Chapter 3: , page 89 (63)

"Cartagena is virtually the centre of political power in
Colombia, for it is the residence of President Nuñez, a
dictator without the name. Before the revolution of 1885,
during which Colon was burned and the Panama Railway protected
by American marines, the States enjoyed a large measure of
home rule. The insurgents who were defeated in that struggle
were Radicals and advanced Liberals. They were making a stand
against centralized government, and they were overthrown. When
the followers of Dr. Nuñez were victorious, they transformed
the constitutional system of the country. … Dr. Nuñez, who
had entered public life as a Radical agitator, swung
completely around the circle. As the leader of the National
party he became the ally of Clericalism, and the defender of
ecclesiastical privilege. Being a man of unrivalled capacity
for directing public affairs and enforcing party discipline,
he has established a highly centralized military government
without incurring unpopularity by remaining constantly in
sight and openly exercising authority. … Strong government
has not been without its advantages; but the system can hardly
be considered either republican or democratic. … Of all the
travesties of popular government which have been witnessed in
Spanish America, the political play enacted in Bogotá and
Cartagena is the most grotesque. Dr. Nuñez is known as the
titular President of the Republic. His practice is to go to
the capital at the beginning of the presidential term, and
when he has taken the oath of office to remain there a few
weeks until all matters of policy and discipline are arranged
among his followers. He then retires to his country-seat in
Cartagena, leaving the vice-President to bear the burdens of
state."

_I. N. Ford,
Tropical America,
chapter 12._

COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1892.
Re-election of President Nuñez.

In 1892, Dr. Rafael Nuñez was elected President for a fourth
term, the term of office being six years.

_Statesman's Year-book, 1893._

----------COLOMBIAN STATES: End----------

COLONI.

See DEDITITIUS.

COLONIA AGRIPPINENSIS.

Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus and the mother of Nero,
founded on the Rhine the Colonia Agrippinensis (modern
Cologne)—probably the only colony of Roman veterans ever
established under female auspices. The site had been
previously occupied by a village of the Ubii. "It is curious
that this abnormal colony has, alone, of all its kindred
foundations, retained to the present day the name of Colonia."

_C. Merivale,
History of the Romans,
chapter 50._

COLONIA, URUGUAY.

See ARGENTINE REPUBLIC: A. D. 1580-1777.

COLONIZATION SOCIETY, The American.

See SLAVERY, Negro: A. D. 1816-1847.

COLONNA, The.

See Roman: 13TH-14TH CENTURIES,
and A. D. 1347-1354;
also PAPACY: A. D. 1294-1348.

COLONUS, The.

See SLAVERY, MEDIÆVAL: GERMANY.

COLORADO: A. D. 1803-1848.
Acquisition of the eastern part in the Louisiana Purchase and
the western part from Mexico.

See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803; and MEXICO: A. D. 1848.

COLORADO: A. D. 1806-1876.
Early explorations.
Gold discoveries.
Territorial and state organization.

The first American explorer to penetrate to the mountains of
Colorado was Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, sent out with a small
party by General Wilkinson, in 1806. He approached within 15
miles of the Rocky Mountain Peak which bears his name. A more
extensive official exploration of the country was made in 1819
by Major Stephen H. Long, whose report upon the whole region
drained by the Missouri, Arkansas and Platte rivers and their
tributaries was unfavorable and discouraging. Fremont's
explorations, which touched Colorado, were made in 1843-44.
"The only persons encountered in the Rocky mountains by
Frémont at this time were the few remaining traders and their
former employees, now their colonists, who lived with their
Mexican and Indian wives and half-breed children in a
primitive manner of life, usually under the protection of some
defensive structure called a fort.
{489}
The first American families in Colorado were a part of the
Mormon battalion of 1846, who, with their wives and children,
resided at Pueblo from September to the spring and summer of
the following year, when they joined the Mormon emigration to
Salt Lake. … Measures were taken early in March, 1847, to
select locations for two United States forts between the
Missouri and the Rocky mountains, the sites selected being
those now occupied by Kearney City and Fort Laramie. … Up to
1853 Colorado's scant population still lived in or near some
defensive establishment, and had been decreasing rather than
increasing for the past decade, owing to the hostility of the
Indians." In 1858 the first organized searching or prospecting
for gold in the region was begun by a party of Cherokee
Indians and whites. Other parties soon followed; the search
succeeded; and the Pike's Peak mining region was speedily
swarming with eager adventurers. In the fall of 1858 two rival
towns were laid out on the opposite sides of Cherry Creek.
They were named respectively Auraria and Denver. The struggle
for existence between them was bitter, but brief. Auraria
succumbed and Denver survived, to become the metropolis of the
Mountains. The first attempt at political organization was
made at the Auraria settlement, in November, 1858, and took
the form of a provisional territorial organization, under the
name of the Territory of Jefferson; but the provisional
government did not succeed in establishing its authority,
opposed as it was by conflicting claims to territorial
jurisdiction on the part of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas,
Nebraska, and Dakota. At length, on the 28th of February,
1861, an act of Congress became law, by which the proposed new
territory was duly created, but not bearing the name of
Jefferson. "The name of Colorado was given to it at the
suggestion of the man selected for its first governor. …
'Some,' says Gilpin, 'wanted it called Jefferson, some
Arcadia. … I said the people have to a great extent named
the States after the great rivers of the country … and the
great feature of that country is the great Colorado river.'"
Remaining in the territorial condition until July 1876,
Colorado was then admitted to the Union as a state.

_H. H. Bancroft,
History of the Pacific States,
volume 20: Colorado, chapter 2-6._

----------COLORADO: End----------

COLOSSEUM, OR COLISEUM, The.

"The Flavian Amphitheatre, or Colosseum, was built by
Vespasian and Titus in the lowest part of the valley between
the Cælean and Esquiline Hills, which was then occupied by a
large artificial pool for naval fights ('Naumachia'). … The
exact date of the commencement of the Colosseum is doubtful,
but it was opened for use in A. D. 80. … As built by the
Flavian Emperors the upper galleries ('mœniani') were of wood,
and these, as in the case of the Circus Maximus, at many times
caught fire from lightning and other causes, and did much
damage to the stone-work of the building."

_J. H. Middleton,
Ancient Rome in 1885,
chapter 10._

ALSO IN:
_J. H. Parker,
Archaeology of Rome,
part 7._

_R. Burn,
Rome and the Campagna,
chapter 9, part 2._

See, also, ROME: A. D. 70-96.

COLOSSUS OF RHODES.

See RHODES.

COLUMBAN CHURCH, The.

The church, or the organization of Christianity, in Scotland,
which resulted from the labors of the Irish missionary,
Columba, in the sixth century, and which spread from the great
monastery that he founded on the little island of Iona, or Ia,
or Hii, near the greater island of Mull. The church of
Columba, "not only for a time embraced within its fold the
whole of Scotland north of the Firths of Forth and Clyde, and
was for a century and a half the national church of Scotland,
but was destined to give to the Angles of Northumbria the same
form of Christianity for a period of thirty years." It
represented some differences from the Roman church which two
centuries of isolation had produced in the Irish church, from
which it sprang.

_W. F. Skene,
Celtic Scotland,
book 2, chapter 3._

ALSO IN:
_Count de Montalembert,
The Monks of the West,
book 9 (volume 3)._

_G. F. Maclear,
Conversion of the West: The Celts,
chapters 7-10._

See CHRISTIANITY: 5TH-9TH CENTURIES, and 597-800.

COLUMBIA, The District of.

See WASHINGTON (CITY): A. D. 1791.

COLUMBIA, The District of: A. D. 1850.
Abolition of slave-trade in.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1850.

COLUMBIA, The District of: A. D. 1867.
Extension of suffrage to the Negroes.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1867 (JANUARY).

----------COLUMBIA, The District of: End----------

COLUMBIA, S. C., The burning of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1865
(FEBRUARY-MARCH: THE CAROLINAS).

COLUMBIA, Tennessee., Engagement at.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1864 (NOVEMBER: TENNESSEE).

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, The World's.

See CHICAGO: A. D. 1892-1893.
also _C. D. Arnold, Author H. D. Higinbotham,
Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition,
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22847_

COLUMBIAN ORDER, The.

See TAMMANY SOCIETY.

COLUMBUS, Voyages of.

See AMERICA: A. D.1484-1492; 1492; 1493-1496; 1498-1505.

COMANA.

Comana, an ancient city of Cappadocia, on the river Sarus
(Sihoon) was the seat of a priesthood, in the temple of Enyo,
or Bellona, so venerated, so wealthy and so powerful that the
chief priest of Comana counted among the great Asiatic
dignitaries in the time of Cæsar.

_G. Long,
Decline of the Roman Republic,
volume 5, chapter 22._

COMANCHES, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES:
SNOSHONEAN FAMILY, and KIOWAN FAMILY,
and APACHE GROUP.

COMANS, The.

See KIPCHAKS; PATCHINAKS; COSSACKS,
and HUNGARY: A. D. 1114-1301.

COMBAT, Judicial.

See WAGER OF BATTLE.

COMES LITTORIS SAXONICI.

See SAXON SHORE, COUNT OF.

COMES PALATII.

See PALATINE COUNTS.

COMITATUS. COMITES. GESITHS. THEGNS.

Comitatus is the name given by Tacitus to a body of warlike
companions among the ancient Germans "who attached themselves
in the closest manner to the chieftain of their choice. They
were in many cases the sons of the nobles who were ambitious
of renown or of a perfect education in arms. The princeps
provided for them horses, arms, and such rough equipment as
they wanted. These and plentiful entertainment were accepted
instead of wages. In time of war the comites fought for their
chief, at once his defenders and the rivals of his prowess.
… In the times of forced and unwelcome rest they were
thoroughly idle; they cared neither for farming nor for
hunting, but spent the time in feasting and in sleep. …
{490}
Like the Frank king, the Anglo-Saxon king seems to have
entered on the full possession of what had been the right of
the elective principes [to nominate and maintain a comitatus,
to which he could give territory and political power]: but the
very principle of the comitatus had undergone a change from
what it was in the time of Tacitus, when it reappears in our
historians, and it seems to have had in England a peculiar
development and a bearing of special importance on the
constitution. In Tacitus the comites are the personal
following of the princeps; they live in his house, are
maintained by his gifts, fight for him in the field. If there
is little difference between companions and servants, it is
because civilization has not yet introduced voluntary
helplessness. … Now the king, the perpetual princeps and
representative of the race, conveys to his personal following
public dignity and importance. His gesiths and thegns are
among the great and wise men of the land. The right of having
such dependents is not restricted to him, but the gesith of
the ealdorman or bishop is simply a retainer, a pupil or a
ward: the free household servants of the ceorl are in a
certain sense his gesiths also. But the gesiths of the king
are his guard and private council; they may be endowed by him
from the folkland and admitted by him to the witenagemot. …
The Danish huscarls of Canute are a late reproduction of what
the familia of the Northumbrian kings must have been in the
eighth century. … The development of the comitatus into a
territorial nobility seems to be a feature peculiar to English
history. … The Lombard gasind, and the Bavarian sindman were
originally the same thing as the Anglo-Saxon gesith. But they
sank into the general mass of vassalage as it grew up in the
ninth and tenth centuries. … Closely connected with the
gesith is the thegn; so closely that it is scarcely possible
to see the difference except in the nature of the employment.
The thegn seems to be primarily the warrior gesith; in this
idea Alfred uses the word as translating the 'miles' of Bede.
He is probably the gesith who has a particular military duty
in his master's service: But he also appears as a landowner.
The ceorl who has acquired five hides of land, and a special
appointment in the king's hall, with other judicial rights,
becomes thegn-worthy. … And from this point, the time of
Athelstan, the gesith is lost sight of, except very
occasionally; the more important members of the class having
become thegns, and the lesser sort sinking into the ranks of
mere servants to the king. The class of thegns now widens; on
the one hand the name is given to all who possess the proper
quantity of land, whether or no they stand in the old relation
to the king; on the other the remains of the old nobility
place themselves in the king's service. The name of thegn
covers the whole class which after the Conquest appears under
the name of knights, with the same qualification in land and
nearly the same obligations. It also carried so much of
nobility as is implied in hereditary privilege. The thegn-born
are contrasted with the ceorl-born; and are perhaps much the
same as the gesithcund. … Under the name of thegn are
included however various grades of dignity. The class of
king's thegns is distinguished from that of the medial thegns,
and from a residuum that falls in rank below the latter. …
The very name, like that of the gesith, has different senses
in different ages and kingdoms; but the original idea of
military service runs through all the meanings of thegn, as
that of personal association is traceable in all the
applications of gesith."

_William Stubbs,
Constitutional History of England,
chapter 2, section 14
and chapter 6, sections 63-65._

ALSO IN:
_T. Hodgkin,
Italy and Her Invaders,
book 4, chapter 7._

See, also, COUNT AND DUKE.

COMITIA CENTURIATA.

"Under the original constitution of Rome, the patricians alone
… enjoyed political rights in the state, but at the same
time they were forced to bear the whole burden of political
duties. In these last were included, for example, the tilling
of the king's fields, the construction of public works and
buildings; … citizens alone, also, were liable to service in
the army. … The political burdens, especially those
connected with the army, grew heavier, naturally, as the power
of Rome increased, and it was seen to be an injustice that one
part of the people, and that, too, the smaller part, should
alone feel their weight. This led to the first important
modification of the Roman constitution, which was made even
before the close of the regal period. According to tradition,
its author was the king Servius Tullius, and its general
object was to make all men who held land in the state liable
to military service. It thus conferred no political rights on
the plebeians, but assigned to them their share of political
duties. … According to tradition, all the freeholders in the
city between the ages of 17 and 60, with some exceptions, were
divided, without distinction as to birth, into five classes
('classis,' 'a summoning,' 'calo') for service in the infantry
according to the size of their estates. Those who were
excepted served as horsemen. These were selected from among
the very richest men in the state. … Of the five classes of
infantry, the first contained the richest men. … The members
of the first class were required to come to the battle array
in complete armor, while less was demanded of the other four.
Each class was subdivided into centuries or bodies of a
hundred men each, for convenience in arranging the army. There
were in all 193 centuries. … This absolute number and this
apportionment were continued, as the population increased and
the distribution of wealth altered, until the name century
came to have a purely conventional meaning, even if it had any
other in the beginning. Henceforth a careful census was taken
every fourth year, and all freeholders were made subject to
the 'tributum.' The arrangement of the people thus described
was primarily made simply for military purposes. …
Gradually, however, this organization came to have political
significance, until finally these men, got together for what
is the chief political duty in a primitive state, enjoyed what
political privileges there were. … In the end, this
'exercitus' of Servius Tullius formed another popular
assembly, the Comitia Centuriata, which supplanted the comitia
curiata entirely, except in matters connected with the
religion of the family and very soon of purely formal
significance. This organization, therefore, became of the
highest civil importance, and was continued for civil purposes
long after the army was marshalled on quite another plan."

_A. Tighe,
Development of the Roman Constitution,
chapter 4._

ALSO IN:
_W. Ihne,
History of Rome,
book 6, chapter 1_

_W. Ramsay,
Manual of Roman Antiquity,
chapter 4._

{491}

COMITIA CURIATA.

"In the beginning, any member of any one of the clans which
were included in the three original Roman tribes, was a Roman
citizen. So, too, were his children born in lawful wedlock,
and those who were adopted by him according to the forms of
law. Illegitimate children, on the other hand, were excluded
from the number of citizens. These earliest Romans called
themselves patricians (patricii, children of their fathers'),
for some reason about which we cannot be sure. Perhaps it was
in order to distinguish themselves from their illegitimate
kinsmen and from such other people as lived about, having no
pretense of blood connection with them, and who were,
therefore, incapable of contracting lawful marriages,
according to the patrician's view of this religious ceremony.
The patricians … were grouped together in families, clans
and tribes, partly on the basis of blood relationship, but
chiefly on the basis of common religious worship. Besides
these groups, there was still another in the state, the curia,
or 'ward,' which stood between the clan and the tribe. In the
earliest times, tradition said, ten families formed a clan,
ten clans a curia and ten curiæ a tribe. These numbers, if
they ever had any historical existence, could not have
sustained themselves for any length of time in the case of the
clans and families, for such organisms of necessity would
increase and decrease quite irregularly. About the nature of
the curia we have practically no direct information. The
organization had become a mere name at an early period in the
city's history. Whether the members of a curia thought of
themselves as having closer kinship with one another than with
members of other curiæ is not clear. We know, however, that
the curiæ were definite political sub-divisions of the city,
perhaps like modern wards, and that each curia had a common
religious worship for its members' participation. Thus much,
at any rate, is significant, because it has to do with the
form of Rome's primitive popular assembly. When the king
wanted to harangue the people ('populus,' cf. 'populor,' 'to
devastate') he called them to a 'contio' (compounded of 'co'
and 'venio'). But if he wanted to propose to them action which
implied a change in the organic law of the state, he summoned
them to a comitia (compounded of 'con' and 'eo'). To this the
name comitia curiata was given, because its members voted by
curiæ. Each curia had one vote, the character of which was
determined by a majority of its members, and a majority of the
curiæ decided the matter for the comitia."

_A. Tighe,
Development of the Roman Constitution,
chapter 3._

ALSO IN:
_T. Mommsen,
History of Rome,
book 1, chapter 5._

_F. De Coulanges,
The Ancient City,
book 3, chapter 1,
and book 4 chapter 1._

See, also, COMITIA CENTURIATA, and CONTIONES.

COMITIA TRIBUTA, The.

See ROME: B. C. 472-471.

COMMAGENE, Kingdom of.

A district of northern Syria, between Cilicia and the
Euphrates, which acquired independence during the disorders
which broke up the empire of the Seleucidæ, and was a separate
kingdom during the last century B. C. It was afterwards made a
Roman province. Its capital was Samosata.

COMMENDATION.

See BENEFICIUM

COMMERCIUM.

See MUNICIPIUM.

COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY,
The French Revolutionary.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (MARCH-JUNE),
and (JUNE-OCTOBER).

COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR, The.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1861-1862 (DECEMBER-MATCH: VIRGINIA).

COMMODUS, Roman Emperor, A. D. 180-192.

COMMON LAW, English.

"The municipal law of England, or the rule of civil conduct
prescribed to the inhabitants of this kingdom, may with
sufficient propriety be divided into two kinds; the 'lex non
scripta,' the unwritten or common law; and the 'lex scripta,'
the written or statute law. The 'lex non scripta,' or
unwritten law, includes not only general customs, or the
common law properly so called, but also the particular customs
of certain parts of the kingdom; and likewise those particular
laws that are by custom observed only in certain courts and
jurisdictions. When I call these parts of our law 'leges non
scriptre,' I would not be understood as if all those laws were
at present merely oral, or communicated from the former ages
to the present solely by word of mouth. … But, with us at
present, the monuments and evidences of our legal customs are
contained in the records of the several courts of justice, in
books of reports and judicial decisions, and in the treatises
of learned sages of the profession, preserved and handed down
to us from the times of highest antiquity. However, I
therefore style these parts of our law 'leges non scriptre,'
because their original institution and authority are not set
down in writing, as Acts of Parliament are, but they receive
their binding power, and the force of laws, by long and
immemorial usage, and by their universal reception throughout
the kingdom."

_Sir W. Blackstone,
Commentaries on the Laws of England.
introduction, section 3._

ALSO IN:
_H. S. Maine,
Ancient Law,
chapter 1._

_J. N. Pomeroy,
Introduction to Municipal Law,
sections 37-42._

COMMON LOT, OR COMMON LIFE, Brethren of the.

See BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LOT.

"COMMON SENSE" (Paine's Pamphlet),
The influence of.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1776 (JANUARY-JUNE).

COMMONS, The.

See ESTATES, THE THREE.

COMMONS, House of.

See PARLIAMENT, THE ENGLISH,
and KNIGHTS OF THE SHIRE.

COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND, Establishment of the.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1649 (FEBRUARY).

COMMUNE, The.

The commonalty; the commons. In feudal usage, the term
signified, as defined by Littré, the body of the bourgeois or
burghers of a town who had received a charter which gave them
rights of self-government. "In France the communal
constitution was during this period (12th century) encouraged,
although not very heartily, by Lewis VI., who saw in it one
means of fettering the action of the barons and bishops and
securing to himself the support of a strong portion of his
people. In some cases the commune of France is, like the
guild, a voluntary association, but its objects are from the
first more distinctly political. In some parts of the kingdom
the towns had risen against their lords in the latter half of
the eleventh century, and had retained the fruits of their
hard-won victories.
{492}
In others, they possessed, in the
remaining fragments of the Karolingian constitution, some
organisation that formed a basis for new liberties. The great
number of charters granted in the twelfth century shows that
the policy of encouraging the third estate was in full sway in
the royal councils, and the king by ready recognition of the
popular rights gained the affections of the people to an
extent which has few parallels in French history. The French
charters are in both style and substance very different from
the English. The liberties which are bestowed are for the most
part the same, exemption from arbitrary taxation, the right to
local jurisdiction, the privilege of enfranchising the villein
who has been for a year and a day received within the walls,
and the power of electing the officers. But whilst all the
English charters contain a confirmation of free and good
customs, the French are filled with an enumeration of bad
ones. … The English have an ancient local constitution the
members of which are the recipients of the new grant, and
guilds of at least sufficient antiquity to render their
confirmation typical of the freedom now guaranteed; French
communia is a new body which, by the action of a sworn
confederacy, has wrung from its oppressors a deliverance from
hereditary bondage. … The commune lacks too the ancient
element of festive religious or mercantile association which
is so conspicuous in the history of the guild. The idea of the
latter is English, that of the former is French or Gallic. Yet
notwithstanding these differences, the substantial identity of
the privileges secured by these charters seems to prove the
existence of much international sympathy. The ancient
liberties of the English were not unintelligible to the
townsmen of Normandy; the rising freedom of the German cities
roused a corresponding ambition in the towns of Flanders; and
the struggles of the Italian municipalities awoke the energies
of the cities of Provence. All took different ways to win the
same liberties. … The German Hansa may have been derived
from England; the communa of London was certainly derived from
France. … The communa of London, and of those other English
towns which in the twelfth century aimed at such a
constitution, was the old English guild in a new French garb:
it was the ancient association, but directed to the attainment
of municipal rather than mercantile privileges."

_William Stubbs,
Constitutional History of England,
chapter 11._

"Oppression and insurrection were not the sole origin of the
communes. … Two causes, quite distinct from feudal
oppression, viz., Roman traditions and Christian sentiments,
had their share in the formation of the communes and in the
beneficial results thereof. The Roman municipal regimen, which
is described in M. Guizot's 'Essais sur l'Histoire de France'
(1st Essay, pages 1-44), [also in 'History of Civilization,' volume
2, lecture 2] did not every where perish with the Empire; it
kept its footing in a great number of towns, especially in
those of Southern Gaul."

_F. P. Guizot,
Popular History of France,
chapter 19._

ALSO IN:
_Sir J. Stephen,
Lectures on the History of France,
lecture 5._

See FRANCE: A. D. 1070-1125;
also, CURIA, MUNICIPAL,
and GUILDS OF FLANDERS.

COMMUNE, The Flemish.

See GUILDS OF FLANDERS.

COMMUNE OF PARIS,
The Revolutionary, of 1792.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1792 (AUGUST).

The rebellion of the.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1871 (MARCH-MAY).

----------COMMUNE OF PARIS: End----------

COMMUNE, The Russian.

See MIR.

COMMUNE, The Swiss.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1848-1890.

COMMUNEROS, The.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1814-1827.

COMNENIAN DYNASTY.

The dynasty of Byzantine emperors founded, A. D. 1081, by
Alexius Comnenos, and consisting of Alexius I., John II.,
Manuel 1., Alexius II., and Andronicus I., who was murdered A.
D. 1185.

See CONSTANTINOPLE: A. D. 1081.

COMPAGNACCI, The.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1490-1498.

COMPASS, Introduction of the Mariner's.

"It is perhaps impossible to ascertain the epoch when the
polarity of the magnet was first known in Europe. The common
opinion which ascribes its discovery to a citizen of Amalfi in
the 14th century, is undoubtedly erroneous. Guiot de Provins,
a French poet who lived about the year 1200, or, at the
latest, under St. Louis, describes it in the most unequivocal
language. James de Vitry, a bishop in Palestine, before the
middle of the 13th century, and Guido Guinizzelli, an Italian
poet of the same time, are equally explicit. The French, as
well as Italians, claim the discovery as their own; but
whether it were due to either of these nations, or rather
learned from their intercourse with the Saracens, is not
easily to be ascertained. … It is a singular circumstance,
and only to be explained by the obstinacy with which men are
apt to reject improvements, that the magnetic needle was not
generally adopted in navigation till very long after the
discovery of its properties, and even after their peculiar
importance had been perceived. The writers of the 13th
century, who mention the polarity of the needle, mention also
its use in navigation; yet Capmany has found no distinct proof
of its employment till 1403, and does not believe that it was
frequently on board Mediterranean ships at the latter part of
the preceding age."

_H. Hallam,
The Middle Ages,
chapter 9, part 2, with note._

"Both Chaucer, the English, and Barbour, the Scottish, poet,
allude familiarly to the compass in the latter part of the
14th century."

_G. L. Craik,
History of British Commerce,
volume 1, page 138._

"We have no certain information of the directive tendency of
the natural magnet being known earlier than the middle or end
of the 11th century (in Europe, of course). … That it was
known at this date and its practical value recognized, is
shown by a passage from an Icelandic historian, quoted by
Hanstien in his treatise of Terrestrial Magnetism. In this
extract an expedition from Norway to Iceland in the year 868
is described; and it is stated that three ravens were taken as
guides, for, adds the historian, 'in those times seamen had no
loadstone in the northern countries.' This history was written
about the year A. D. 1068, and the allusion I have quoted
obviously shows that the author was aware of natural magnets
having been employed as a compass. At the same time it fixes a
limit of the discovery in northern countries. We find no
mention of artificial magnets being so employed till about a
century later."

_Sir W. Thompson,
quoted by R. F. Burton in Ultima Thule,
volume 1, page 312._

{493}

COMPIEGNE: Capture of the Maid of Orleans (1430).

See FRANCE. A. D. 1429-1431.

COMPOUND HOUSEHOLDER, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1865-1868.

COMPROMISE, The Crittenden.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1860 (DECEMBER).

COMPROMISE, The Flemish, of 1565.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1562-1566.

COMPROMISE, The Missouri.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1818-1821.

COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850, The.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1850.

COMPROMISE TARIFF OF 1833, The.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1828-1833.

COMPURGATION.

Among the Teutonic and other peoples, in early times, one
accused of a crime might clear himself by his own oath,
supported by the oaths of certain compurgators, who bore
witness to his trustworthiness.

See WAGER OF LAW.

COMSTOCK LODE, Discovery of the.

See NEVADA: A. D. 1848-1864.

COMUM, Battle of (B. C. 196).

See ROME: B. C. 295-191.

CONCIONES, The Roman.

See CONTIONES, THE.

CONCON, Battle of (1891).

See CHILE: A. D. 1885-1891.

CONCORD.
Beginning of the War of the American Revolution.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775 (APRIL).

CONCORDAT OF BOLOGNA, The.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1515-1518.

CONCORDAT OF NAPOLEON, The.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1801-1804.

CONCORDAT OF 1813, The.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1808-1814.

CONDÉ, The first Prince Louis de, and the French wars of religion.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1560-1563, and 1563-1570.

CONDÉ, The Second Prince Louis de (called The Great).
Campaigns in the Thirty Years War, and the war with Spain.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1642-1643; 1643;
GERMANY: A. D. 1640-1645; 1643-1644.

In the wars of the Fronde.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1647-1648; 1649; 1650-1651; 1651-1653.

Campaigns against France in the service of Spain.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1653-1656, and 1655-1658.

Last campaigns.

See NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND): A. D. 1672-1674 and 1674-1678.

CONDÉ, The House of.

See BOURBON, THE HOUSE OF.

CONDÉ: A. D. 1793.-Siege and capture by the Austrians.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1793 (JULY-DECEMBER).

CONDÉ: A. D. 1794.
Recovery by the French.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1794 (MARCH-JULY).

----------CONDÉ: End----------

CONDORE, OR KONDUR, Battle of (1758).

See INDIA: A. D. 1758-1761.

CONDOTTIERE.

In the general meaning of the word, a conductor or leader;
applied specially, in Italian history, to the professional
military leaders of the 13th and 14th centuries, who made a
business of war very much as a modern contractor makes a
business of railroad construction, and who were open to
engagement, with the troops at their command, by any prince,
or any free city whose offers were satisfactory.

CONDRUSI, The.

See BELGÆ.

CONESTOGAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SUSQUEHANNAS.

CONFEDERACY OF DELOS, OR THE DELIAN.

See GREECE: B. C. 478-477,
and ATHENS: B. C. 466-454, and after.

CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.
Constitution and organization of the government.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (FEBRUARY).

CONFEDERATION, Articles of (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1777-1781.

CONFEDERATION, Australian.

See AUSTRALIA: A. D. 1885-1892.

CONFEDERATION, The Germanic,
of 1814.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.

Of 1870.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1870 (SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER).

CONFEDERATION, The North German.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1866.

CONFEDERATION, The Swiss.

See SWITZERLAND.

CONFEDERATION OF THE BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES.

See CANADA: A. D. 1867.

CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE, The.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1805-1806; 1806 (JANUARY-AUGUST);
and 1813 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER);
also, FRANCE: A. D. 1814 (JANUARY-MARCH).

CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG.

See PAPACY: A. D. 1530-1531.

CONFLANS, Treaty of.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1461-1468.

CONFUCIANISM.

See CHINA: THE RELIGIONS.

CONGO FREE STATE, The Founding of the.

"Since Leopold II.'s accession to the throne [of Belgium], his
great object has been to secure colonial possessions to
Belgium for her excess of population and production. To this
end he founded, in October, 1876, with the aid of eminent
African explorers, the International African Association. Its
object was to form committees in several countries, with a
view to the collection of funds, and to the establishment of a
chain of stations across Africa, passing by Lake Tanganyika,
to assist future explorers. Accordingly committees were
formed, whose presidents were as follows: in England, the
Prince of Wales; in Germany the Crown Prince; in Italy the
King's brother; in France, M. de Lesseps; and in Belgium, King
Leopold. Sums of money were subscribed, and stations were
opened from Bagomoyo (just south of Zanzibar) to Lake
Tanganyika; but when toward the close of 1877, Stanley
reappeared on the Atlantic coast and revealed the immense
length of the marvelous Congo River, King Leopold at once
turned his attention in that direction. That he might not put
himself forward prematurely, he acted under cover of an
association and a committee of exploration, which were in
reality formed and entirely supported by the King's energy and
by the large sums of money that he lavished upon them. Through
this association King Leopold maintained Stanley for five
years on the Congo. During this time a road was made from the
coast to Stanley Pool, where the navigable portion of the
Upper Congo commences; and thus was formed the basis of the
future empire. During this period Stanley signed no less than
four thousand treaties or concessions of territory, on which
upward of two thousand chiefs had placed their marks in sign
of adhesion.
{494}
At a cost of many months of transportation, necessitating the
employment of thousands of porters, light steamers were placed
on the upper river which was explored as far as Stanley Falls.
Its numerous tributaries also were followed up as far as the
rapids that interrupt their courses. Many young Belgian
officers and other adventurous explorers established
themselves on the banks of the Congo and the adjoining river,
the Kouiliou, and founded a series of stations, each occupied
by one or two Europeans and by a few soldiers from Zanzibar.
In this way the country was insensibly taken possession of in
the most pacific manner, without a struggle and with no
bloodshed whatever; for the natives, who are of a very gentle
disposition, offered no resistance. The Senate of the United
States, which was called upon, in 1884, to give an opinion on
the rights of the African Association, made a careful
examination of the matter, and recognized the legality of the
claims and title deeds submitted to them. A little later, in
order to mark the formation of a state, the Congo Association
adopted as its flag a gold star on a blue ground. A French
lawyer. M. Deloume, in a very well-written pamphlet entitled
'Le Droit des Gens dans l'Afrique Equatoriale,' has proved
that this proceeding was not only legitimate, but necessary.
The embryo state, however, lacked one essential thing, namely,
recognition by the civilized powers. It existed only as a
private association, or, as a hostile publicist expressed it,
as 'a state in shares, indulging in pretensions of
sovereignty.' Great difficulties stood in the way of realizing
this essential condition. Disputes, on the one hand with
France and on the other with Portugal, appeared inevitable.
… King Leopold did not lose heart. In 1882 he obtained from
the French government an assurance that, while maintaining its
rights to the north of Stanley Pool, it would give support to
the International Association of the Congo. With Portugal it
seemed very difficult to come to an understanding. … Prince
Bismarck took part in the matter, and in the German Parliament
praised highly the work of the African Association. In April,
1884, he proposed to France to come to an understanding, and
to settle all difficulties by general agreement. From this
proposition sprang the famous Berlin conference, the
remarkable decisions of which we shall mention later. At the
same time, before the conference opened, Germany signed an
agreement with the International Association of the Congo, in
which she agreed to recognize its flag as that of a state, in
exchange for an assurance that her trade should be free, and
that German subjects should enjoy all the privileges of the
most favored nations. Similar agreements were entered upon
with nearly all the other countries of the globe. The
delegates of the Association were accepted at the conference
on the same footing as those of the different states that were
represented there, and on February 26, the day on which the
act was signed, Bismarck expressed himself as follows: 'The
new State of the Congo is destined to be one of the chief
safe-guards of the work we have in view, and I sincerely trust
that its development will fulfill the noble aspirations of its
august founder.' Thus the Congo International Association,
hitherto only a private enterprise, seemed now to be
recognized as a sovereign state, without having, however, as
yet assumed the title. But where were the limits of its
territory. … Thanks to the interference of France, after
prolonged negotiations an understanding was arrived at on
February 15, 1885, by which both parties were satisfied. They
agreed that Portugal should take possession of the southern
bank of the Congo, up to its junction with the little stream
Uango, above Nokki, and also of the district of Kabinda
forming a wedge that extends into the French territory on the
Atlantic Ocean. The International Congo Association—for such
was still its title—was to have access to the sea by a strip
of land extending from Manyanga (west of Leopoldville) to the
ocean, north of Banana, and comprising in addition to this
port, Boma and the important station of Vivi. These treaties
granted the association 931,285 square miles of territory,
that is to say, a domain eighty times the size of Belgium,
with more than 7,500 miles of navigable rivers. The limits
fixed were, on the west, the Kuango, an important tributary of
the Congo; on the south, the sources of the Zambesi; on the
east, the Lakes Bangweolo, Moero, and Tanganyika, and a line
passing through Lake Albert Edward to the river Ouelle; on the
north, a line following the fourth degree of latitude to the
Mobangi River on the French frontier. The whole forms one
eleventh part of the African continent. The association became
transformed into a state in August 1885, when King Leopold,
with the authorization of the Belgian Chambers, notified the
powers that he should assume the title of Sovereign of the
Independent State of the Congo, the union of which with
Belgium was to be exclusively personal. The Congo is,
therefore, not a Belgian colony, but nevertheless the Belgian
Chambers have recently given valuable assistance to the King's
work; first, in taking, on July 26, 1889, 10,000,000 francs'
worth of shares in the railway which is to connect the seaport
of Matadi with the riverport of Leopoldville, on Stanley Pool,
and secondly by granting a loan of 25,000,000 francs to the
Independent State on August 4, 1890. The King, in a will laid
before Parliament, bequeaths all his African possessions to
the Belgian nation, authorizing the country to take possession
of them after a lapse of ten years."

_E. de Laveleye,
The Division of Africa
(The Forum, January, 1891)._

ALSO IN:
_H. M. Stanley,
The Congo, and the Founding of its Free State._

CONGREGATION OF THE ORATORY, The.

"Philip of Neri, a young Florentine of good birth (1515-1595;
canonised 1622) … in 1548 instituted at Rome the Society of
the Holy Trinity, to minister to the wants of the pilgrims at
Rome. But the operations of his mission gradually extended
till they embraced the spiritual welfare of the Roman
population at large, and the reformation of the Roman clergy
in particular. No figure is more serene and more sympathetic
to us in the history of the Catholic reaction than that of
this latter-day 'apostle of Rome.' From his association, which
followed the rule of St. Augustine, sprang in 1575 the
Congregation of the Oratory at Rome, famous as the seminary of
much that is most admirable in the labours of the Catholic
clergy."

_A. W. Ward,
The Counter-Reformation,
page 30._

{495}

"In the year 1766, there were above a hundred Congregations of
the Oratory of S. Philip in Europe and the East Indies; but
since the revolutions of the last seventy years many of these
have ceased to exist, while, on the contrary, within the last
twelve years two have been established in England."

_Mrs. Hope,
Life of S. Philip Neri,
chapter 24._

ALSO IN:
_H. L. S. Lear,
Priestly Life in France,
chapter 4._

CONGREGATIONALISM.

See INDEPENDENTS.

CONGRESS, Colonial, at Albany.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1754.

CONGRESS, Continental,
The First.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1774 (SEPTEMBER),
and (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER).

The Second.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1775 (MAY-AUGUST).

CONGRESS, The First American.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1690.

CONGRESS, The Pan-American.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1889-1890.

CONGRESS, The Stamp Act.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765.

CONGRESS OF AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, The.

See AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, THE CONGRESS AND TREATY.

CONGRESS OF BERLIN.

See TURKS: A. D. 1878.

CONGRESS OF PANAMA.

See COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1826.

CONGRESS OF PARIS.

See RUSSIA: A. D. 1854-1856,
and DECLARATION OF PARIS.

CONGRESS OF RASTADT, The.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1799 (APRIL-SEPTEMBER).

CONGRESS OF VERONA, The.

See VERONA, THE CONGRESS OF.

CONGRESS OF VIENNA.

See VIENNA, CONGRESS OF.

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.

"The Constitution created Congress and conferred upon it
powers of legislation for national purposes, but made no
provision as to the method by which these powers should be
exercised. In consequence Congress has itself developed a
method of transacting its business by means of committees. The
Federal Legislature consists of two Houses—the Senate, or
Upper and less numerous branch, and the House of
Representatives, or the Lower and more numerous popular
branch. The Senate is composed of two members from each State
elected by the State legislatures for a term of six years, one
third of whom retire every two years. The presiding officer is
the Vice-President. Early in each session the Senate chooses a
President pro tempore, so as to provide for any absence of the
Vice-President, whether caused by death, sickness, or for
other reasons. The House of Representatives is at present
[1891] composed of 332 members and four delegates from the
Territories. These delegates, however, have no vote, though
they may speak. The House is presided over by a Speaker,
elected at the beginning of each [Congress]. A quorum for
business is, in either House, a majority. Congress meets every
year in the beginning of December. Each Congress lasts two
years and holds two sessions—a long and a short session. The
long session lasts from December to midsummer [or until the
two Houses agree upon an adjournment]. The short session lasts
from December, when Congress meets again, until the 4th of
March. The term of office then expires for all the members of
the House and for one-third of the Senators. The long session
ends in even years (1880 and 1882, etc.), and the short
session in odd years (1881 and 1883). Extra sessions may be
called by the President for urgent business. In the early part
of the November preceding the end of the short session of
Congress occurs the election of Representatives. Congressmen
then elected do not take their seats until thirteen months
later, that is, at the reassembling of Congress in December of
the year following, unless an extra session is called. The
Senate frequently holds secret, or, as they are called,
executive sessions, for the consideration of treaties and
nominations of the President, in which the House of
Representatives has no voice. It is then said to sit with
closed doors. An immense amount of business must necessarily
be transacted by a Congress that legislates for nearly
63,000,000 of people. … Lack of time, of course, prevents a
consideration of each bill separately by the whole
legislature. To provide a means by which each subject may
receive investigation and consideration, a plan is used by
which the members of both branches of Congress are divided
into committees. Each committee busies itself with a certain
class of business, and bills when introduced are referred to
this or that committee for consideration, according to the
subjects to which the bills relate. … The Senate is now
divided between 50 and 60 committees, but the number varies
from session to session. … The House of Representatives is
organized into 60 committees [appointed by the Speaker],
ranging, in their number of members, from thirteen down. …
The Committee of Ways and Means, which regulates customs
duties and excise taxes, is by far the most important. …
Congress ordinarily assembles at noon and remains in session
until 4 or 5 P. M., though towards the end of the term it
frequently remains in session until late in the night. …
There is still one feature of Congressional government which
needs explanation, and that is the caucus. A caucus is the
meeting of the members of one party in private, for the
discussion of the attitude and line of policy which members of
that party are to take on questions which are expected to
arise in the legislative halls. Thus, in Senate caucus, is
decided who shall be members of the various committees. In
these meetings is frequently discussed whether or not the
whole party shall vote for or against this or that important
bill, and thus its fate is decided before it has even come up
for debate in Congress."

_W. W. and W. F. Willoughby,
Government and Administration of the United States
(Johns Hopkins University Studies, series ix., numbers 1-2),
chapter 9._

ALSO IN:
_W. Wilson,
Congressional Government,
chapters 2-4._

_J. Bryce,
The American Commonwealth,
part 1, chapters 10-21 (volume 1)._

_A. L. Dawes,
How we are Governed,
chapter 2._

_The Federalist,
numbers 51-65._

_J. Story,
Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States,
book 3, chapters 8-31 (volumes 2-3)._

CONI.
Sieges (1744 and 1799).

See ITALY: A. D. 1744;
and FRANCE: A. D. 1799 (AUGUST-DECEMBER).

CONIBO, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ANDESIANS.

CONNAUGHT, Transplantation of the Irish people into.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1653.

{496}

CONNECTICUT: The River and the Name.

"The first discoveries made of this part of New England were
of its principal river and the fine meadows lying upon its
bank. Whether the Dutch at New Netherlands, or the people of
New Plymouth, were the first discoverers of the river is not
certain. Both the English and the Dutch claimed to be the
first discoverers, and both purchased and made a settlement of
the lands upon it nearly at the same time. … From this fine
river, which the Indians call Quonehtacut, or Connecticut, (in
English the long river) the colony originally took its name."

_B. Trumbull, History of Connecticut, chapter 2._

According to Dutch accounts, the river was entered by Adriaen
Block, ascended to latitude 41° 48', and named Fresh River, in
1614.

See NEW YORK: A. D. 1610-1614.

CONNECTICUT: The Aboriginal inhabitants.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.

CONNECTICUT: A. D. 1631.
The grant to Lord Say and Sele, and others.

In 1631, the Earl of Warwick granted to Lord Say and Sele,
Lord Brooke, Sir Richard Saltonstall, and others, "the
territory between Narragansett River and southwest towards New
York for 120 miles and west to the Pacific Ocean, or,
according to the words of President Clap of Yale College,
'from Point Judith to New York, and from thence a west line to
the South Sea, and if we take Narragansett River in its whole
length the tract will extend as far north as Worcester. It
comprehends the whole of the colony of Connecticut and more.
This was called the old patent of Connecticut, and had been
granted the previous year, 1630, by the Council of Plymouth
[or Council for New England] to the Earl of Warwick. Yet
before the English had planted settlements in Connecticut the
Dutch had purchased of the Pequots land where Hartford now
stands and erected a small trading fort called 'The House of
Good Hope.'"

_C. W. Bowen,
Boundary Disputes of Connecticut,
page 15._

In 1635, four years after the Connecticut grant, said to have
been derived originally from the Council for New England, in
1630, had been transferred by the Earl of Warwick to Lord Say
and Seal and others, the Council made an attempt, in
connivance with the English court, to nullify all its grants,
to regain possession of the territory of New England and to
parcel it out by lot among its own members. In this attempted
parcelling, which proved ineffectual, Connecticut fell to the
lot of the Earl of Carlisle, the Duke of Lennox, and the Duke
of Hamilton. Modern investigation seems to have found the
alleged grant from the Council of Plymouth, or Council for New
England, to the Earl of Warwick, in 1630, to be mythical. "No
one has ever seen it, or has heard of anyone who claims to
have seen it. It is not mentioned even in the grant from
Warwick to the Say and Sele patentees in 1631. … The deed is
a mere quit-claim, which warrants nothing and does not even
assert title to the soil transferred. … Why the Warwick
transaction took this peculiar shape, why Warwick transferred,
without showing title, a territory which the original owners
granted anew to other patentees in 1635, are questions which
are beyond conjecture."

_A. Johnston,
Connecticut,
chapter 2._

See NEW ENGLAND: A. D. 1635.

CONNECTICUT: A. D. 1634-1637.
The pioneer settlements.