Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/1143

COC him to remain long at home; and in 1823 he embarked for South America, contemplating a journey on foot through the whole of that country. He died at Valencia, in the state of Columbia, on the 12th of August, 1825. His "Narrative of a Pedestrian Journey through Russia and Siberian Tartary, Frontier of China, to the Frozen Sea and Kamtschatka," published in 1824, contains many very curious and interesting details.—J. T.  *, rear-admiral, son of Sir Alexander, was born in 1789. He distinguished himself in the American war under the command of his father; was for some years governor of Newfoundland; in 1837 was elected member for Ipswich; in 1844 was appointed commander-in-chief on the East Indian station, and undertook a successful expedition against the pirates on the Indian Archipelago; and in 1846 seized the capital of the sultan of Borneo. Sir Thomas was raised to the rank of rear-admiral in 1850.—J. T.  * , son of Sir Thomas-John, was born in 1813. He has been successively member of parliament for Bridport, Lanarkshire, and Honiton. He is the author of two novels called "Lucille Belmont" and "Ernest Vane;" and a political work entitled "Young Italy," in which he espouses the cause of the governments of the peninsula in opposition to the liberal party.  COCHRAN, : this painter was born in 1738 at Strathern in Clydesdale. He was placed in the school of design at Glasgow, founded by the two famous painters, Robert and Andrew Foulis; and after studying there for some years, proceeded to Italy in 1761, and for five years received instruction from Gavin Hamilton. He then returned to Glasgow and worked hard for the support of his aged mother and himself. He painted portraits in oil and miniature, which obtained repute for their accuracy of likeness, and general correctness of drawing and colour. Some of his early works of more ambitious character are to be found in Glasgow, viz., "Dædalus and Icarus," and "Diana and Endymion." These were painted during his sojourn at Rome. From a remarkable feeling of diffidence or humility he would never send his works for exhibition at any of the public galleries, or, indeed, affix his name to them. He died at Glasgow in 1785, and was interred in the cathedral there. The inscription on his monument sums up his merits thus—"The works of his pencil and this marble bear record of an eminent artist and a virtuous man."—W. T.  COCKBURN,, the authoress of a number of plays and political and moral treatises which attained considerable celebrity in their day, was born in London in 1679. She was the daughter of a Scotch gentleman named Trotter, who held a naval command in the reign of Charles II.; and in 1708 she married a Scotch theologian of the name of Cockburn. She published three tragedies named "Agnes de Castro;" "Fatal Friendship;" "Gustavus Erikson, king of Sweden;" and a comedy entitled "Love at a Loss." She also wrote a "Discourse concerning a Guide in Controversy;" "A Letter to Dr. Holdsworth concerning the Resurrection of the same body;" "A defence of Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding;" and a "Vindidication of Locke's Christian principles," in reply to Dr. Holdsworth; "Remarks upon Rutherford's Essay on the nature and obligations of Virtue," &c.—J. T.  COCKBURN,, a distinguished Scotch lawyer and judge, was born in 1779, and was the son of Archibald Cockburn, one of the barons of the exchequer in Scotland. He was educated at the high school of Edinburgh, which then numbered amongst its pupils. Brougham, Scott, Jeffrey, and Horner. His education was completed at the university of Edinburgh, and in the far-famed Speculative Society, in which his schoolfellows mentioned above, along with Lord Henry Petty (now marquis of Lansdowne), James Moncrieff, and Charles and Robert Grant, took an active part in the discussions. Cockburn was called to the bar in 1800, and although he was nephew to Lord Melville the great dispenser of the court patronage in Scotland, and all his family connections were staunch tories, the young advocate adopted at the outset the liberal opinions to which he adhered through life. Notwithstanding that he was frowned on by the men in power, Cockburn made steady progress in his profession; he became peculiarly distinguished for eloquence and skill in his addresses to juries, and though the Scotch bar was then crowded with formidable competitors, he ultimately won his way into the foremost rank as a popular pleader. As a lawyer, he was inferior to several of his contemporaries, but as an orator, he stood at the very head of his profession. His powers of conversation also were of a high and rare order. He was gifted both with a lively fancy and with a quaint and pungent wit. His language was pure Scotch, such as was spoken by the higher classes in Scotland towards the close of last century, and he has justly been pronounced the model of a high-bred Scottish gentleman of the last distinctive school which his country produced. He was known to and heartily liked by all classes all over Scotland. Associated as he was in the most intimate personal friendship with the leading Edinburgh whigs, he took an active part in promoting the reform of our legal and political institutions; and when the liberal party obtained office in 1830, Cockburn became solicitor-general, while his friend Francis Jeffrey was appointed lord-advocate. In 1834 he was promoted to the bench as one of the lords of session, and three years later received the additional appointment of a lord commissioner of justiciary. As a judge he was painstaking, acute, judicious, and cautious, and his clear enunciation of legal principles, the soundness of his judgment, and his skill in the detection of sophistry gained him a high reputation in the criminal court; but on questions of feudal law his opinion did not carry much weight. He was universally esteemed and beloved as a relative, a friend, and a citizen. He died after a very brief illness on 26th April, 1854, while he was on circuit at Ayr. Lord Cockburn was an early contributor to the Edinburgh Review; but his first separate work was his "Life of Lord Jeffrey," in 2 vols. 8vo, published in 1852, a work remarkable for its genial, humorous, and picturesque writing. Since his death there has been published a volume entitled "Memorials of his time," containing an account of the distinguished men and important events that have marked the progress of Scotland, and especially of Edinburgh, during his day. It is a most delightful book, filled with inimitable sketches of character and manners.—J. T.  COCKBURN,, of Ormiston, a celebrated Scottish agriculturist, was born in the latter part of the seventeenth century, and was the son of Lord-justice-clerk Cockburn and Susan, the daughter of John, fourth earl of Haddington. John Cockburn was a member of the last Scottish parliament, and was the first representative of East Lothian in the parliament of Great Britain. At one period he also held the office of lord of the admiralty. It was not, however, the public, but the private career of the "father of Scottish husbandry" which has perpetuated his memory. He granted long leases to his tenants, introduced on his estate the culture of turnips, rape, and clover, brought down skilful agriculturists from England, and sent up thither the sons of his tenants to study the modes of cultivation practised in the south. He induced an eminent Irish manufacturer to set up a linen manufactory at Ormiston, and a bleachfield—the second establishment of the kind in Scotland—and brought over from Holland some workmen to give instruction in the art of bleaching. Potatoes were raised on his estate so early as 1734, and are said to have been introduced by the workmen of the Irish linen manufacturer. The Ormiston Agricultural Society, which was instituted by Mr. Cockburn, and comprised nearly all the ablest men in Scotland at that period, was of great service in promoting improvements in the rural economy of the kingdom. This patriotic and public-spirited gentleman died in 1758.—J. T.  COCKBURN, ., the authoress of the modern version of the celebrated Scotch song "The Flowers of the Forest," and various other poetical pieces of great merit, was the daughter of Rutherford of Fairnilee in Selkirkshire. She married in 1731 Patrick Cockburn, advocate, younger brother of Cockburn of Ormiston, the father of Scottish agriculture, and died in Edinburgh in 1794 at an advanced age. She was distinguished for her wit and conversational powers, as well as for her poetical abilities. Sir Walter Scott, who knew her well, says—"She maintained the rank in the society of Edinburgh which Frenchwomen of talent usually do in that of Paris; and her little parlour used to assemble a very distinguished and accomplished circle, among whom David Hume, John Home, Lord Monboddo, and many other men of name were frequently to be found. Her evening parties were very frequent, and included society distinguished both for rank and talents."—J. T. <section end="1143F" /> <section begin="1143Zcontin" />COCKBURN,, a Scottish divine and Oriental scholar, was a native of Langton in Berwickshire. He studied at Paris, and held for a considerable time the professorship of Oriental languages in the university of that city. He ultimately <section end="1143Zcontin" />