COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE (1789-1851).--Novelist, _b._ at Burlington, New Jersey, and _ed._ at Yale Coll., he in 1808 entered the U.S. Navy, in which he remained for 3 years, an experience which was of immense future value to him as an author. It was not until 1821 that his first novel, _Precaution_, appeared. Its want of success did not discourage him, and in the next year (1822), he produced _The Spy_, which at once gained him a high place as a story-teller. He wrote over 30 novels, of which may be mentioned _The Pioneers_ (1823), _The Pilot_ (1823), _The Last of the Mohicans_ (1826), _The Prairie_ (1826), _The Red Rover_ (1831), _The Bravo_ (1840), _The Pathfinder_, _The Deerslayer_ (1841), _The Two Admirals_ (1842), and _Satanstoe_ (1845). He also wrote a _Naval History of the United States_ (1839). C. was possessed of remarkable narrative and descriptive powers, and could occasionally delineate character. He had the merit of opening up an entirely new field, and giving expression to the spirit of the New World, but his true range was limited, and he sometimes showed a lack of judgment in choosing subjects with which he was not fitted to deal. He was a proud and combative but honest and estimable man. COOPER, THOMAS (1805-1892).--Chartist poet, was _b._ at Leicester, and apprenticed to a shoemaker. In spite of hardships and difficulties, he _ed._ himself, and at 23 was a schoolmaster. He became a leader and lecturer among the Chartists, and in 1842 was imprisoned in Stafford gaol for two years, where he wrote his _Purgatory of Suicides_, a political epic. At the same time he adopted sceptical views, which he continued to hold until 1855, when he became a Christian, joined the Baptists, and was a preacher among them. In his latter years he settled down into an old-fashioned Radical. His friends in 1867 raised an annuity for him, and in the last year of his life he received a government pension. In addition to his poems he wrote several novels. Somewhat impulsive, he was an honest and sincere man. CORBET, RICHARD (1582-1635).--Poet, _s._ of a gardener, was _ed._ at Westminster School and Oxf., and entered the Church, in which he obtained many preferments, and rose to be Bishop successively of Oxf. and Norwich. He was celebrated for his wit, which not seldom passed into buffoonery. 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.