2 he _pub._
_Diana_, a collection of sonnets, and contributed to _England's Helicon_
four poems, including _Diaphenia_ and _Venus and Adonis_. His style is
characterised by fervour and richness of colour.

COOKE, JOHN ESTEN (1830-1886).--Novelist, _b._ in Virginia, illustrated
the life and history of his native state in the novels, _The Virginia
Comedians_ (1854), and _The Wearing of the Gray_, a tale of the Civil
War, and more formally in an excellent History of the State. His style
was somewhat high-flown.

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
additio