A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature Part 12

His poems, which are often mere doggerel, were not _pub._ until after his death. They include _Journey to France_, _Iter Boreale_, the account of a tour from Oxf. to Newark, and the _Farewell to the Fairies_.

CORNWALL, BARRY, _see_ PROCTER, B.W.

CORY, WILLIAM JOHNSON (1823-1892).--Poet, _b._ at Torrington, and _ed._ at Eton, where he was afterwards a master. He was a brilliant writer of Latin verse. His chief poetical work is _Ionica_, containing poems in which he showed a true lyrical gift.

CORYATE, or CORYATT, THOMAS (1577-1617).--Poet, _b._ at Odcombe, Somerset, and _ed._ at Westminster and Oxf., entered the household of Prince Henry. In 1608 he made a walking tour in France, Italy, and Germany, walking nearly 2000 miles in one pair of shoes, which were, until 1702, hung up in Odcombe Church, and known as "the thousand mile shoes." He gave an amusing account of this in his _Coryate's Crudities hastily gobbled up_ (1611), prefixed to which were commendatory verses by many contemporary poets. A sequel, _Coryate's Crambe_, or _Colewort twice Sodden_ followed. Next year (1612) C. bade farewell to his fellow-townsmen, and set out on another journey to Greece, Egypt, and India, from which he never returned. He _d._ at Surat. Though odd and conceited, C. was a close observer, and took real pains in collecting information as to the places he visited.

COSTELLO, LOUISA STUART (1799-1877).--Poet and novelist, _b._ in Ireland, lived chiefly in Paris, where she was a miniature-painter. In 1815 she _pub._ _The Maid of the Cyprus Isle_, etc. (poems). She also wrote books of travel, which were very popular, as were her novels, chiefly founded on French history. Another work, _pub._ in 1835, is _Specimens of the Early Poetry of France_.

COTTON, CHARLES (1630-1687).--Poet and translator, succeeded to an embarra.s.sed estate, which his happy-go-lucky methods did not improve, wrote burlesques on _Virgil_ and _Lucian_, and made an excellent translation of _Montaigne's Essays_, also a humorous _Journey to Ireland_. C. was the friend of Izaak Walton, and wrote a second part of _The Complete Angler_. He was apparently always in difficulties, always happy, and always a favourite.

COTTON, SIR ROBERT BRUCE (1571-1631).--Antiquary, _b._ at Denton, Hunts, and _ed._ at Camb., was a great collector of charters and records throwing light upon English history, and co-operated with Camden (_q.v._). Among his works are a history of the _Raigne of Henry III._ (1627). He was the collector of the Cottonian library, now in the British Museum, and was the author of various political tracts.

COUSIN, ANNE ROSS (CUNDELL) (1824-1906).--Poetess, only _dau._ of D.R.

Cundell, M.D., Leith, _m._ 1847 Rev. Wm. Cousin, minister of the Free Church of Scotland, latterly at Melrose. Some of her hymns, especially "The Sands of Time are sinking," are known and sung over the English-speaking world. A collection of her poems, _Immanuel's Land and Other Pieces_, was _pub._ in 1876 under her initials A.R.C., by which she was most widely known.

COVERDALE, MILES (1488-1568).--Translator of the Bible, _b._ in Yorks.h.i.+re, and _ed._ at Camb. Originally an Augustinian monk, he became a supporter of the Reformation. In 1535 his translation of the Bible was _pub._, probably at Zurich. It bore the t.i.tle, _Biblia, the Bible: that is the Holy Scripture of the Olde and New Testament faithfully and newly translated out of the Doutche and Latyn into English_. C. was made Bishop of Exeter in 1551, but, on the accession of Mary, he was imprisoned for two years, at the end of which he was released and went to Denmark and afterwards to Geneva. On the death of Mary he returned to England, but the views he had imbibed in Geneva were adverse to his preferment. He ultimately, however, received a benefice in London, which he resigned before his death. Besides the Bible he translated many treatises of the Continental Reformers.

COWLEY, ABRAHAM (1618-1667).--Poet, _s._ of a grocer or stationer in London, where he was _b._ In childhood he was greatly influenced by reading Spenser, a copy of whose poems was in the possession of his mother. This, he said, made him a poet. His first book, _Poetic Blossoms_ (1633), was _pub._ when he was only 15. After being at Westminster School he went to Camb., where he was distinguished for his graceful translations. On the outbreak of the Civil War he joined the Royalists, was turned out of his college, and in 1646 followed the Queen to Paris, where he remained for 10 or 12 years, during which he rendered unwearied service to the royal family. At the Restoration he wrote some loyal odes, but was disappointed by being refused the Masters.h.i.+p of the Savoy, and retired to the country. He received a lease of Crown lands, but his life in the country did not yield him the happiness he expected.

He is said by Pope to have _d._ of a fever brought on by lying in the fields after a drinking-bout. The drinking-bout, however, is perhaps an ill-natured addition. C.'s fame among his contemporaries was much greater than that which posterity has accorded to him. His poems are marred by conceits and a forced and artificial brilliancy. In some of them, however, he sings pleasantly of gardens and country scenes. They comprise _Miscellanies_, _The Mistress, or Love Poems_ (1647), _Pindaric Odes_, and _The Davideis_, an epic on David (unfinished). He is at his best in such imitations of Anacreon as _The Gra.s.shopper_. His prose, especially in his Essays, though now almost unread, is better than his verse; simple and manly, it sometimes rises to eloquence. C. is buried in Westminster Abbey near Spenser.

Ed., Grosart (1881), Waller (1903).

COWPER, WILLIAM (1731-1800).--Poet, was the _s._ of the Rev. John C., Rector of Great Berkhampstead, Herts, and Chaplain to George II. His grandfather was a judge, and he was the grand-nephew of the 1st Earl C., the eminent Lord Chancellor. A shy and timid child, the death of his mother when he was 6 years old, and the sufferings inflicted upon him by a bullying schoolfellow at his first school, wounded his tender and shrinking spirit irrecoverably. He was sent to Westminster School, where he had for schoolfellows Churchill, the poet (_q.v._), and Warren Hastings. The powerful legal influence of his family naturally suggested his being destined for the law, and at 18 he entered the chambers of a solicitor, where he had for a companion Thurlow, the future Chancellor, a truly incongruous conjunction; the pair, however, seem to have got on well together, and employed their time chiefly in "giggling and making giggle." He then entered the Middle Temple, and in 1754 was called to the Bar. This was perhaps the happiest period of his life, being enlivened by the society of two cousins, Theodora and Harriet C. With the former he fell in love; but his proposal of marriage was opposed by her _f._, who had observed symptoms of morbidity in him, and he never met her again.

The latter, as Lady Hesketh, was in later days one of his most intimate friends. In 1759 he received a small sinecure appointment as Commissioner of Bankrupts, which he held for 5 years, and in 1763, through the influence of a relative, he received the offer of the desirable office of Clerk of the Journals to the House of Lords. He accepted the appointment, but the dread of having to make a formal appearance before the House so preyed upon his mind as to induce a temporary loss of reason, and he was sent to an asylum at St. Albans, where he remained for about a year. He had now no income beyond a small sum inherited from his _f._, and no aims in life; but friends supplemented his means sufficiently to enable him to lead with a quiet mind the life of retirement which he had resolved to follow. He went to Huntingdon, and there made the acquaintance of the Unwins, with whom he went to live as a boarder. The acquaintance soon ripened into a close friends.h.i.+p, and on the death, from an accident (1767), of Mr. U., C. accompanied his widow (the "Mary" of his poems) to Olney, where the Rev. John Newton (_q.v._) was curate. N. and C. became intimate friends, and collaborated in producing the well-known _Olney Hymns_, of which 67 were composed by C. He became engaged to Mary Unwin, but a fresh attack of his mental malady in 1773 prevented their marriage.

On his recovery he took to gardening, and amused himself by keeping pets, including the hares "Tiny" and "Puss," and the spaniel "Beau,"

immortalised in his works. The chief means, however, which he adopted for keeping his mind occupied and free from distressing ideas was the cultivation of his poetic gift. At the suggestion of Mrs. U., he wrote _The Progress of Error_; _Truth, Table Talk, Expostulation, Hope, Charity, Conversation_, and _Retirement_ were added, and the whole were _pub._ in one vol. in 1782. Though not received with acclamation, its signal merits of freshness, simplicity, graceful humour, and the pure idiomatic English in which it was written gradually obtained recognition, and the fame of the poet-recluse began to spread. His health had now become considerably re-established, and he enjoyed an unwonted measure of cheerfulness, which was fostered by the friends.h.i.+p of Lady Austin, who had become his neighbour. From her he received the story of John Gilpin, which he forthwith turned into his immortal ballad. Hers also was the suggestion that he should write a poem in blank verse, which gave its origin to his most famous poem, _The Task_. Before it was _pub._, however, the intimacy had, apparently owing to some little feminine jealousies, been broken off. _The Task_ was _pub._ in 1785, and met with immediate and distinguished success. Although not formally or professedly, it was, in fact, the beginning of an uprising against the cla.s.sical school of poetry, and the founding of a new school in which nature was the teacher.

As Dr. Stopford Brooke points out, "Cowper is the first of the poets who loves Nature entirely for her own sake," and in him "the idea of Mankind as a whole is fully formed." About this time he resumed his friends.h.i.+p with his cousin, Lady Hesketh, and, encouraged by her, he began his translation of _Homer_, which appeared in 1791. Before this he had removed with Mrs. U. to the village of Weston Underwood. His health had again given way; and in 1791 Mrs. U. became paralytic, and the object of his a.s.siduous and affectionate care. A settled gloom with occasional brighter intervals was now falling upon him. He strove to fight it by engaging in various translations, and in revising his _Homer_, and undertaking a new ed. of Milton, which last was, however, left unfinished. In 1794 a pension of 300 was conferred upon him, and in 1795 he removed with Mrs. U., now a helpless invalid, to East Dereham. Mrs. U.

_d._ in the following year, and three years later his own death released him from his heavy burden of trouble and sorrow. His last poem was _The Castaway_, which, with its darkness almost of despair, shows no loss of intellectual or poetic power. In addition to his reputation as a poet C.

has that of being among the very best of English letter-writers, and in this he shows, in an even easier and more unstudied manner, the same command of pure idiomatic English, the same acute observation, and the same mingling of gentle humour and melancholy. In literature C. is the connecting link between the cla.s.sical school of Pope and the natural school of Burns, Crabbe, and Wordsworth, having, however, much more in common with the latter.

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1731, _ed._ Westminster School, entered Middle Temple and called to the Bar, 1754, appointed Clerk of Journals of House of Lords, but mind gave way 1763, lives with the Unwins, became intimate with J.

Newton and with him writes _Olney Hymns_, _pub._ _Poems_ (_Progress of Error_, etc.), 1782, _Task_ 1785, _Homer_ 1791, _d._ 1731.

The standard ed. of C.'s works is Southey's, with memoir (15 vols.

1834-37). Others are the Aldine (1865), the Globe (1870). There are _Lives_ by Hayley (2 vols., 1805), Goldwin Smith (Men of Letters Series), and T. Wright.

c.o.xE, WILLIAM (1747-1828).--Historian, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Eton and Camb. As tutor to various young men of family he travelled much on the Continent, and _pub._ accounts of his journeys. His chief historical work is his _Memoirs of the House of Austria_ (1807), and he also wrote lives of Walpole, Marlborough, and others. He had access to valuable original sources, and his books, though somewhat heavy, are on the whole trustworthy, notwithstanding a decided Whig bias. He was a clergyman, and _d._ Archdeacon of Wilts.

CRABBE, GEORGE (1754-1832).--Poet, _b._ at Aldborough, Suffolk, where his _f._ was collector of salt dues, he was apprenticed to a surgeon, but, having no liking for the work, went to London to try his fortune in literature. Unsuccessful at first, he as a last resource wrote a letter to Burke enclosing some of his writings, and was immediately befriended by him, and taken into his own house, where he met Fox, Reynolds, and others. His first important work, _The Library_, was _pub._ in 1781, and received with favour. He took orders, and was appointed by the Duke of Rutland his domestic chaplain, residing with him at Belvoir Castle. Here in 1783 he _pub._ _The Village_, which established his reputation, and about the same time he was presented by Lord Thurlow to two small livings. He was now secured from want, made a happy marriage, and devoted himself to literary and scientific pursuits. The _Newspaper_ appeared in 1785, and was followed by a period of silence until 1807, when he came forward again with _The Parish Register_, followed by _The Borough_ (1810), _Tales in Verse_ (1812), and his last work, _Tales of the Hall_ (1817-18). In 1819 Murray the publisher gave him 3000 for the last named work and the unexpired copyright of his other poems. In 1822 he visited Sir Walter Scott at Edinburgh. Soon afterwards his health began to give way, and he _d._ in 1832. C. has been called "the poet of the poor." He describes in simple, but strong and vivid, verse their struggles, sorrows, weaknesses, crimes, and pleasures, sometimes with racy humour, oftener in sombre hues. His pathos, sparingly introduced, goes to the heart; his pictures of crime and despair not seldom rise to the terrific, and he has a marvellous power of painting natural scenery, and of bringing out in detail the beauty and picturesqueness of scenes at first sight uninteresting, or even uninviting. He is absolutely free from affectation or sentimentality, and may be regarded as one of the greatest masters of the realistic in our literature. With these merits he has certain faults, too great minuteness in his pictures, too frequent dwelling upon the sordid and depraved aspects of character, and some degree of harshness both in matter and manner, and not unfrequently a want of taste.

_Life_ prefixed to ed. of works by his son (1834), Ainger (Men of Letters, 1903). Works (Ward, 3 vols., 1906-7).

CRAIGIE, MRS. PEARL MARY TERESA (RICHARDS) (1867-1906).--_Dau._ of John Morgan, R. _b._ in Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts. Most of her education was received in London and Paris, and from childhood she was a great reader and observer. At 19 she _m._ Mr. R.W. Craigie, but the union did not prove happy and was, on her pet.i.tion, dissolved. In 1902 she became a Roman Catholic. She wrote, under the pseudonym of "John Oliver Hobbes," a number of novels and dramas, distinguished by originality of subject and treatment, brightness of humour, and finish of style, among which may be mentioned _Some Emotions and a Moral_, _The G.o.ds, Some Mortals and Lord Wickenham_ (1895), _The Herb Moon_ and _The School for Saints_ (1897), and _Robert Orange_ (1900), _The Dream and The Business_ (1907). Her dramas include _The Amba.s.sador_ and _The Bishop's Move_.

CRAIK, GEORGE LILLIE (1798-1866).--Writer on English literature, etc., _b._ at Kennoway, Fife, and _ed._ at St. Andrews, went to London in 1824, where he wrote largely for the "Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge." In 1849 he was appointed Prof. of English Literature and History at Belfast. Among his books are _The Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties_ (1831), _History of British Commerce_ (1844), and _History of English Literature and the English Language_ (1861). He was also joint author of _The Pictorial History of England_, and wrote books on Spenser and Bacon.

CRANMER, THOMAS (1489-1556).--Theologian and Churchman, _b._ at Aslacton, Notts, _ed._ at Camb., and became an eminent cla.s.sical and biblical scholar. He supported Henry VIII. in his divorce proceedings against Queen Catherine, gained the King's favour, and obtained rapid preferment, ending with the Primacy. He was one of the chief promoters of the Reformation in England. On the accession of Mary, he was committed to the Tower, and after a temporary failure of courage and constancy, suffered martyrdom at the stake. It is largely to C. that we owe the stately forms of the Book of Common Prayer. He also wrote over 40 works, and composed several hymns; but the influence of the Prayer-book in fixing the language is his great, though indirect, service to our literature.

Fox's _Book of Martyrs_, Strype's _Memorials of Cranmer_, Hook's _Lives of Archbishops of Canterbury_, etc.

CRASHAW, RICHARD (1613?-1649).--Poet, _s._ of William C., a Puritan divine, was _b._ in London, and _ed._ at Charterhouse and Camb., where he became a Fellow of Peterhouse, from which, however, he was, in 1643, ejected for refusing to take the Solemn League and Covenant. Thereafter he went to France, and joined the Roman communion. He suffered great straits, being almost reduced to starvation, but was, through the influence of Queen Henrietta Maria, appointed Sec. to Cardinal Palotta.

About 1649 he went to Italy, and in the following year became a canon of the Church of Loretto. He _d._ the same year. C. is said to have been an eloquent preacher, and was a scholar as well as a poet of a high order in the ecstatic and transcendental style. His chief work is _Steps to the Temple_ (1646), consisting mainly of religious poems somewhat in the style of Herbert; his _Weeping of the Magdalen_ is full of the most extravagant conceits, a fondness for which is, indeed, his besetting sin as a poet. His friend Cowley commemorated him in a beautiful ode.

CRAWFORD, FRANCIS MARION (1854-1909).--Novelist and historian, _s._ of Thomas C., an American sculptor, _b._ at Bagni di Lucca, Italy, and _ed._ in America, at Camb., and in Germany, he went to India and ed. _The Indian Herald_ (1879-80). Thereafter he settled in Italy, living chiefly at Sorrento, and becoming a Roman Catholic. His princ.i.p.al historical works are _Ave Roma Immortalis_ (1898), _The Rulers of the South_ (reprinted as _Sicily, Calabria, and Malta_, 1904), and _Venetian Gleanings_ (1905), but his reputation rests mainly on his novels, of which he wrote between 30 and 40, the best known of which are perhaps _Mr. Isaacs_ (1882), _Dr. Claudius_ (1883), _A Roman Singer_ (1884), _Marzio's Crucifix_ (1887), _Saracinesca_ (1887), _A Cigarette-maker's Romance_ (1890), generally considered his masterpiece, _Don Orsino_ (1892), _Pietro Ghisleri_ (1893), and _The Heart of Rome_ (1903). His one play is _Francesca, da Rimini_. His novels are all interesting, and written in a style of decided distinction. His historical works, though full of information, lack spirit.

CREASY, SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD (1812-1878).--Historian, _ed._ at Eton and Camb., and called to the Bar in 1837, he became in 1840 Prof. of History, London Univ., and in 1860 Chief Justice of Ceylon, when he was knighted.

His best known contribution to literature is his _Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World_ (1852). Other works are _Historical and Critical Account of the Several Invasions of England_ (1852), _History of the Ottoman Turks_, and _Imperial and Colonial Inst.i.tutions of the British Empire_ (1872).

CREECH, THOMAS (1659-1700).--Translator, _b._ near Sherborne, _ed._ at Oxf., became Head Master of Sherborne School. He translated _Lucretius_ in verse (1682), for which he received a Fellows.h.i.+p at Oxf., also Horace, Theocritus, and other cla.s.sics. Owing to a disappointment in love and pecuniary difficulties he hanged himself.

CREIGHTON, MANDELL (1843-1901).--Churchman and historian, _b._ at Carlisle, and _ed._ at Durham Grammar School and Merton Coll., Oxf., he took orders, and was presented to the living of Embleton, Northumberland, in 1875, where, in addition to zealous discharge of pastoral duties, he pursued the historical studies on the results of which his reputation chiefly rests. In 1882 the first two vols. of his _History of the Papacy_ appeared, followed by two more in 1887, and a fifth in 1894. In 1884 he was appointed first Dixie Prof. of Ecclesiastical History at Camb. He ed.

the _English Historical Review_ (1886-91). In 1891, after having held canonries at Worcester and Windsor, he became Bishop of Peterborough, from which he was in 1897 translated to London. His duties as Bishop of London made the completion of his great historical work an impossibility.

He wrote in addition to it various text-books on history, a life of Queen Elizabeth, a memoir of Sir George Grey, and many articles and reviews. He was recognised as a leading authority on the department of history to which he had specially devoted himself, and he made his mark as a Churchman.

CROKER, JOHN WILSON (1780-1857).--Politician and miscellaneous writer.

_Ed._ at Trinity Coll., Dublin, he entered Parliament as a Tory, and was appointed to various offices, including the Secretarys.h.i.+p of the Admiralty, which he held for 20 years. He was one of the founders of the _Quarterly Review_, and wrote some of its most violent political articles and reviews. He _pub._ in 1831 an ed. of _Boswell's Life of Johnson_. He also wrote some historical essays and satirical pieces.

CROKER, THOMAS CROFTON (1798-1854).--Irish Antiquary, _b._ at Cork, for some years held a position in the Admiralty. He devoted himself largely to the collection of ancient Irish poetry and folk-lore. Among his publications are _Researches in the South of Ireland_ (1824), _Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland_ (1825-27), _Popular Songs of Ireland_ (1837), _Daniel O'Rourke_ (1829), and _Barney Mahoney_ (1832). He a.s.sisted in founding the "Camden" and "Percy" Societies.

CROLY, GEORGE (1780-1860).--Poet, novelist, historian, and divine, _b._ at Dublin, and _ed._ at Trinity Coll. there, he took orders and became Rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, and had a high reputation as a preacher. He wrote poems, dramas, satires, novels, history, and theological works, and attained some measure of success in all. Perhaps his best known works are his novels, _Salathiel_ (1829), founded on the legend of "the wandering Jew," and _Mareton_ (1846). His chief contribution to theological literature is an exposition of the Apocalypse.

CROWE, CATHERINE (STEVENS) (1800-1876).--Wrote dramas, children's books, and one or two novels, including _Susan Hopley_ (1841), and _Lilly Dawson_ (1847), but is chiefly remembered for her _Night-side of Nature_ (1848), a collection of stories of the supernatural. Though somewhat morbid she had considerable talent.