The bishopric still exists, with jurisdiction
over the Cantons of the Grisons, Glarus, Zurich, and the three Forest
Cantons, as well as the Austrian principality of Liechtenstein. The gild
constitution of the city of Chur lasted from 1465 to 1839, while in 1874
the _Burgergemeinde_ was replaced by an _Einwohnergemeinde_.
AUTHORITIES.--A. Eichhorn, _Episcopatus Curiensis_ (St Blasien, 1797);
W. von Juvalt, _Forschungen uber die Feudalzeit im Curischen Raetien_,
2 parts (Zurich, 1871); C. Kind, _Die Reformation in den Bisthumern
Chur und Como_ (Coire, 1858); Conradin von Moor, Geschichte von
Curraetien (2 vols., Coire, 1870-1874); P. C. von Planta, _Das alte
Raetien_ (Berlin, 1872); _Idem, Die Curraetischen Herrschaften in der
Feudalzeit_ (Bern, 1881); _Idem, Verfassungsgeschichte der Stadt Cur
im Mittelalter_ (Coire, 1879); _Idem, Geschichte von Graubunden_
(Bern, 1892). (W. A. B. C.)
COKE, SIR EDWARD (1552-1634), English lawyer, was born at Mileham, in
Norfolk, on the 1st of February 1552. From the grammar school of Norwich
he passed to Trinity College, Cambridge; and in 1572 he entered
Lincoln's Inn. In 1578 he was called to the bar, and in the next year he
was chosen reader at Lyon's Inn. His extensive and exact legal
erudition, and the skill with which he argued the intricate libel case
of Lord Cromwell (4 Rep. 13), and the celebrated real property case of
Shelley (1 Rep. 94, 104), soon brought him a practice never before
equalled, and caused him to be universally recognized as the greatest
lawyer of his day. In 1586 he was made recorder of Norwich, and in 1592
recorder of London, solicitor-general, and reader in the Inner Temple.
In 1593 he was returned as member of parliament for his native county,
and also chosen speaker of the House of Commons. In 1594 he was promoted
to the office of attorney-general, despite the claims of Bacon, who was
warmly supported by the earl of Essex. As crown lawyer his treatment of
the accused was marked by more than the harshness and violence common in
his time; and the fame of the victim has caused his behaviour in the
trial of Raleigh to be lastingly remembered against him. While the
prisoner defended himself with the calmest dignity and self-possession,
Coke burst into the bitterest invective, brutally addressing the great
courtier as if he had been a servant, in the phrase, long remembered for
its insolence and its utter injustice--"Thou hast an English face, but a
Spanish heart!"
In 1582 Coke married the daughter of John Paston, a gentleman of
Suffolk, receiving with her a fortune of L30,000; but in six months he
was left a widower. Shortly after he sought the hand of Lady Elizabeth
Hatton, daughter of Thomas, second Lord Burghley, and granddaughter of
the great Cecil. Bacon was again his rival, and again unsuccessfully;
the wealthy young widow became--not, it is said, to his future
comfort--Coke's second wife.
In 1606 Coke was made chief justice of the common pleas, but in 1613 he
was removed to the office of chief justice of the king's bench, which
gave him less opportunity of interfering with the court. The change,
though it brought promotion in dignity, caused a diminution of income as
well as of power; but Coke received some compensation in being appointed
a member of the privy council. The independence of his conduct as a
judge, though not unmixed with the baser elements of prejudice and
vulgar love of authority, has partly earned forgiveness for the
harshness which was so prominent in his sturdy character. Full of an
extreme reverence for the common law which he knew so well, he defended
it alike against the court of chancery, the ecclesiastical courts, and
the royal prerogative. In a narrow spirit, and strongly influenced, no
doubt, by his enmity to the chancellor, Thomas Egerton (Lord Brackley),
he sought to prevent the interference of the court of chancery with even
the unjust decisions of the other courts. In the case of an appeal from
a sentence given in the king's bench, he advised the victorious, but
guilty, party to bring an action of praemunire against all those who had
been concerned in the appeal, and his authority was stretched to the
utmost to obtain the verdict he desired. On the other hand, Coke has the
credit of having repeatedly braved the anger of the king. He freely gave
his opinion that the royal proclamation cannot make that an offence
which was not an offence before. An equally famous but less satisfactory
instance occurred during the trial of Edmund Peacham, a divine in whose
study a sermon had been found containing libellous accusations against
the king and the government. There was nothing to give colour to the
charge of high treason with which he was charged, and the sermon had
never been preached or published; yet Peacham was put to the torture,
and Bacon was ordered to confer with the judges individually concerning
the matter. Coke declared such conference to be illegal, and refused to
give an opinion, except in writing, and even then he seems to have said
nothing decided. But the most remarkable case of all occurred in the
next year (1616). A trial was held before Coke in which one of the
counsel denied the validity of a grant made by the king to the bishop of
Lichfield of a benefice to be held _in commendam_. James, through Bacon,
who was then attorney-general, commanded the chief justice to delay
judgment till he himself should discuss the question with the judges. At
Coke's request Bacon sent a letter containing the same command to each
of the judges, and Coke then obtained their signatures to a paper
declaring that the attorney-general's instructions were illegal, and
that they were bound to proceed with the case. His Majesty expressed his
displeasure, and summoned them before him in the council-chamber, where
he insisted on his supreme prerogative, which, he said, ought not to be
discussed in ordinary argument. Upon this all the judges fell on their
knees, seeking pardon for the form of their letter; but Coke ventured to
declare his continued belief in the loyalty of its substance, and when
asked if he would in the future delay a case at the king's order, the
only reply he would vouchsafe was that he would do what became him as a
judge. Soon after he was dismissed from all his offices on the following
charges,--the concealment, as attorney-general, of a bond belonging to
the king, a charge which could not be proved, illegal interference with
the court of chancery and disrespect to the king in the case of
commendams. He was also ordered by the council to revise his book of
reports, which was said to contain many extravagant opinions (June
1616).
Coke did not suffer these losses with patience. He offered his daughter
Frances, then little more than a child, in marriage to Sir John
Villiers, brother of the favourite Buckingham. Her mother, supported at
first by her husband's great rival and her own former suitor, Bacon,
objected to the match, and placed her in concealment. But Coke
discovered her hiding-place; and she was forced to wed the man whom she
declared that of all others she abhorred. The result was the desertion
of the husband and the fall of the wife. It is said, however, that after
his daughter's public penance in the Savoy church, Coke had heart enough
to receive her back to the home which he had forced her to leave. Almost
all that he gained by his heartless diplomacy was a seat in the council
and in the star-chamber.
In 1620 a new and more honourable career opened for him. He was elected
member of parliament for Liskeard; and henceforth he was one of the most
prominent of the constitutional party. It was he who proposed a
remonstrance against the growth of popery and the marriage of Prince
Charles to the infanta of Spain, and who led the Commons in the decisive
step of entering on the journal of the House the famous petition of the
18th of December 1621, insisting on the freedom of parliamentary
discussion, and the liberty of speech of every individual member. In
consequence, together with Pym and Sir Robert Philips, he was thrown
into confinement; and, when in the August of the next year he was
released, he was commanded to remain in his house at Stoke Poges during
his Majesty's pleasure. Of the first and second parliaments of Charles
I. Coke was again a member. From the second he was excluded by being
appointed sheriff of Buckinghamshire. In 1628 he was at once returned
for both Buckinghamshire and Suffolk, and he took his seat for the
former county. After rendering other valuable support to the popular
cause, he took a most important part in drawing up the great Petition of
Right. The last act of his public career was to bewail with tears the
ruin which he declared the duke of Buckingham was bringing upon the
country. At the close of the session he retired into private life; and
the six years that remained to him were spent in revising and improving
the works upon which, at least as much as upon his public career, his
fame now rests. He died at Stoke Poges on the 3rd of September 1634.
Coke published _Institutes_ (1628), of which the first is also known as
_Coke upon Littleton_; _Reports_ (1600-1615), in thirteen parts; _A
Treatise of Bail and Mainprize_ (1635); _The Complete Copyholder_
(1630); _A Reading on Fines and Recoveries_ (1684).
See Johnson, _Life of Sir Edward Coke_ (1837); H. W. Woolrych, _The
Life of Sir Edward Coke_ (1826); Foss, _Lives of the Judges_;
Campbell, _Lives of the Chief Justices_; also ENGLISH LAW.
COKE, SIR JOHN (1563-1644), English politician, was born on the 5th of
March 1563, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After
leaving the university he entered public life as a servant of William
Cecil, Lord Burghley, afterwards becoming deputy-treasurer of the navy
and then a commissioner of the navy, and being specially commended for
his labours on behalf of naval administration. He became member of
parliament for Warwick in 1621 and was knighted in 1624, afterwards
representing the university of Cambridge. In the parliament of 1625 Coke
acted as a secretary of state; in this and later parliaments he
introduced the royal requests for money, and defended the foreign policy
of Charles I. and Buckingham, and afterwards the actions of the king.
His actual appointment as secretary dates from September 1625. Disliked
by the leaders of the popular party, his speeches in the House of
Commons did not improve the king's position, but when Charles ruled
without a parliament he found Coke's industry very useful to him. The
secretary retained his post until 1639, when a scapegoat was required to
expiate the humiliating treaty of Berwick with the Scots, and the
scapegoat was Coke. Dismissed from office, he retired to his estate at
Melbourne in Derbyshire, and then resided in London, dying at Tottenham
on the 8th of September 1644. Coke's son, Sir John Coke, sided with the
parliament in its struggle with the king, and it is possible that in
later life Coke's own sympathies were with this party, although in his
earlier years he had been a defender of absolute monarchy. Coke, who
greatly disliked the papacy, is described by Clarendon as "a man of very
narrow education and a narrower mind"; and again he says, "his cardinal
perfection was industry and his most eminent infirmity covetousness."
COKE, THOMAS (1747-1814), English divine, the first Methodist bishop,
was born at Brecon, where his father was a well-to-do apothecary. He was
educated at Jesus College, Oxford, taking the degree of M.A. in 1770 and
that of D.C.L. in 1775. From 1772 to 1776 he was curate at South
Petherton in Somerset, whence his rector dismissed him for adopting the
open-air and cottage services introduced by John Wesley, with whom he
had become acquainted. After serving on the London Wesleyan circuit he
was in 1782 appointed president of the conference in Ireland, a position
which he frequently held, in the intervals of his many voyages to
America. He first visited that country in 1784, going to Baltimore as
"superintendent" of the Methodist societies in the new world and, in
1787 the American conference changed his title to "bishop," a
nomenclature which he tried in vain to introduce into the English
conference, of which he was president in 1797 and 1805. Failing this, he
asked Lord Liverpool to make him a bishop in India, and he was voyaging
to Ceylon when he died on the 3rd of May 1814. Coke had always been a
missionary enthusiast, and was the pioneer of such enterprise in his
connexion. He was an ardent opponent of slavery, and endeavoured also to
heal the breach between the Methodist and Anglican communions. He
published a _History of the West Indies_ (3 vols., 1808-1811), several
volumes of sermons, and, with Henry Moore, a _Life of Wesley_ (1792).
COKE (a northern English word, possibly connected with "colk," core),
the product obtained by strongly heating coal out of contact with the
air until the volatile constituents are driven off; it consists
essentially of carbon, the so-called "fixed carbon," together with the
incombustible matters or ash contained in the coal from which it is
derived. In addition to these it almost invariably contains small
quantities of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, the whole, however, not
exceeding 2 or 3%. It also contains water, the amount of which may vary
considerably according to the method of manufacture. When produced
rapidly and at a low heat, as in gas-making, it is of a dull black
colour, and a loose spongy or pumice-like texture, and ignites with
comparative ease, though less readily than bituminous coal, so that it
may be burnt in open fire-places; but when a long-continued heat is
used, as in the preparation of coke for iron and steel melting, the
product is hard and dense, is often prismatic in structure, has a
brilliant semi-metallic lustre and silvery-grey colour, is a conductor
of heat and electricity, and can only be burnt in furnaces provided with
a strong chimney draught or an artificial blast. The strength and
cohesive properties are also intimately related to the nature and
composition of the coals employed, which are said to be caking or
non-caking according to the compact or fragmentary character of the coke
produced.
Formerly coke was made from large coal piled in heaps with central
chimneys like those of the charcoal burner, or in open rectangular
clamps or kilns with air flues in the enclosing walls; but these methods
are now practically obsolete, closed chambers or ovens being generally
used. These vary considerably in construction, but may be classified
into three principal types:--(1) direct heated ovens, (2) flue-heated
ovens, (3) condensing ovens. In the first class the heating is done by
direct contact or by burning the gases given off in coking within the
oven, while in the other two the heating is indirect, the gas being
burned in cellular passages or flues provided in the walls dividing the
coking chambers, and the heat transmitted through the sides of the
latter which are comparatively thin. The arrangement is somewhat similar
to that of a gas-works retort, whence the name of "retort ovens" is
sometimes applied to them. The difference between the second and third
classes is founded on the treatment of the gases. In the former the gas
is fired in the side flues immediately upon issuing from the oven, while
in the latter the gases are first subjected to a systematic treatment in
condensers, similar to those used in gas-works, to remove tar, ammonia
and condensable hydrocarbons, the incondensable gases being returned to
the oven and burned in the heating flues. These are generally known as
"by-product ovens."
Beehive oven.
The simplest form of coke oven, and probably that still most largely
used, is the so-called "beehive oven." This is circular in plan, from
7 to 12 ft. in diameter, with a cylindrical wall about 2-1/2 ft. high
and a nearly hemispherical roof with a circular hole at the top. The
floor, made of refractory bricks or slabs, is laid with a slight slope
towards an arched opening in the ring wall, which is stopped with
brickwork during the coking but opened for drawing the finished
charge. The ovens are usually arranged in rows or banks of 20 to 30 or
more, with their doors outwards, two rows being often placed with a
longitudinal flue between them connected by uptakes with the
individual ovens on either side. A railway along the top of the bank
brings the coal from the screens or washery. The largest ovens take a
charge of about 5 tons, which is introduced through the hole in the
roof, the brickwork of the empty oven being still red hot from the
preceding charge, and when levelled fills the cylindrical part nearly
to the springing of the roof. The gas fires as it is given off and
fills the dome with flame, and the burning is regulated by air
admitted through holes in the upper part of the door stopping. The
temperature being very high, a proportion of the volatile hydrocarbons
is decomposed, and a film of graphitic carbon is deposited on the
coke, giving it a semi-metallic lustre and silvery grey colour. When
the gas is burned off, the upper part of the door is opened and the
glowing charge cooled by jets of water thrown directly upon it from a
hose, and it is subsequently drawn out through the open door. The
charge breaks up into prisms or columns whose length corresponds to
the depth of the charge, and as a rule is uniform in character and
free from dull black patches or "black ends." The time of burning is
either 48 or 72 hours, the turns being so arranged as to avoid the
necessity of drawing the ovens on Sunday. The longer the heat is
continued the denser the product becomes, but the yield also
diminishes, as a portion of the finished coke necessarily burns to
waste when the gas is exhausted. For this reason the yield on the coal
charged is usually less than that obtained in retort ovens, although
the quality may be better. Coals containing at most about 35% of
volatile matter are best suited for the beehive oven. With less than
25% the gas is not sufficient to effect the coking completely, and
when there is a higher percentage the coke is brittle and spongy and
unsuited for blast furnace or foundry use. The spent flame from the
ovens passes to a range of steam boilers before escaping by the
chimney.
Retort oven.
The retort oven, which is now generally displacing the beehive form in
new installations, is made in a great variety of forms, the
differences being mainly in the arrangement of the heating flues, but
all have the central feature, the coking chamber, in common. This is a
tubular chamber with vertical sides and cylindrical roof, about 30 ft.
long, from 17 to 20 in. wide, and 6 or 7 ft. high, and closed at both
ends by sliding doors which are raised by crab winches when the charge
is to be drawn. The general arrangements of such an oven are shown in
fig. 1, which represents one of the earliest and most popular forms,
that of Evence Coppee of Brussels. The coking chambers A B connect by
rectangular posts at the springing of the roof, where the gas given
off from the top of the charge is fired by air introduced through _c
c_. The flames pass downwards through the parallel flues _f f_ along
the bottom flue of one oven, and return in the opposite direction
under the next to the chimney flue, a further part of the heat being
intercepted by placing a range of steam boilers between the ovens and
the chimney stack. The charging of the oven is done through the
passages D D in the roof from small wagons on transverse lines of
rails, the surface being raked level before the doors are closed and
luted up. The time of coking is much less than in the beehive ovens
and may be from 24 to 36 hours, according to the proportion of
volatile matter present. When the gas is completely given off the
doors are lifted and the charge is pushed out by the ram--a cast-iron
plate of the shape of the cross section of the oven, at the end of a
long horizontal bar, which is driven by a rack and pinion movement and
pushes the block of coke out of the oven on to the wharf or bank in
front where it falls to pieces and is immediately quenched by jets of
water from a hose pipe. When sufficiently cooled it is loaded into
railway wagons or other conveyances for removal. The ram, together
with its motor, and boiler when steam is used, is mounted upon a
carriage running upon a line of rails of about 2 ft. gauge along the
back of the range of ovens, so that it can be brought up to any one of
them in succession.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Coppee's Coke Oven.]
In some cases, instead of the small coal being charged through the
roof of the oven and levelled by hand, it is formed into blocks by
being stamped in a slightly moistened condition in a mould consisting
of a bottom plate or peel on a racked rod like that of the ram, with
movable sides and ends. This, when the ends are removed, is pushed
forward into the oven, and the bottom plate is withdrawn by reversing
the rack motion. The moulding box is mounted on a carriage like that
of the ram, the two being sometimes carried on the same framing. The
moulding is done at a fixed station in the centre of the range of
ovens by a series of cast-iron stampers driven by an electric motor.
This system is useful for coals low in volatile matter, which do not
give a coherent coke under ordinary conditions.
Condensing ovens.
In the distilling or by-product ovens the gases, instead of being
burned at the point of origin, pass by an uptake pipe in the roof
about the centre of the oven into a water-sealed collecting trough or
hydraulic main, whence they are drawn by exhausters through a series
of air and water cooled condensers and scrubbers. In the first or
atmospheric condensers the tar is removed, and in the second
ammoniacal water, which is further enriched by a graduated system of
scrubbing with weak ammoniacal liquor until it is sufficiently
concentrated to be sent to the ammonia stills. The first treatment by
scrubbing with creosote or heavy tar oil removes benzene, after which
the permanent gaseous residue consisting chiefly of hydrogen and marsh
gas is returned to the ovens as fuel.
In the Otto-Hoffmann oven, one of the most generally used forms,
vertical side flues like those of Coppee are adopted. The returned gas
enters by a horizontal flue along the bottom of the coking chamber,
divided into two parts by a mid-feather wall, and is fired by heated
air from a Siemens regenerator on the substructure at one end, and the
flame rising through one half of the side flues to a parallel
collector at the top returns downwards through the flues of the other
half and passes out to the chimney through a similar regenerator at
the other end. The course of the gases is reversed at intervals of
about an hour, as in the ordinary Siemens furnace, each end of the
oven having its own gas supply. In the later modification known as the
Otto-Hilgenstock, the regenerators are abandoned, but provision is
made for more perfect distribution of the heat by a line of sixteen
Bunsen burners in each wall; each of these serves two flues, the
course of the flame being continuously upwards without reversal. In
the newest Otto ovens the same system of burners is combined with
regenerators. In the Bauer system, another vertical flue oven, each
flue has its own burner, which is of a simplified construction.
In the Carves oven, the earliest of the by-product ovens, the heating
flues are arranged horizontally in parallel series along the entire
length of the side walls, the gas being introduced from both ends but
at different levels. This system was further developed by H. Simon of
Manchester, who added a continuous air "recuperator" heated by the
spent flame; this Simon-Carves system has been extensively adopted in
Great Britain. Another horizontal flue oven, the Semet-Solvay, is
distinguished by the structure of the flues, which are independent of
the dividing walls of the ovens, so that the latter can be made with
thinner sides than those of the earlier systems, and are more readily
repaired. In the horizontal ovens it is sometimes difficult to
maintain the heat when the flues are continuous along the whole length
of the wall, especially when the heating value of the gas is reduced
by the removal of the heavy hydrocarbons. This difficulty is met by
dividing the flues in the middle so as to shorten the length of travel
of the flame, and working each end independently. The Hussener and
Koppers systems are two of the best-known examples of this
modification.
Coke from retort ovens is not so dense or brilliant as that made in
beehive ovens, but the waste being less there is a decided saving,
apart from the value of the condensed products. In one instance the
coke was found to be about 5% less efficient in the blast furnace,
while the yield on the coal charged was increased 10%. In the further
treatment of the condensed products by distillation the tar gives
burning oil and pitch, the benzene is separated from the creosote oil
by steam-heated stills, and the ammoniacal liquor, after some lime has
been added to decompose fixed ammonium compounds, is heated to
vaporize the ammonia, which is condensed in lead or copper-lined tanks
containing strong sulphuric acid to produce a crystalline powder of
ammonium sulphate, which accumulates in the receiver and is fished out
from time to time. The yield of by-products averages about 1% of
ammonium sulphate, about 3-1/2% of tar, and 0.6 to 0.9% of benzene, of
the weight of the coal carbonized. After the ovens have been heated
and steam supplied for the machinery of the condensing plant and the
coke ovens, there is usually a surplus of gas, which may be used for
lighting or driving gas-engines. For the latter purpose, however, it
is necessary to remove the last traces of tar, which acts very
prejudicially in fouling the valves when the gas is not completely
purified. The gas given off during the earlier part of the coking
process is richer in heavy hydrocarbons and of a higher illuminating
value than that of the later period when the temperature is higher.
This property is utilized in several large coking plants in America,
where the gas from the first ten hours' working is drawn off by a
second hydraulic main and sent directly to town gas-works, where it
passes through the ordinary purifying treatment, the gas from the
second period being alone used for heating the ovens.
Coke is essentially a partially graphitized carbon, its density being
about midway between that of coal and graphite, and it should therefore
occupy less space than the original coal; but owing to the softening of
the charge a spongy structure is set up by the escaping gases, which
acts in the other direction, so that for equal bulk coke is somewhat
lighter than coal. It is this combination of properties that gives it
its chief value in iron smelting, the substance being sufficiently dense
to resist oxidation by carbon dioxide in the higher regions of the
furnace, while the vesicular structure gives an extended surface for the
action of heated air and facilitates rapid consumption at the tuyeres.
Compact coke, such as that formed on the inner sides of gas retorts
(retort carbon), can only be burned with great difficulty in small
furnaces of special construction, but it gives out a great amount of
heat.
The most deleterious constituents of coke are ash, sulphur and volatile
constituents including water. As the coke yield is only from two-thirds
to three-quarters of that of the coal, the original proportion of ash is
augmented by one-third or one-half in the product. For this reason it is
now customary to crush and wash the coal carefully to remove
intermingled patches of shale and dirt before coking, so that the ash
may not if possible exceed 10% in the coke. About one-half of the
sulphur in the coal is eliminated in coking, so that the percentage in
the coke is about the same. It should not be much above 1%. According to
the researches of F. Wuest (_Journ. Iron and Steel Inst._, 1906) the
sulphur is retained in a complex carbon compound which is not destroyed
until the coke is actually consumed.
The older methods of coking and the earlier forms of retort ovens are
described in J. Percy, _Metallurgy_, Jordan, _Album du cours de
metallurgie_; Phillips and Bauerman, _Handbook of Metallurgy_, and
other text-books. A systematic series of articles on the newer forms
will be found in _The Engineer_, vol. 82, pp. 205-303 and vol. 83, pp.
207-231; see also Durre, _Die neuern Koksofen_ (Leipzig, 1892); D. A.
Louis, "Von Bauer and Brunck Ovens," _Journ. Iron and Steel Inst._,
1904, ii. p. 293; C. L. Bell, "Hussener Oven," _id._, 1904, i. p. 188;
Hurez, "A Comparison of Different Systems of Vertical and Horizontal
Flue Ovens," _Bull. soc. industrie minerale_, 1903, p. 777. A
well-illustrated description of the Otto system in its American
modification was issued by the United Gas & Coke Company of New York,
in 1906. (H. B.)
COL (Fr. for "neck," Lat. _collum_), in physical geography, generally
any marked depression upon a high and rugged water-parting over which
passage is easy from one valley to another. Such is the Col de Balme
between the Trient and Chamounix valleys, where the great inaccessible
wall crowned with aiguilles running to the massif of Mt. Blanc is broken
by a gentle downward curve with smooth upland slopes, over which a
footpath gives easy passage. The col is usually formed by the
head-waters of a stream eating backward and lowering the water-parting
at the head of its valley. In early military operations, the march of an
army was always over a col, which has at all times considerable
commercial importance in relation to roads in high mountain regions.
COLBERT, JEAN BAPTISTE (1619-1683), French statesman, was born at Reims,
where his father and grandfather were merchants. He claimed to be the
descendant of a noble Scottish family, but the evidence for this is
lacking. His youth is said to have been spent in a Jesuit college, in
the office of a Parisian banker, and in that of a Parisian notary,
Chapelain, the father of the poet. But the first fact on which we can
rely with confidence is that, when not yet twenty, he obtained a post in
the war-office, by means of the influence that he possessed through the
marriage of one of his uncles to the sister of Michel Le Tellier, the
secretary of state for war. During some years he was employed in the
inspection of troops and other work of the kind, but at length his
ability, his extraordinary energy and his untiring laboriousness induced
Le Tellier to make him his private secretary. These qualities, combined,
it must be confessed, with a readiness to seize every opportunity of
advancement, soon brought Colbert both wealth and influence. In 1647 we
find him receiving the confiscated goods of his uncle Pussort, in 1648
obtaining 40,000 crowns with his wife Marie Charron, in 1649 appointed
councillor of state.
It was the period of the wars of the Fronde; and in 1651 the triumph of
the Conde family drove Cardinal Mazarin from Paris. Colbert, now aged
thirty-two, was engaged to keep him acquainted with what should happen
in the capital during his absence. At first Colbert's position was far
from satisfactory; for the close wary Italian treated him merely as an
ordinary agent. On one occasion, for example, he offered him 1000
crowns. The gift was refused somewhat indignantly; and by giving proof
of the immense value of his services, Colbert gained all that he
desired. His demands were not small; for, with an ambition mingled, as
his letters show, with strong family affection, he aimed at placing all
his relatives in positions of affluence and dignity; and many a rich
benefice and important public office was appropriated by him to that
purpose. For these favours, conferred upon him by his patron with no
stinted hand, his thanks were expressed in a most remarkable manner; he
published a letter defending the cardinal from the charge of ingratitude
which was often brought against him, by enumerating the benefits that he
and his family had received from him (April 1655). Colbert obtained,
besides, the higher object of his ambition; the confidence of Mazarin,
so far as it was granted to any one, became his, and he was entrusted
with matters of the gravest importance. In 1659 he was giving directions
as to the suppression of the revolt of the gentry which threatened in
Normandy, Anjou and Poitou, with characteristic decision arresting those
whom he suspected, and arranging every detail of their trial, the
immediate and arbitrary destruction of their castles and woods, and the
execution of their chief, Bonnesson. In the same year we have evidence
that he was already planning his great attempt at financial reform. His
earliest tentative was the drawing up of a _memoire_ to Mazarin, showing
that of the taxes paid by the people not one-half reached the king. The
paper also contained an attack upon the superintendent Nicholas Fouquet
(q.v.), and being opened by the postmaster of Paris, who happened to be
a spy of Fouquet's, it gave rise to a bitter quarrel, which, however,
Mazarin repressed during his lifetime.
In 1661 the death of Mazarin allowed Colbert to take the first place in
the administration, and he made sure of the king's favour by revealing
to him some of Mazarin's hidden wealth. It was some time before he
assumed official dignities; but in January 1664 he obtained the post of
superintendent of buildings; in 1665 he was made controller-general; in
1669 he became minister of the marine; and he was also appointed
minister of commerce, the colonies and the king's palace. In short, he
soon acquired power in every department except that of war.
A great financial and fiscal reform at once claimed all his energies.
Not only the nobility, but many others who had no legal claim to
exemption, paid no taxes; the weight of the burden fell on the wretched
country-folk. Colbert sternly and fearlessly set about his task.
Supported by the young king, Louis XIV., he aimed the first blow at the
greatest of the extortioners--the bold and powerful superintendent,
Fouquet; whose fall, in addition, secured his own advancement.
The office of superintendent and many others dependent upon it being
abolished the supreme control of the finances was vested in a royal
council. The sovereign was its president; but Colbert, though for four
years he only possessed the title of intendant, was its ruling spirit,
great personal authority being conferred upon him by the king. The
career on which Colbert now entered must not be judged without constant
remembrance of the utter rottenness of the previous financial
administration. His ruthlessness in this case, dangerous precedent as it
was, was perhaps necessary; individual interests could not be respected.
Guilty officials having been severely punished, the fraudulent creditors
of the government remained to be dealt with. Colbert's method was
simple. Some of the public loans were totally repudiated, and from
others a percentage was cut off, which varied, at first according to his
own decision, and afterwards according to that of the council which he
established to examine all claims against the state.
Much more serious difficulties met his attempts to introduce equality in
the pressure of the taxes on the various classes. To diminish the number
of the privileged was impossible, but false claims to exemption were
firmly resisted, and the unjust direct taxation was lightened by an
increase of the indirect taxes, from which the privileged could not
escape. The mode of collection was at the same time immensely improved.
Order and economy being thus introduced into the working of the
government, the country, according to Colbert's vast yet detailed plan,
was to be enriched by commerce. Manufactures were fostered in every way
he could devise. New industries were established, inventors protected,
workmen invited from foreign countries, French workmen absolutely
prohibited to emigrate. To maintain the character of French goods in
foreign markets, as well as to afford a guarantee to the home consumer,
the quality and measure of each article were fixed by law, breach of the
regulations being punished by public exposure of the delinquent and
destruction of the goods, and, on the third offence, by the pillory. But
whatever advantage resulted from this rule was more than compensated by
the disadvantages it entailed. The production of qualities which would
have suited many purposes of consumption was prohibited, and the odious
supervision which became necessary involved great waste of time and a
stereotyped regularity which resisted all improvements. And other parts
of Colbert's schemes deserve still less equivocal condemnation. By his
firm maintenance of the corporation system, each industry remained in
the hands of certain privileged bourgeois; in this way, too, improvement
was greatly discouraged; while to the lower classes opportunities of
advancement were closed. With regard to international commerce Colbert
was equally unfortunate in not being in advance of his age; the tariffs
he published were protective to an extreme. The interests of internal
commerce were, however, wisely consulted. Unable to abolish the duties
on the passage of goods from province to province, he did what he could
to induce the provinces to equalize them. The roads and canals were
improved. The great canal of Languedoc was planned and constructed by
Pierre Paul Riquet (1604-1680) under his patronage. To encourage trade
with the Levant, Senegal, Guinea and other places, privileges were
granted to companies; but, like the more important East India Company,
all were unsuccessful. The chief cause of this failure, as well as of
the failure of the colonies, on which he bestowed so much watchful care,
was the narrowness and rigidity of the government regulations.
The greatest and most lasting of Colbert's achievements was the
establishment of the French marine. The royal navy owed all to him, for
the king thought only of military exploits. For its use, Colbert
reconstructed the works and arsenal of Toulon, founded the port and
arsenal of Rochefort, and the naval schools of Rochefort, Dieppe and
Saint-Malo, and fortified, with some assistance from Vauban (who,
however, belonged to the party of his rival Louvois), among other ports
those of Calais, Dunkirk, Brest and Havre. To supply it with recruits
he invented his famous system of classes, by which each seaman,
according to the class in which he was placed, gave six months' service
every three or four or five years. For three months after his term of
service he was to receive half-pay; pensions were promised; and, in
short, everything was done to make the navy popular. There was one
department, however, that was supplied with men on a very different
principle. Letters exist written by Colbert to the judges requiring them
to sentence to the oar as many criminals as possible, including all
those who had been condemned to death; and the convict once chained to
the bench, the expiration of his sentence was seldom allowed to bring
him release. Mendicants also, against whom no crime had been proved,
contraband dealers, those who had been engaged in insurrections, and
others immeasurably superior to the criminal class, nay, innocent
men--Turkish, Russian and negro slaves, and poor Iroquois Indians, whom
the Canadians were ordered to entrap--were pressed into that terrible
service. By these means the benches of the galleys were filled, and
Colbert took no thought of the long unrelieved agony borne by those who
filled them.
Nor was the mercantile marine forgotten. Encouragement was given to the
building of ships in France by allowing a premium on those built at
home, and imposing a duty on those brought from abroad; and as French
workmen were forbidden to emigrate, so French seamen were forbidden to
serve foreigners on pain of death.
Even ecclesiastical affairs, though with these he had no official
concern, did not altogether escape Colbert's attention. He took a
subordinate part in the struggle between the king and Rome as to the
royal rights over vacant bishoprics; and he seems to have sympathized
with the proposal that was made to seize part of the wealth of the
clergy. In his hatred of idleness, he ventured to suppress no less than
seventeen fetes, and he had a project for lessening the number of those
devoted to clerical and monastic life, by fixing the age for taking the
vows some years later than was then customary. With heresy he was at
first unwilling to interfere, for he was aware of the commercial value
of the Huguenots; but when the king resolved to make all France Roman
Catholic, he followed him and urged his subordinates to do all that they
could to promote conversions.
In art and literature Colbert took much interest. He possessed a
remarkably fine private library, which he delighted to fill with
valuable manuscripts from every part of Europe where France had placed a
consul. He has the honour of having founded the Academy of Sciences (now
called the Institut de France), the Observatory, which he employed
Claude Perrault to build and brought G. D. Cassini (1625-1712) from
Italy to superintend, the Academies of Inscriptions and Medals, of
Architecture and of Music, the French Academy at Rome, and Academies at
Arles, Soissons, Nimes and many other towns, and he reorganized the
Academy of Painting and Sculpture which Richelieu had established. He
was a member of the French Academy; and one very characteristic rule,
recorded to have been proposed by him with the intention of expediting
the great Dictionary, in which he was much interested, was that no one
should be accounted present at any meeting unless he arrived before the
hour of commencement and remained till the hour for leaving. In 1673 he
presided over the first exhibition of the works of living painters; and
he enriched the Louvre with hundreds of pictures and statues. He gave
many pensions to men of letters, among whom we find Moliere, Corneille,
Racine, Boileau, P. D. Huet (1630-1721) and Antoine Varillas
(1626-1696), and even foreigners, as Huyghens, Vossius the geographer,
Carlo Dati the Dellacruscan, and Heinsius the great Dutch scholar. There
is evidence to show that by this munificence he hoped to draw out
praises of his sovereign and himself; but this motive certainly is far
from accounting for all the splendid, if in some cases specious,
services that he rendered to literature, science and art.
Indeed to everything that concerned the interests of France Colbert
devoted unsparing thought and toil. Besides all that has been
mentioned, he found time to do something for the better administration
of justice (the codification of ordinances, the diminishing of the
number of judges, the reduction of the expense and length of trials for
the establishment of a superior system of police) and even for the
improvement of the breed of horses and the increase of cattle. As
superintendent of public buildings he enriched Paris with boulevards,
quays and triumphal arches; he relaid the foundation-stone of the
Louvre, and brought Bernin from Rome to be its architect; and he erected
its splendid colonnade upon the plan of Claude Perrault, by whom Bernin
had been replaced. He was not permitted, however, to complete the work,
being compelled to yield to the king's preference for residences outside
Paris, and to devote himself to Marly and Versailles.
Amid all these public labours his private fortune was never neglected.
While he was reforming the finances of the nation, and organizing its
navy, he always found time to direct the management of his smallest
farm. He died extremely rich, and left fine estates all over France. He
had been created marquis de Seignelay, and for his eldest son he
obtained the reversion of the office of minister of marine; his second
son became archbishop of Rouen; and a third son, the marquis d'Ormoy,
became superintendent of buildings.
To carry out his reforms, Colbert needed peace; but the war department
was in the hands of his great rival Louvois, whose influence gradually
supplanted that of Colbert with the king. Louis decided on a policy of
conquest. He was deaf also to all the appeals against the other forms of
his boundless extravagance which Colbert, with all his deference towards
his sovereign, bravely ventured to make.[1] Thus it came about that,
only a few years after he had commenced to free the country from the
weight of the loans and taxes which crushed her to the dust, Colbert was
forced to heap upon her a new load of loans and taxes more heavy than
the last. Henceforth his life was a hopeless struggle, and the financial
and fiscal reform which, with the great exception of the establishment
of the navy, was the most valuable service to France contemplated by
him, came to nought.
Depressed by his failure, deeply wounded by the king's favour for
Louvois, and worn out by overwork, Colbert's strength gave way at a
comparatively early age. In 1680 he was the constant victim of severe
fevers, from which he recovered for a time through the use of quinine
prescribed by an English physician. But in 1683, at the age of
sixty-four, he was seized with a fatal illness, and on the 6th of
September he expired. It was said that he died of a broken heart, and a
conversation with the king is reported in which Louis disparagingly
compared the buildings of Versailles, which Colbert was superintending,
with the works constructed by Louvois in Flanders. He took to bed, it is
true, immediately afterwards, refusing to receive all messages from the
king; but his constitution was utterly broken before, and a post-mortem
examination proved that he had been suffering from stone. His body was
interred in the secrecy of night, for fear of outrage from the
Parisians, by whom his name was cordially detested.
Colbert was a great statesman, who did much for France. Yet his insight
into political science was not deeper than that of his age; nor did he
possess any superiority in moral qualities. His rule was a very bad
example of over-government. He did not believe in popular liberty;, the
parlements and the states-general received no support from him. The
technicalities of justice he never allowed to interfere with his plans;
but he did not hesitate to shield his friends. He trafficked in public
offices for the profit of Mazarin and in his own behalf. He caused the
suffering of thousands in the galleys; he had no ear, it is said, for
the cry of the suppliant. There was indeed a more human side to his
character, as is shown in his letters, full of wise advice and
affectionate care, to his children, his brothers, his cousins even. Yet
to all outside he was "the man of marble." Madame de Sevigne called him
"the North." To diplomacy he never pretended; persuasion and deceit were
not the weapons he employed; all his work was carried out by the iron
hand of authority. He was a great statesman in that he conceived a
magnificent yet practicable scheme for making France first among
nations, and in that he possessed a matchless faculty for work, neither
shrinking from the vastest undertakings nor scorning the most trivial
details.
Numerous _vies_ and _eloges_ of Colbert have been published; but the
most thorough student of his life and administration was Pierre
Clement, member of the Institute, who in 1846 published his _Vie de
Colbert_, and in 1861 the first of the 9 vols. of the _Lettres,
instructions, et memoires de Colbert_. The historical introductions
prefixed to each of these volumes have been published by Mme. Clement
under the title of the _Histoire de Colbert et de son administration_
(3rd ed., 1892). The best short account of Colbert as a statesman is
that in Lavisse, _Histoire de France_ (1905), which gives a thorough
study of the administration. Among Colbert's papers are _Memoires sur
les affaires de finance de France_ (written about 1663), a fragment
entitled _Particularites secretes de la vie du Roy_, and other
accounts of the earlier part of the reign of Louis XIV. (J. T. S.)