a monk, then a leech, then
prebendary of St. Maur, and lastly cure of Meudon (1483-1553).

CU'RIO, a gentleman attending on the Duke of Illyria.--Shakespeare,
_Twelfth Night_ (1614).

_Curio_. So Akenside calls Mr. Pulteney, and styles him "the betrayer
of his country," alluding to the great statesman's change of politics.
Curio was a young Roman senator, at one time the avowed enemy of
Caesar, but subsequently of Caesar's party, and one of the victims of
the civil war.

Is this the man in freedom's cause approved.
The man so great, so honored, so beloved ...
This Curio, hated now and scorned by all,
Who fell himself to work his country's fall?
Akenside, _Epistle to Curio_.

CURIOUS IMPERTINENT (_The_), a tale introduced by Cervantes in his
_Don Quixote_. The "impertinent" is an Italian gentleman who is silly
enough to make trial of his wife's fidelity by persuading a friend to
storm it if he can. Of course his friend "takes the fort," and the
fool is left to bewail his own folly.--Pt. I. iv. 5 (1605).

CURRER BELL, the _nom de plume_ of Charlotte Bronte, author of _Jane
Eyre_ [_Air_] (1816-1855).

CURTA'NA, the sword of Edward the Con'fessor, which had no point, and
was therefore the emblem of mercy. Till the reign of Henry III., the
royal sword of England was so called.

But when Curtana will not do the deed,
You lay the pointless clergy-weapon by,
And to the laws, your sword of justice, fly.
Dryden, _The Hind and the Panther_, ii. (1687).

CURTA'NA or COURTAIN, the sword of Ogier the Dane.

He [_Ogier_] drew Courtain his sword out of its
sheath.
W. Morris, _Earthly Paradise_, (634).

CURT-HOSE (2 _syl_.). Robert II. duc de Normandie (1087-1134).

CURT-MANTLE, Henry II. of England

(1133, 1154-1189). So called because he wore the Anjou mantle, which
was shorter than the robe worn by his predecessors.

CURTIS, one of Petruchio's servants.--Shakespeare, _Taming of the
Shrew_ (1594).

PARSON CUSHING, pastor of the Orthodox Church in Poganuc. In fits of
learned abstraction, he fed the dog surreptitiously under the table,
thereby encouraging his boys to trust his heart rather than his
tongue. He justifies the expulsion of the Indian tribes by Scripture
texts, and gathers eggs in the hay-mow with Dolly; upholds the
doctrines of his denomination and would seal his faith with his blood,
but admits that "the Thirty-nine articles (with some few exceptions)
are a very excellent state