Part 26

COLLING, ROBERT (1749-1820), and CHARLES (1751-1836), English stock breeders, famous for their improvement of the Shorthorn breed of cattle, were the sons of Charles Colling, a farmer of Ketton near Darlington. Their lives are closely connected with the history of the Shorthorn breed. Of the two brothers, Charles is probably the better known, and it was his visit to the farm of Robert Bakewell at Dishley that first led the brothers to realize the possibilities of scientific cattle breeding. Charles succeeded to his father's farm at Ketton. Robert, after being first apprenticed to a grocer in Shields, took a farm at Barmpton. An animal which he bought at Charles's advice for £8 and afterwards sold to his brother, became known as the celebrated "Hubback," a bull which formed the basis of both the Ketton and Barmpton herds. The two brothers pursued the same system of "in and in" breeding which they had learned from Bakewell, and both the Ketton and the Barmpton herds were sold by auction in the autumn of 1810. The former with 47 lots brought £7116, and the latter with 61 lots £7852. Robert Colling died unmarried at Barmpton on the 7th of March 1820, leaving his property to his brother. Charles Colling, who is remembered as the owner of the famous bulls "Hubback," "Favourite" and "Comet," was more of a specialist and a business man than his brother. He died on the 16th of January 1836.

See the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 1899, for a biographical sketch of the brothers Colling, by C. J. Bates.

COLLINGWOOD, CUTHBERT COLLINGWOOD, BARON (1750-1810), British naval commander, was born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on the 26th of September 1750. He was early sent to school; and when only eleven years of age he was put on board the "Shannon," then under the command of Captain (afterwards Admiral) Brathwaite, a relative of his own, to whose care and attention he was in a great measure indebted for that nautical knowledge which shone forth so conspicuously in his subsequent career. After serving under Captain Brathwaite for some years, and also under Admiral Roddam, he went in 1774 to Boston with Admiral Graves, and served in the naval brigade at the battle of Bunker Hill (17th of June 1775), where he gained his lieutenancy. In 1779 he was made commander of the "Badger," and shortly afterwards post-captain of the "Hinchinbroke," a small frigate. In the spring of 1780 that vessel, under the command of Nelson, was employed upon an expedition to the Spanish Main, where it was proposed to pass into the Pacific by navigating boats along the river San Juan and the lakes Nicaragua and Leon. The attempt failed, and most of those engaged in it became victims to the deadly influence of the climate. Nelson was promoted to a larger vessel, and Collingwood succeeded him in the command. It is a fact worthy of record that the latter succeeded the former very frequently from the time when they first became acquainted, until the star of Nelson set at Trafalgar--giving place to that of Collingwood, less brilliant certainly, but not less steady in its lustre.

After commanding in another small frigate, Collingwood was promoted to the "Sampson" (64); and in 1783 he was appointed to the "Mediator," destined for the West Indies, where, with Nelson, who had a command on that station, he remained till the end of 1786. With Nelson he warmly co-operated in carrying into execution the provisions of the navigation laws, which had been infringed by the United States, whose ships, notwithstanding the separation of the countries, continued to trade to the West Indies, although that privilege was by law exclusively confined to British vessels. In 1786 Collingwood returned to England, where, with the exception of a voyage to the West Indies, he remained until 1793, in which year he was appointed captain of the "Prince," the flag-ship of Rear-Admiral Bowyer. About two years previous to this event he had married Miss Sarah Roddam--a fortunate alliance, which continued to be a solace to him amidst the privations to which the life of a seaman must ever be subject.

As captain of the "Barfleur," Collingwood was present at the naval engagement which was fought on the 1st of June 1794; and on that occasion he displayed equal judgment and courage. On board the "Excellent" he shared in the victory of the 14th of February 1797, when Sir John Jervis (Lord St Vincent) humbled the Spanish fleet off Cape St Vincent. His conduct in this engagement was the theme of universal admiration throughout the fleet, and greatly advanced his fame as a naval officer. After blockading Cadiz for some time, he returned for a few weeks to Portsmouth to repair. In the beginning of 1799 Collingwood was raised to the rank of vice-admiral, and hoisting his flag in the "Triumph," he joined the Channel Fleet, with which he proceeded to the Mediterranean, where the principal naval forces of France and Spain were assembled. Collingwood continued actively employed in watching the enemy, until the peace of Amiens restored him once more to the bosom of his family.

The domestic repose, however, which he so highly relished, was cut short by the recommencement of hostilities with France, and in the spring of 1803 he quitted the home to which he was never again to return. The duty upon which he was employed was that of watching the French fleet off Brest, and in the discharge of it he displayed the most unwearied vigilance. Nearly two years were spent in this employment; but Napoleon had at length matured his plans and equipped his armament, and the grand struggle which was to decide the fate of Europe and the dominion of the sea was close at hand. The enemy's fleet having sailed from Toulon, Admiral Collingwood was appointed to the command of a squadron, with orders to pursue them. The combined fleets of France and Spain, after spreading terror throughout the West Indies, returned to Cadiz. On their way thither they bore down upon Admiral Collingwood, who had only three vessels with him; but he succeeded in eluding the pursuit, although chased by sixteen ships of the line. Ere one-half of the enemy had entered the harbour he drew up before it and resumed the blockade, at the same time employing an ingenious artifice to conceal the inferiority of his force. But the combined fleet was at last compelled to quit Cadiz; and the battle of Trafalgar immediately followed. The brilliant conduct of Admiral Collingwood upon this occasion has been much and justly applauded. The French admiral drew up his fleet in the form of a crescent, and in a double line, every alternate ship being about a cable's length to windward of her second, both ahead and astern. The British fleet bore down upon this formidable and skilfully arranged armament in two separate lines, the one led by Nelson in the "Victory," and the other by Collingwood in the "Royal Sovereign." The latter vessel was the swifter sailer, and having shot considerably ahead of the rest of the fleet, was the first engaged. "See," said Nelson, pointing to the "Royal Sovereign" as she penetrated the centre of the enemy's line, "see how that noble fellow Collingwood carries his ship into action!" Probably it was at the same instant that Collingwood, as if in response to the observation of his great commander, remarked to his captain, "What would Nelson give to be here?" The consummate valour and skill evinced by Collingwood had a powerful moral influence upon both fleets. It was with the Spanish admiral's ship that the "Royal Sovereign" closed; and with such rapidity and precision did she pour in her broadsides upon the "Santa Anna," that the latter was on the eve of striking in the midst of thirty-three sail of the line, and almost before another British ship had fired a gun. Several other vessels, however, seeing the imminent peril of the Spanish flag-ship, came to her assistance, and hemmed in the "Royal Sovereign" on all sides; but the latter, after suffering severely, was relieved by the arrival of the rest of the British squadron; and not long afterwards the "Santa Anna" struck her colours. The result of the battle of Trafalgar, and the expense at which it was purchased, are well known. On the death of Nelson, Collingwood assumed the supreme command; and by his skill and judgment greatly contributed to the preservation of the British ships, as well as of those which were captured from the enemy. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Collingwood of Coldburne and Heathpool, and received the thanks of both Houses of Parliament, with a pension of £2000 per annum.

From this period until the death of Lord Collingwood no great naval

## action was fought; but he was much occupied in important political

transactions, in which he displayed remarkable tact and judgment. Being appointed to the command of the Mediterranean fleet, he continued to cruise about, keeping a watchful eye upon the movements of the enemy. His health, however, which had begun to decline previously to the action of Trafalgar in 1805, seemed entirely to give way, and he repeatedly requested government to be relieved of his command, that he might return home; but he was urgently requested to remain, on the ground that his country could not dispense with his services. This conduct has been regarded as harsh; but the good sense and political sagacity which he displayed afford some palliation of the conduct of the government; and the high estimation in which he was held is proved by the circumstance that among the many able admirals, equal in rank and duration of service, none stood so prominently forward as to command the confidence of ministers and of the country to the same extent as he did. After many fruitless attempts to induce the enemy to put to sea, as well as to fall in with them when they had done so (which circumstance materially contributed to hasten his death), he expired on board the "Ville de Paris," then lying off Port Mahon, on the 7th of March 1810.

Lord Collingwood's merits as a naval officer were in every respect of the first order. In original genius and romantic daring he was inferior to Nelson, who indeed had no equal in an age fertile in great commanders. In seamanship, in general talent, and in reasoning upon the probability of events from a number of conflicting and ambiguous statements, Collingwood was equal to the hero of the Nile; indeed, many who were familiar with both give him the palm of superiority. His political penetration was remarkable; and so high was the opinion generally entertained of his judgment, that he was consulted in all quarters, and on all occasions, upon questions of general policy, of regulation, and even of trade. He was distinguished for benevolence and generosity; his acts of charity were frequent and bountiful, and the petition of real distress was never rejected by him. He was an enemy to impressment and to flogging; and so kind was he to his crew, that he obtained amongst them the honourable name of father. Between Nelson and Collingwood a close intimacy subsisted, from their first acquaintance in early life till the fall of the former at Trafalgar; and they lie side by side in the cathedral of St Paul's.

The selections from the public and private correspondence of Lord Collingwood, published in 2 vols., 8vo, in 1828, contain some of the best specimens of letter-writing in the language. See also _A Fine Old English Gentleman exemplified in the Life and Character of Lord Collingwood, a Biographical Study_, by William Davies (London, 1875).

COLLINGWOOD, a city of Bourke county, Victoria, Australia, suburban to Melbourne on the N.E., on the Yarra Yarra river. Pop. (1901) 32,766. It was the first town in Victoria incorporated after Melbourne and Geelong. It is esteemed one of the healthiest of the metropolitan suburbs.

COLLINGWOOD, a town of Simcoe county, Ontario, Canada, 90 m. N.N.W. of Toronto, on Georgian Bay, and on the Grand Trunk railway. Pop. (1901) 5755. It is the eastern terminus of two lines of steamers for the ports of Lakes Huron and Superior. It contains a large stone dry-dock and shipyard, pork factory, and saw and planing mills, and has a large lumber, grain and produce export trade, besides a shipbuilding plant and steel works.

COLLINS, ANTHONY (1676-1729), English deist, was born at Heston, near Hounslow in Middlesex, on the 21st of June 1676. He was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, and was for some time a student at the Middle Temple. The most interesting episode of his life was his intimacy with Locke, who in his letters speaks of him with affection and admiration. In 1715 he settled in Essex, where he held the offices of justice of the peace and deputy-lieutenant, which he had before held in Middlesex. He died at his house in Harley Street, London, on the 13th of December 1729.

His writings are important as gathering together the results of previous English Freethinkers. The imperturbable courtesy of his style is in striking contrast to the violence of his opponents; and it must be remembered that, in spite of his unorthodoxy, he was not an atheist or even an agnostic. In his own words, "Ignorance is the foundation of atheism, and freethinking the cure of it" (_Discourse of Freethinking_, 105).

His first work of note was his _Essay concerning the Use of Reason in Propositions the Evidence whereof depends on Human Testimony_ (1707), in which he rejected the distinction between _above_ reason and _contrary to_ reason, and demanded that revelation should conform to man's natural ideas of God. Like all his works, it was published anonymously, although the identity of the author was never long concealed. Six years later appeared his chief work, _A Discourse of Freethinking, occasioned by the Rise and Growth of a Sect called Freethinkers_ (1713). Notwithstanding the ambiguity of its title, and the fact that it attacks the priests of all churches without moderation, it contends for the most part, at least explicitly, for no more than must be admitted by every Protestant. Freethinking is a right which cannot and must not be limited, for it is the only means of attaining to a knowledge of truth, it essentially contributes to the well-being of society, and it is not only permitted but enjoined by the Bible. In fact the first introduction of Christianity and the success of all missionary enterprise involve freethinking (in its etymological sense) on the part of those converted. In England this essay, which was regarded and treated as a plea for deism, made a great sensation, calling forth several replies, among others from William Whiston, Bishop Hare, Bishop Hoadly, and Richard Bentley, who, under the signature of _Phileleutherus Lipsiensis_, roughly handles certain arguments carelessly expressed by Collins, but triumphs chiefly by an attack on trivial points of scholarship, his own pamphlet being by no means faultless in this very respect. Swift also, being satirically referred to in the book, made it the subject of a caricature.

In 1724 Collins published his _Discourse of the Grounds and Reasons of the Christian Religion_, with _An Apology for Free Debate and Liberty of Writing_ prefixed. Ostensibly it is written in opposition to Whiston's attempt to show that the books of the Old Testament did originally contain prophecies of events in the New Testament story, but that these had been eliminated or corrupted by the Jews, and to prove that the fulfilment of prophecy by the events of Christ's life is all "secondary, secret, allegorical, and mystical," since the original and literal reference is always to some other fact. Since, further, according to him the fulfilment of prophecy is the only valid proof of Christianity, he thus secretly aims a blow at Christianity as a revelation. The canonicity of the New Testament he ventures openly to deny, on the ground that the canon could be fixed only by men who were inspired. No less than thirty-five answers were directed against this book, the most noteworthy of which were those of Bishop Edward Chandler, Arthur Sykes and Samuel Clarke. To these, but with special reference to the work of Chandler, which maintained that a number of prophecies were literally fulfilled in Christ, Collins replied by his _Scheme of Literal Prophecy Considered_ (1727). An appendix contends against Whiston that the book of _Daniel_ was forged in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (see DEISM).

In philosophy, Collins takes a foremost place as a defender of Necessitarianism. His brief _Inquiry Concerning Human Liberty_ (1715) has not been excelled, at all events in its main outlines, as a statement of the determinist standpoint. One of his arguments, however, calls for special criticism,--his assertion that it is self-evident that nothing that has a beginning can be without a cause is an unwarranted assumption of the very point at issue. He was attacked in an elaborate treatise by Samuel Clarke, in whose system the freedom of the will is made essential to religion and morality. During Clarke's lifetime, fearing perhaps to be branded as an enemy of religion and morality, Collins made no reply, but in 1729 he published an answer, entitled _Liberty and Necessity_.

Besides these works he wrote _A Letter to Mr Dodwell_, arguing that it is conceivable that the soul may be material, and, secondly, that if the soul be immaterial it does not follow, as Clarke had contended, that it is immortal; _Vindication of the Divine Attributes_ (1710); _Priestcraft in Perfection_ (1709), in which he asserts that the clause "the Church ... Faith" in the twentieth of the Thirty-nine Articles was inserted by fraud.

See Kippis, _Biographia Britannica_; G. Lechler, _Geschichte des englischen Deismus_ (1841); J. Hunt, _Religious Thought in England_, ii. (1871); Leslie Stephen, _English Thought in the 18th Century_, i. (1881); A. W. Benn, _Hist. of English Rationalism in the 19th Century_ (London, 1906), vol. i. ch. iii.; J. M. Robertson, _Short History of Freethought_ (London, 1906); and Deism.

COLLINS, JOHN CHURTON (1848-1908), English literary critic, was born on the 26th of March 1848 at Bourton on the Water, Gloucestershire. From King Edward's school, Birmingham, he went to Balliol College, Oxford, where he graduated in 1872, and at once devoted himself to a literary career, as journalist, essayist and lecturer. His first book was a study of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1874), and later he edited various classical English writers, and published volumes on _Bolingbroke and Voltaire in England_ (1886), a _Study of English Literature_ (1891), a study of _Dean Swift_ (1893), _Essays and Studies_ (1895), _Ephemera Critica_ (1901), _Essays in Poetry and Criticism_ (1905), and _Rousseau and Voltaire_ (1908), his original essays being sharply controversial in tone, but full of knowledge. In 1904 he became professor of English literature at Birmingham University. For many years he was a prominent University Extension lecturer, and a constant contributor to the principal reviews. On the 15th of September 1908 he was found dead in a ditch near Lowestoft, at which place he had been staying with a doctor for the benefit of his health. The circumstances necessitated the holding of an inquest, the verdict being that of "accidental death."

COLLINS, MORTIMER (1827-1876), English writer, was born at Plymouth, where his father, Francis Collins, was a solicitor, on the 29th of June 1827. He was educated at a private school, and after some years spent as mathematical master at Queen Elizabeth's College, Guernsey, he went to London, where he devoted himself to journalism in the Conservative interest. In 1855 he published his _Idyls and Rhymes_; and in 1865 appeared his first story, _Who is the Heir?_ A second volume of lyrics, _The Inn of Strange Meetings_, was issued in 1871; and in 1872 he produced his longest and best sustained poem, _The British Birds, a communication from the Ghost of Aristophanes_. He also wrote several capital novels, the best of which is perhaps _Sweet Anne Page_ (1868). Some of his lyrics, in their light grace, their sparkling wit, their airy philosophy, are equal to anything of their kind in modern English. On his second marriage in 1868 he settled at Knowl Hill, Berkshire. Collins was an athlete, an excellent pedestrian, and an enthusiastic lover of country life; and from this time he rarely left his home for a day. Conservative in his political and literary tastes, an ardent upholder of Church and State, he was yet a hater of convention; and his many and very varied gifts endeared him to a large circle of friends. He died on the 28th of July 1876.

COLLINS, WILLIAM (1721-1759), English poet, was born on the 25th of December 1721. He divides with Gray the glory of being the greatest English lyrist of the 18th century. After some childish studies in Chichester, of which his father, a rich hatter, was the mayor, he was sent, in January 1733, to Winchester College, where Whitehead and Joseph Warton were his school-fellows. When he had been nine months at the school, Pope paid Winchester a visit and proposed a subject for a prize poem; it is legitimate to suppose that the lofty forehead, the brisk dark eyes and gracious oval of the childish face, as we know it in the only portrait existing of Collins, did not escape the great man's notice, then not a little occupied with the composition of the _Essay on Man_.

In 1734 the young poet published his first verses, in a sixpenny pamphlet on _The Royal Nuptials_, of which, however, no copy has come down to us; another poem, probably satiric, called _The Battle of the Schoolbooks_, was written about this time, and has also been lost. Fired by his poetic fellows to further feats in verse, Collins produced, in his seventeenth year, those _Persian Eclogues_ which were the only writings of his that were valued by the world during his own lifetime. They were not printed for some years, and meanwhile Collins sent, in January and October 1739, some verses to the _Gentleman's Magazine_, which attracted the notice and admiration of Johnson, then still young and uninfluential. In March 1740 he was admitted a commoner of Queen's College, Oxford, but did not go up to Oxford until July 1741, when he obtained a demyship at Magdalen College. At Oxford he continued his affectionate intimacy with the Wartons, and gained the friendship of Gilbert White. Early in 1742 the _Persian Eclogues_ appeared in London. They were four in number, and formed a modest pamphlet of not more than 300 lines in all. In a later edition, of 1759, the title was changed to _Oriental Eclogues_. Those pieces may be compared with Victor Hugo's _Les Orientales_, to which, of course, they are greatly inferior. Considered with regard to the time at which they were produced, they are more than meritorious, even brilliant, and one at least--the second--can be read with enjoyment at the present day. The rest, perhaps, will be found somewhat artificial and effete.