AM, THOMAS, English philanthropist, the founder of the Foundling
Hospital, born at Lyme Regis; a man of varied ventures by sea and land;
settled in London; was touched by the sufferings of the poor, where, with
warm support from Hogarth, he founded the said institution; his charity
so impoverished him that he ended his days as an object of charity
himself, being dependent on a small annuity raised by subscription
(1667-1751).

CORATO (30), a town in a fertile region in S. Italy, 25 m. W. of
Bari.

CORBLE-STEPS, or CROW-STEPS, steps ascending the gable of a
house, common in old Scotch gables as well as in the Netherlands and
elsewhere in old towns.

COR`BULO, a distinguished general under Claudius and Nero, who
conquered the Parthians; Nero, being jealous of him, invited him to
Corinth, where he found a death-warrant awaiting him, upon which he
plunged his sword into his breast and exclaimed, "Well deserved!" in 72
A.D.

CORCY`RA, an Ionian island, now CORFU (q. v.).

CORDAY, CHARLOTTE, a French heroine, born at St. Saturnin, of good
birth, granddaughter of Corneille; well read in Voltaire and Plutarch;
favoured the Revolution, but was shocked at the atrocities of the
Jacobins; started from Caen for Paris as an avenging angel; sought out
Marat, with difficulty got access to him, stabbed him to the heart as he
sat "stewing in slipper-bath," and "his life with a groan gushed out,
indignant, to the shades below"; when arrested, she "quietly
surrendered"; when questioned as to her motive, she answered, "I killed
one man to save a hundred thousand"; she was guillotined next day
(1763-1793).

CORDELIA, the youngest and favourite daughter of King Lear.

CORDELIERS, (1) the strictest branch of the Franciscan Order of
Monks, so called from wearing a girdle of knotted cord; (2) also a club
during the French Revolution, founded in 1789, its prominent members,
Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Marat; was a secession from the Jacobin
Club, which was thought lukewarm, and met in what had been a convent of
the Cordeliers monks; it expired with Danton.

CORDERIUS, a grammarian, born in Normandy; being a Protestant
settled in Geneva and taught; author of Latin "Colloquies," once very
famous (1478-1567).

CORDILLERAS, the name of several chains of mountains in S. America.

CORDITE, a smokeless powder, invented by Sir F. A. Abel, being
composed principally of gun-cotton and glycerine.

CORDON BLUE, former