1. That the world is eternal both in matter and form. Aristotle taught that heaven and earth, inanimate substances and living beings, had no beginning, but were the eternal effect of an eternal cause. Yet he believed that that cause was a spiritual substance; that God is an intelligent spirit, incorporeal, indivisible, immovable, the mover of all things; and that the world is an emanation from him rather than a creation by him. 2. That the matter of the world is eternal, but not its form. Asserting that from nothing nothing could come, many felt compelled to maintain that the world has always existed in some form. Yet the many evident changes equally compelled them to deny that any one form was eternal. The first forms, as they said, had a succession of vari. able movements which became regular by chance. The Greek poets, following the old mythological views, represent the universe as coming forth from chaos and darkness, without the action of God. Some philosophers ascribed all things to an infinity of atoms or indivisible particles, having form, size, and weight, existing from eternity, moving by chance, combining into a variety of substances, and changed in the progress of time into the present organization of things. The Stoics attributed the origin of all things to two principles which they called God and matter, yet regarded them both as corporeal, as they did not admit the existence of spiritual beings. 3. The third theory ascribes the origin of the world to a great spiritual creator. There are traces of it among the Etruscans, Magi, Druids, and Brahmans, who probably derived it by tradition from a primitive revelation. It was, to some extent, received among the Greeks and Romans. It is especially the doctrine of the Scriptures, which teach it with the supreme design of exhibiting the wisdom and power of God rather than ot setting forth, with what we call scientific exactness, the modes and processes by which the worlds were formed. They employ common language as that which the most scientific and the most uncultured alike understand and use. And although their main design is not to teach physical science, yet, considered as the word of God, whe never they do speak concerning his works, they must speak the truth. That the harmony between the word and the works may appear, it is necessary that both should be fully understood. If either or both be incorrectly interpreted, contradictions necessarily appear. In the past, the interpretations of both have been either absolutely false or only imperfectly true. But as biblical and physical science, each in its own line, advance towards perfection, the harmony between them is seen to be great and wonderful.

The account at the opening of the Bible, as at present understood, sets forth the following points. 1. That the matter of the world had its origin in the beginning" by the action of God. The word bara, translated "create," is used three times in the narrative, at its great transition points, with reference to the original matter, of animal life, and of man endowed with spiritual life; in all other instances, where processes of formation only are implied, another word, asah, translated "made," is used; and at the close both are joined together: God created to make." 2. Matter in its primitive state is said to have been "without form and void;" both words have substantially the same meaning-empty, and by the repetition signify very empty; thus they supply the fit description of gaseous matter. 3. It is said that darkness prevailed unbroken. 4. That motion was imparted to the mass. The root of the word te-hom signifies, revolving or circular motion, and the form of it denotes that to which such motion has been imparted. 5. The action of God's power on the mass. 6. Light diffused through the mass as one of the first results of motion. 7. Separation of light from darkness. Light, wherever existing, is called "day," and darkness, wherever remaining, is called night. This marked off the first period. 8. The second period was distinguished by the formation, not of a "firmament" (as the English translation has it, from the Latin firmamentum, and that from the Greek бтɛрɛwμα, all describing the heaven as a solid sphere), but of an expanse, as Moses says, giving a good expression for the atmosphere expanded around the world. The great idea of the second period's work is division or separation. This follows from motion as certainly as light. "The vast primitive nebula of the first period breaks up into masses, and these are concentrated into stars." 9. To the third period two works are assigned: (a) The formation of the material globe of the earth. The main fact expressed is the condensation of matter into the solid globe and its liquid covering. The result is given without any statement of the process. (b) The introduction of vegetable life as the connecting link between inert matter and animal life. An outline of the system is given once for all at the origin of it. 10. At the fourth period, the sun, moon, and stars appeared as within the earth's atmosphere, to give light to the earth; to divide its day from its night; and to govern its seasons, days, and years. These were not formed in the fourth period, but then appeared, the original light of the earth having declined sufficiently to make them visible within its atmosphere. 11. The fifth and sixth periods unfold the successive creation of the various tribes of animals which people the water, the air, and the land, “in the precise order indicated by geology." In the fifth the water-animals were created, marine monsters and birds; the sixth (the third period in the era of life) was distinguished (as the third in the era of matter had been) by two works: (a) the formation of the higher animals that live on the land, and (b) the creation of man. For the former, the word employed is "God made." The word "create" having been used to describe the beginning of animal life, all the modifications of it are described only as "made." But the second work of the sixth period was the introduction of a higher order of life, consequently it is said, God "created" man in his image.

12. The creative and formative works of the six periods are followed by the seventh, the period of God's resting from them both. That this is still in progress is indicated in the record by no evening being assigned to it, as had been to all of the six, and in the universe by its being simply upheld in existence without the creation of any new worlds or new orders of creatures. And as the Scriptures, at the beginning, declare the fact of God's resting from the work of formation, so, at the close, they announce that the work is to be resumed. He that sitteth on the throne said—“Behold, I make all things new." These six periods of work the account calls "days." For a long time it was assumed, without reflection, that they were only 24 hours long. Consequently when, by examination of the rocks and strata of the earth, scientific inquirers were brought to believe that its formation had been continued through a very long period, there was an apparent and startling contradiction between the new science and the Bible. But the account in Genesis nowhere limits the length of the periods. It uses the Hebrew word yōm (to which the English word "day" corresponds) in six different applications. 1. As meaning light, in opposition to darkness or night, without reference to duration. 2. The day of 24 hours-the period of the rotation of the earth, indicated by the apparent rising and setting of the sun and stars. 3. The illuminated portion of these 24 hours, as distinguished from the dark, making the earth's day and night. 4. The cosmogonic day, the length of which is the question to be determined. 5. The sum of the whole six of these periods-" in the day that the Lord God made the heavens and the earth." 6. The seventh day, without being yet ended, has already been as long as the whole number of years since the earth and heaven were made ready for man—that is, according to the lowest computation, nearly 6, 000 solar years. Moreover, the account does not determine how long the interval was between "the beginning" and the origin of light, or that between the successive periods of work. If, therefore, the strata of the earth certainly show that they have been formed during a very long period of time, what is there in the Mosaic account that is inconsistent with thein? The views on the scientific side of the subject presented in this article have been either taken from the published writings of prof. Arnold H. Guyot or confirmed by comparison with them.

COS MOS. See COSMOGONY.

COSNE, a t. of France, in the department of Nièvre, and on the right bank of the Loire, here crossed by a suspension bridge. It has iron manufactures. Pop. '81,6,000.

COS'SACKS (Russ. Kasak), a race whose origin is hardly less disputed than that of their name. The latter has been variously derived from words meaning, in radically distinct languages, "an armed man, a saber, a rover, a goat, a promontory, a coat, a cassock, and a district in Circassia." The C. are by some held to be Tartars, by more to be of nearly pure Russian stock. The most probable view is that they are a people of very mixed origin. Slavonic settlers seem to have mingled with Tartar and Circassian tribes in the regions to the s. of Poland and Muscovy, in the Ukraine and on the lower Don; and to have given to the new race, first heard of as Cossacks in the 10th c., a predominantly Russian character. On the conquest of Red Russia by Poland, numerous Russian refugees fled to the Cossack country; and more on the Tartar conquest of Muscovy. The numbers of the C. were also recruited from time to time by adventurers or fugitives from Poland, Hungary, Wallachia, and elsewhere; but in physique, as in language and religion, the C. have always been mainly Russian. They distinguished themselves in war against Turks and Tartars, and were known as a powerful military confederacy in the 15th century. The kings of Poland and the czars of Muscovy employed them largely to defend their frontiers, especially against nomadic neighbors; but the connection between the C. and their lords paramount was always very elastic, and was frequently repudiated to suit the convenience of either party. The C. are still the outposts of Russian authority towards Siberia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Living near, or as free Cossacks" amongst, hostile peoples, the C. developed their peculiar military organization-either forming a cordon of military settlements along the confines of occupied territory, or as isolated camps in the nomad country beyond. Agriculture they eschewed: self-reliance and readiness at all times for defense or assault were their chief characteristics; though such of them as inhabited the banks of the Don and Dnieper, and their islands, became and still are skillful boatmen and fishers. Their political constitution was completely democratical; all offices were elective for one year only; and every Cossack might be chosen to any post, includ ing the supreme one of Attaman or Hetman. This organization they have in great measure retained, though the office of Hetman was abolished by the emperor Nicholas, except as a title hereditary in the imperial family. There have been two main branches of the C.-the Malo-Russian and the Don Cossacks. To the first belonged the Zaporogian C., those dwelling near the Porogi or falls of the Dnieper. From them again are descended the Tschernomerian C., those of the Kuban valley and of Azov. From the Don C. spring those of the Volga or of Astrakhan, of the Terek valley, of Orenburg, of the Ural, and of Siberia. They furnish a large and valuable contingent of light cavalry to the Russian army, and are very patient of fatigue, hunger, thirst, and cold. The Don C. give name to a province with an area of nearly 60,000 sq.m., and a population of over a million inhabitants (of whom 20,000 are

Coster.

Kalmucks). Though the C. have generally been represented in the w. of Europe as little better than fierce savages, they have left a very favorable impression on those who have dwelt among them. Jonas Hanway found them in 1743 "a civilized, and a very gallant as well as sober people;" and many more recent travelers agree in asserting that the C. are in intelligence, cleanliness, refinement, and enterprise greatly the superiors of the average Russians. See Springer, Die Kosacken (1877), Wallace Mackenzie's Russia (1877), and an article in the Geographical Magazine for 1878.

COSSIMBAZAR' (Cossim's market), stands on the Bhagirathi, which is the first or most westerly offset of the Ganges, and is the river port of Moorshedabad. It was once famous for its silk manufactures. Pop. about 4,000.

COS'SUS. See GOAT MOTH.

COSTA, ISAAC DA, an eminent poet and religious writer, was b. at Amsterdam, Jan. 14, 1798. His parents were Portuguese Jews, who had settled in Holland. The first aspiration of his poetical genius having been shown by his Hebrew teacher to Bilderdijk, the latter expressed himself favorably regarding it, and a warm and lasting friendship sprang up between him and Costa. In his twentieth year, C. acquired the degree of doctor at law; and shortly after, having embraced Christianity, was baptized. This subjected him to considerable persecution, which, however, subsided as his genius gradually gained recognition. The most interesting of his writings to the British public are probably his translation of Byron's Cain; his Israel and the Gentiles; and Harmony of the Gospels, the last two of which have been translated into English. As a public lecturer, C. specially excelled. His Battle of Nieuwpoort, the last of his poems, is one of his masterpieces. He died April 28, 1860.

COSTA, Sir MICHAEL, a very popular musician and composer, was b. at Naples, Feb.. 1810. As he early showed a decided talent for music, he was sent to the conservatoire in his native city for education, where he greatly distinguished himself. In 1828, his fame, though he was then but 18, having reached England, he was invited to take part in the Birmingham musical festival, an invitation he complied with; and he was so well received in this country that he resolved to settle in it. In 1830, he was appointed conductor of the music in the Italian opera, London, an office which, in 1847, he resigned for a similar one in the royal Italian opera, Covent Garden. His great work, the oratorio Eli, produced at the Birmingham festival of 1855, raised him to a high rank as a composer. Naaman, first sung in Birmingham in 1864, was a great success. was knighted by queen Victoria in 1869; and, in the same year, received the royal order of Frederick from the king of Würtemberg, in token of his majesty's admiration of Eli, performed under the composer's direction at Stuttgart the previous November. C. is the author of several ballets, and of some operas, the most successful of which was Don Carlos. He d, 1884.

He

COSTA-CABRAL', ANTONIO BERNARDO DA, Count de Thomar, b. 1803; a Portuguese statesman, educated at Coimbra; judge of the supreme court in Oporto and in Lisbon; a representative in 1835, and prime minister in 1838, and again in 1841. In the next year he fomented insurrection in Oporto, assumed control of the army, established a censorship of the public schools, suppressed the universities, and so oppressed the people with taxes that he was driven from power in 1846. In 1849, he was once more appointed prime minister, and again played the dictator; but was compelled to resign. The queen refused to accept his resignation, and a revolution was started against him, which overthrew his administration in April, 1851. He fled to England, but returned the next year, and became a member of the council of state. From 1859 to 1861, he was minister to Brazil.

COSTA RICA, the most s. easterly state of Central America. It occupies the entire breadth from sea to sea between Nicaragua on the one side and New Granada on the other, stretching in n. lat. from 8° to 10° 40', and in w. long. from 83° to 85. With an area of 26,000 sq.m., it is estimated to contain (1870) 165,000 inhabitants. The country is generally mountainous—more so on the n.e. than on the s.w.—with many volcanoes, the temperature becoming mild and salubrious in proportion to the elevation. It yields gold and silver, tobacco, sarsaparilla, indigo, sugar, cocoa, and dye-woods. The principal staples, however, of foreign trade are coffee, hides, and cedar. These are exported chiefly from Punta Arenas, on the gulf of Nicoya, an inlet of the Pacific ocean. The other places of any note are San José, the capital, and the cities of Cantago, Alajuela, Eredia, Estrella, and Esparsa. The government is republican, the president being elected every four years. A notorious filibuster, William Walker, put Costa Rica, some years ago, too much trouble commercially and politically. Estimated revenue in 1880-81, £475,000. In 1880, the imports amounted to £600,000, the exports to £750,000. The exports consist chiefly of coffee, of which upwards of 24,000,000 lbs. were exported in 1880. A railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific, by way of San José, is being constructed.

COSTA RICA (ante). This republic has been an independent state since 1821, from 1824 to 1839 forming a part of the confederation of Central America, and subsequently separate; now governed under the constitution of Dec. 22, 1871. The legislative power is vested in a congress of one chamber, chosen in electoral assemblies, the members of