Corneille, Pierre

( kor - na'ye,) named The Great by his admiring contemporaries, was the first, in the order of time, among those brilliant writers who did honor to France during the reign of Louis XIV. He had not been preceded by any dramatic writer whose genius was powerful enough to preserve his name in general remembrance; and himself preceding Molière by a good many years, and Racine by a whole generation, he learned but in part, and obeyed with reluctance, those formal rules which French critics were beginning to teach, and to which the French drama was gradually submitting itself. B. at Rouen, 1606, C. was the son of a lawyer, and himself attempted the same profe ion. But as early as his 23d year he entered on an uninterrupted course of devotion to dramatic composition. His first attempts were six rhymed comedies, and the strong but declamatory tragedy of Médée. These pieces were received with applause in a time when there was nothing better; but are now admitted to have been so feeble as to give but poor presage of the strength which worked within him. He was saved from prosecuting this career by being imprudent enough to offend Cardinal Richelieu, who had chosen him as one of the men of genius who were to found his French Academy. Retiring to Rouen, he turned his thoughts to tragedy, and studied the Spanish language, to have at his command the dramatic stories which it already po e ed. The fruits appeared in 1636, when he presented his romantic tragedy, The Cid. Its succe was prodigious, and was at length allowed to be deserved, even by the academicians who wished to flatter the prejudices of Richelieu. It is the most famous, and perhaps the greatest, of all Corneille's works. It is alike admirable for its skill of construction, its chivalrous dignity of sentiment, and the dramatic power with which it depicts the conflict of opposing pa ions. The poet, however, was sneered at for having freely borrowed incidents and ideas from a Spanish play; and he threw himself boldly on his own resources in his next two works, which stand, with the Cid , among his masterpieces. In Horace he dramatized with a defective plan but with great force of pa ion, and several very striking bursts of sentiment-the Roman combat of the Horatii and Curatii; and on Cinna , celebrating August us and the Romans of his age, he bestowed an artful dexterity of management which has recommended it, in spite of its artificiality of feeling, to the especial favor of the French critics. These two fine works, appearing in 1639, were immediately followed by a worthy succe or, the Polyeucte , a tragedy of Christian martyrdom. Fig . 688.-CORNEILLE. Soon afterwards appeared La Mort de Pompée , which is fine in some parts; and Le Menteur , the only one of its author's comedies that is held worthy of him, and pronounced to have been the earliest comedy of intrigue and character which did credit to French literature. It was imitated from the Spanish, and has itself been imitated in English by Steele, and translated by Foote. Rodogune was thought by the poet to be his best work; and its 5th act is declared by Voltaire to be the finest effort of the French drama. The works that he produced afterwards were unworthy of his name. In private life, C. was an una uming and plain man, who was always most at his ease in the bosom of his own family. D. 1684.- His young brother THOMAS, though now forgotten, was in his day a very popular dramatist, and famous for his readine of versification. The two brothers, whose wives were sisters, lived in the same house; and it is said that, when Pierre wanted a rhyme, he used to lift a trap-door, and call on Thomas for a istance. Cor'nel, n. [Fr. cornouiller (tree); cornouille (fruit); It. corniolo; Lat. cornus , from cornu , a horn.] ( Bot .) See CORNUS. Cor'nel-berry, Cornel'ian-cherry, n. ( Bot .) The fruit of the cornel. Cor'nel-cherry, Cornelian-tree, n. ( Bot .) The cornel-tree. - See CORNUS. Cornel i a, an illustrious Roman lady. She was a daughter of Scipio African us, wife of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, and mother of the two famous tribunes. She was of a grave and dignified deportment, and po e ed so great a control over her feelings, that when a friend condoled with her on the death of her sons, she replied, "The woman who had the Gracchi for sons can works there remains only his Lives of Illustrious Greek Generals. He appears to have also written the lives of the Roman Generals; but the work has been lost. Cornell', EZRA, B. in West chester co., N. Y., 1807. In 1828, with such an education as our common schools then afforded, he commenced his busine -career in the employment of Otis Eddy, a cotton manufacturer in Ithaca, N. Y., on the site of one of the magnificent university buildings which bears his name. Industry and talent soon promoted young C. to a more lucrative position. He was among the first to comprehend the value of the electric telegraph, and devoted many years to its introduction and development. He ama ed a large fortune, and has distinguished himself by many munificent gifts, ranking him among the benefactors of the age. A few years since, heunded the Cornell Library, at Ithaca, erected the building under his own supervision, and endowed its future support at a cost of $100,000, when he transferred it to a Board of Trustees, for the benefit of the town. Later he resolved to "found an institution where any person could find instruction in any study," and gave in one sum $500,000 to establish the Cornell University at Ithaca, to which he has since added large sums in money for cabinets and museums, and land for farm and buildings, besides devoting the remainder of his life to increase its funds, and perpetuate its existence. The Cornell University opened its first se ion in October, 1868, with 25 profe ors of the highest character and ability, and nearly 400 students. Here the student is provided with employment, if he desires to pay a portion of his expenses by his own labor. This is an American idea, and Mr. C. is entitled to the credit of its practical adoption. D. Dec. 9, 1874.