Cooper, Anthony

ASHLEY. See SHAFTESBURY, (EARL OF.) Cooper, JAMES FENI MORE, a distinguished American novelist, B. at Burlington, N. J., Sept. 15, 1789. His father, Judge C., was a large land-holder in Otsego co., in that State, residing alternately at Burlington and Coopers town, and giving his name to the latter township, which became afterwards his residence. C. received the rudiments of a cla ical education under a private instructor at Burlington, and entered Yale College in 1802. An innate pa ion for the sea, and an unconquerable love of adventure led him, among other causes, to enter the navy in 1806 as a midshipman. He remained in it for six years; and the influence of this period of his life is indelibly stamped upon his works. In 1811 C. resigned his post in the navy, and after a short residence at West Chester, in the vicinity of New York, he removed to Coopers town and pursued in earnest his career as a writer of fiction. He had previously published his maiden novel, entitled Precaution, a work of little promise. Within 15 years, he succe ively produced The Spy, The Pioneers, The Pilot, Lionel Lincoln, and The Last of the Mohicans; triumphantly a erting his claim to the character of an original and powerful novelist. Soon after the appearance of The Last of the Mohicans, in 1826, C. sailed for Europe, where he remained for several years. During this time he wrote several of his most succe ful works, including The Bravo, The Red Rover, and The Prairie, and soon established a reputation which, with the robust qualities of his personal character, and the dignified frankne of his manner, made him a welcome visitant in the most distinguished European circles. His most valuable productions after his return to his country are, The Path finder, The Deers layer, The Two Admirals, and Wing and Wing; all of which display his admirable power of invention, his bold conceptions of character, and his rare mastery of graphic and impre ive portraiture. His subsequent performances, in which he endeavors to use the novel as a vehicle for political declamation, are unworthy of his fame. This great novelist D. 1851. His geon and anatomist, B. at Brooke, in Norfolk, 1768. In 1792, he was appointed Profe or of Anatomy at Surgeon's Hall, surgeon to Guy's Hospital in 1800, and Profe or of Comparative Anatomy in the College of Surgeons in 1813. He was then at the summit of his profe ion, and his annual income, which, in the fifth year of his practice, only amounted to $500, had risen to the large sum of $105,000! In 1830, he was made vice president of the Royal Society. He was also a member of the French Institute, corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, . His principal works are his treatise on Hernia , 1804-1807, and Anatomy and Diseases of the Breast , 1829-1840. D. 1841. A statue by Baily has been erected to his memory in St. Paul's Cathedral, London.