CORVEE. 452 CORY. for 100 days to clean the irrigating canals; but tlic obligation was gradually abolished until, in 1887. through the efforts of'tlip British, the cor- V('>e was wholly done away with, and the labor peifornied by contract. CORVEI, kor'vi (ML. Corheia Nova, New Corbeia, as it was first occupied by monks from Corbie). A Benedictine abbey of Germany, on the Weser, near Hiixter, the oldest and most famous abbey in Saxony. It was founded by Louis the Pious in the beginning of the ninth century, being a colony from the monastery of the same name in Picardy. It received rich en- dowments and was the centre of great agricul- tural improvement and prosperity during the earlier part of the Middle Ages, besides being the seat of a famous school. In 179.3 it was made a bishopric by Pius VL Its territory then em- braced about 22 square miles, with 10.000 inhabi- tants. In 1802 it was secularized and annexed to Nassau, from which it was transferred, in 1807, to Westphalia, and in 181.5 to Prussia. The church of the abbey is built in Gothic style, mag- nificently adorned in the interior, and contains a multitude of monuments of successive dynas- ties. The library and archives of the cloister, which contained most valuable records of the early ages of German history, have all been de- stroyed, the Chronica)! Corhcicnse, an alleged record of this abbey from its foundation to the end of the twelfth century, being a forgery. Cer- tain brief Annales Corbeknses from 648 to 1148 are, however, printed in the ilonumenta Ger- maniw Historica. Consult Wigand, Geschichte der Abtei Korvey (Hoxter, 1819). CORVETTE, kor-vet' (Fr., from Sp. corveta, corbchi. It. correlta, corvette, from Lat. corbita, slow ship of burden, from rorhis, basket). In the days of sailing men-of-war, a corvette was a ship-rigged vessel (i.e. having three masts, all squai'e rigged), carrying all her broadside guns on one covered deck. The upper deck, above the guns, was flush (i.e. was continuous from stem to stern, without poop or topgallant forecastle). Corvettes occasionally had a bow or stern chaser on the upper deck. COR'VID.ffi (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from corous, crow). A family of passerine birds which in- cludes the ravens, crows, magpies, jays, etc. See these words, and Plate of .J.YS, MXgpies, etc. CORVIN-WIERSBITZKI, k(5r'vsn-vers-bit'- ske. Otto von (1812-80). A German author, born at Gumbinnen. He took part in the revo- lutionary uprising in Baden in 1848 and 1849, and became chief of the General Staft' of the Republican forces at Rastatt. He was condemned to death, but the sentence was commuted to six years' solitary confinement. In 18.5.5 he went to London, whence in 1801 he proceeded to the United States to act as the war correspondent of the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitinig. During the Franco-German War he was the correspondent of the Vienna Netie Freie Pressc, and his experiences are admirably de- scribed in his well-knowii book. In France with the Germans (1872). In his earlier years Cor- vin devised 'Corviniello.' a species of metal-work inlaid with mother-of-pearl, stones, or other ma- terials. His numerous historical and other writ- ings include: Historischc Dcnkmole des christ- lichen. Fanatismus (1845). the second edition of which appeared under the title Pfaffenspicgel (1809), and was further supplemented by Die Geissler (3d ed., 1892-93). Consult his Erin- iieriingen aiis ineinem Lebcn (4th ed., Rudolstadt, 1890-92). CORVINO, kor-ve'no. A miserly fortune- lumter, the husband of C'elia, in .lonson's lo(- pone. He is condemned, in the last act, to he rowed — "Round about Veuioe, tliroujJ:h the Grand Canal Wearing a cap with fair long- asses' ears." CORVI'NUS, Matthias. See Matthias COKVIXUS. COR'VO (Sp., crow). The most northerly of the Azores (q.v.). (Map: Portugal, A 4.) COR'VUS, JIarcus Valerius. A general of the early Roman Republic. He was bom about B.C. 370. He was twice dictator and six times consul, and occupied the curule chair twenty-one times. He defeated the Gauls, the Volsci, the Sanmites, the Etruscans, and the Marsi. He lived to be one hundred years old. COR'WIN, EnwARD Tanjore (1834—). An American writer, and historian of the Reformed Dutch Church. He was horn in New York City, •July 12, 1834; graduated at the present College of the City of New York in 18:53, and at the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, N. -J., in 1856. He has held various pastorates, but his reputation rests upon his literary work, which has made him the recognized historian of his de- nomination. He has published in book form: Manual and Record of the Church of Paramus, W. J. (New York. 1858: 2d ed. 1859) : Manval of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in '^orth America (1859; 4th ed. 1902) ; Millstone Centennial (186G) : Corwin Genealof/y (1872) ; A History of the Reformed Church, Dutch (1895). He has for many years been engaged u|ion a translation and elaborate annotation of the so- called Am.sterdam Correspondence, or the letters which passed Ijetween the Classis of Amster- dam and the churches in the New Netherlands and Province of New Y'ork, and so are an impor- tant historical source. He discovered much of this correspondence himself. Its publication by the State of New Y'ork was authorized in 1900. CORWIN, Thomas (1794-1805). An Ameri- can lawyer and statesman, born in Bourbon C^ounty, Kentucky. He studied and practiced law in Ohio, where his eloquence soon won him ])rominence. He was a member of the State I.,egislature from 1822 to 1829. and of Congress from 1830 to 1840, when he was cliosen Governor of Ohio. From 1844 to 1850 he was a member of the United States Senate, and in the latter year became Secretary of the Treasury in Presi- dent Fillmore's Cabinet. He was again in Con- gress (1858-60) and was Minister to Mexico from 1861 to 1864. As an orator he won his greatest distinction, his speeches both on the stump and in debate being examples of remark- able eloquence. His arraignment of the adminis- tration for the war with JTexico was a notable effort, ^^•hicll made him many enemies and dam- aged his political career. Consult: Strohn (editor), T.ifc and Speeches of Thomas Cor win (Davton. 1S59) : and Russell, Thomas Corwin (Cincinnati, 1882). CO'RY, Charles Barney (1857—) An American ornithologist, professor and honorary
