through Lake Bangueola, then N. to the equator; curving in a great semicircle it continues SW., pa.s.ses in a series of rapids through the coast range, and enters the S. Atlantic by an estuary 6 m. broad. It brings down more water than the other African rivers put together. The largest affluents are the Ka.s.sai on the left, and the Mobangi on the right bank; 110 m. are navigable to ocean steamers, then the cataracts intervene, and 250 m. of railway promote transit; the upper river is 2 to 4 m. broad, and navigable for small craft up to Stanley Falls, 1068 m.

The name most a.s.sociated with its exploration is H. M. Stanley; during its course of 3000 m. it bears several names.

CONGO, FRENCH (5,000), a continuous and connected territory extending westward along the right bank of the Congo from Brazzaville to the mouth of the Mobangi, and as far as 4 N. run N. behind the Cameroons, and along the E. of Shari to Lake Tchad.

CONGO FREE STATE embraces most of the basin of the Congo, touching British territory in Uganda and Rhodesia, with a very narrow outlet to the Atlantic at the river mouth. It is under the sovereignty of Leopold II. of Belgium, who, in 1890, made over his rights to Belgium with power to annex the State in 1900. It is nine times the size of Great Britain, and continual native unrest gives great trouble to its administrators.

Its waters are open to all nations, and traders exchange manufactured goods for ivory, palm-oil, coffee and caoutchouc, bees-wax and fruits.

The climate is tropical, on the lower levels malarial. The population is from 20 to 40 millions. The centre of administration is Boma, 80 m. from the sea.

CONGREGATIONALISM, the ecclesiastical system which regards each congregation of believers in Christ a church complete in itself, and free from the control of the other Christian communities, and which extends to each member equal privileges as a member of Christ's body. It took its rise in England about 1571, and the most prominent name connected with its establishment is that of ROBERT BROWN (q. v.), who seceded from the Church of England and formed a church in Norwich in 1580. The body was called Brownists after him, and Separatists, as well as "Independents." The several congregations are now united in what is called "The Congregational Union of England and Wales."

CONGRESS is a diplomatic conference at which the representatives of sovereign States discuss matters of importance to their several countries, the most celebrated of which are those of Munster and Osnabruck, which issued in the treaty of Westphalia in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War; of Rastadt, at the end of Spanish Succession War, in 1797; of Vienna, at the end of Napoleon's wars, in 1815; of Paris, in 1856, at the end of Russian War; and of Berlin, in 1878, at the end of Russo-Turkish war; but the name has come to be applied in federal republics to the legislative a.s.sembly which directs national as distinct from State concerns. In the United States, Congress consists of the Senate, elected by the State legislatures and the House of Representatives, elected directly by the people. It meets on the first Monday in December, and receives the President's message for the year. It imposes taxes, contracts loans, provides for national defence, declares war, looks after the general welfare, establishes postal communication, coins money, fixes weights and measures, &c. &c., but it is prohibited from preferential treatment of the several States, establishing or interfering with religion, curtailing freedom of speech, or pursuing towards any citizen, even under legal forms, a course of conduct which is unjust or even oppressive.

CONGRESS, the Belgian Const.i.tuent a.s.sembly, 1830-1831.

CONGREVE, RICHARD, author of political tracts, was a pupil of Dr.

Arnold's, and a disciple of Comte in philosophy; _b_. 1818.

CONGREVE, WILLIAM, English comic dramatist, born near Leeds; entered a student of the Middle Temple, but soon abandoned law for literature; the "Old Bachelor" first brought him into repute, and a commissionership of substantial value; the production of "Love for Love" and the "Mourning Bride," a stilted tragedy, added immensely to his popularity, but his comedy "The Way of the World" being coldly received, he gave up writing plays, and only wrote a few verses afterwards; he was held in great esteem by his contemporaries, among others Dryden, Pope, and Steele (1670-1729).

CONGREVE, SIR WILLIAM, an English artillery officer, inventor of the rocket which bears his name (1772-1828).

CONINGSBY, a novel by Disraeli.

CONINGTON, JOHN, cla.s.sical scholar and professor of Latin at Oxford, born at Boston, translator of the "aeneid" of Virgil, "Odes, Satires, and Epistles" of Horace, and 12 books of the "Iliad" into verse, as well as of other cla.s.sics; his greatest work is his edition of "Virgil"

(1823-1869).

CONISBURGH CASTLE, an old round castle referred to in "Ivanhoe," 5 in. SW. of Doncaster.

CONISTON WATER, a lake 5 m. long and m. broad, at the foot of Coniston Fells, in Lancashire, with Brantwood on the E. side of it, the residence of John Ruskin.

CONKLING, ROSCOE, an American politician, a leading man on the Republican side; was a member of the House of Representatives, and also of the Senate; retired from politics, and practised law at New York (1828-1888).

CONNAUGHT (724), a western province of Ireland, 105 m. long and 92 m. broad, divided into five counties; is the smallest and most barren of the provinces, but abounds in picturesque scenery; the people are pure Celts.

CONNAUGHT, DUKE OF, the third son of Queen Victoria, bred for the army, has held several military appointments; was promoted to the rank of general in 1893, and made commander-in-chief at Aldershot; _b_. 1850.

CONNECTICUT (746), southernmost of the New England States, is washed by Long Island Sound, has New York on the W., Rhode Island on the E., and Ma.s.sachusetts on the N. It is the third smallest State, rocky and uneven in surface, unfertile except in the Connecticut River valley. Streams abound, and supply motive-power for very extensive manufactures of clocks, hardware, india-rubber goods, smallwares, textiles, and firearms.

There are iron-mines in the NW., stone-quarries, lead, copper, and cobalt mines. Climate is healthy, changeable, and in winter severe. Education is excellently provided for. Yale University, at New Haven, is thoroughly equipped; there are several divinity schools, Trinity College at Hartford, and the Wesleyan University at Middleton. The capital is Hartford (53); New Haven (81) is the largest town and chief port. The original colony was a democratic secession from Ma.s.sachusetts in 1634.

The const.i.tution of 1639 was the first written democratic const.i.tution on record. Its present const.i.tution as a State dates from 1818.

CONNECTICUT, a river in the United States which rises on the confines of Canada, and, after a course of 450 m., falls into the Atlantic at Long Island.

CONNEMARA, a wild district with picturesque scenery in W. of co.

Galway, Ireland.

CONOLLY, JOHN, physician, born in Lincolnshire, studied at Edinburgh, settled in London, distinguished for having introduced and advocated a more rational and humane treatment of the insane (1794-1866).

CONRAD, CADET OF THE HOUSE OF HOHENZOLLERN, served under the ill.u.s.trious Barbarossa; proved a capable young fellow under him; married the heiress of the Vohburgs; was appointed Burggraf of Nurnberg, 1170, and prince of the empire; "he is the lineal ancestor of Frederick the Great, twentieth in direct ascent, let him wait till nineteen generations, valiantly like Conrad, have done their part, Conrad will find he has come to this," that was realised in Frederick and his time.

CONRAD, MARQUIS OF TYRE, threw himself into Tyre when beset by Saladin, and held it till Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus arrived; was a.s.sa.s.sinated by emissaries of the Old Man of the Mountain in 1192.

CONRAD I., count of Franconia, elected on the extinction of the Carlovingian line Emperor of the Germans, which he continued to be from 911 to 915; fell wounded in battle with the Huns, egged on by a rival.

CONRAD II., the Salic, of the same family as the preceding; elected Emperor of Germany in 1024; reigned 15 years, extending the empire, suppressing disorders, and effecting reforms.

CONRAD III., founder of the Hohenstaufen dynasty; elected Emperor of Germany in 1138; had Henry the Proud, as head of the German Guelfs, for rival; crushed him at Weinsberg; joined Louis VII. of France on a third crusade, and returning, overthrew the Guelfs again, leaving Barbarossa as his heir; _d_. 1152.

CONRAD OF THuRINGIA, a proud, quick, fiery-tempered magnate, seized the archbishop of Mainz once, swung him round, and threatened to cut him in two; stormed, plundered, and set fire to an imperial free town for an affront offered him; but admonished of his sins became penitent, and reconciled himself by monastic vow to the Pope and mankind about 1234.

CONRADIN THE BOY, or CONRAD V., the last representative of the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Romish Kaisers, had fallen into the Pope's clutches, who was at mortal feud with the empire, and was put to death by him on the scaffold at Naples, October 25, 1265, the "bright and brave"

lad, only 16, "throwing out his glove (in symbolic protest) amid the dark mute Neapolitan mult.i.tudes" that idly looked on. See CARLYLE'S "FREDERICK THE GREAT" FOR THE CONRADS.

CONSALVI, Italian cardinal and statesman, born at Rome, secretary of Pius VII.; concluded the Concordat with Napoleon in 1801; represented the Pope at the Congress of Vienna; was a liberal patron of literature, science, and arts; continued minister of the Pope till his death (1757-1824).

CONSCIENCE, HENDRIK, a brilliant Flemish novelist, born at Antwerp; rose to popularity among his countrymen by his great national romance the "Lion of Flanders," a popularity which soon extended all over Europe; his writings display great descriptive power and perfect purity of sentiment (1812-1883).

CONSCRIPT FATHERS, the collective name of members of the Roman Senate, and addressed as such, fathers as seniors and conscripts as enrolled.

CONSERVATION OF ENERGY, the doctrine that, however it may be transformed or dissipated, no fraction of energy is ever lost, that the amount of force, as of matter, in the universe, under all mutation remains the same.