CONSTANCE, COUNCIL OF, held its first meeting Nov. 16, 1414, and was closed April 22, 1418. There is scarcely any point in the ecclesiastical history of the Catholic church, especially in the history of her councils, possessing so deep and so general an interest as this council. The doctrine of the superiority of the pope over the council was put rudely to the test, hence the conservative sympathies of Catholicism are warmly interested in the debates of the Constantian doctors, and their results; the principle of the supreme power of the general council was held and openly professed by many of these doctors, so that Gallican writers have dwelt earnestly and anxiously upon its proceedings; while the Protestant would find the first germs of the reformation in the prevailing spirit of the times, and the forerunners of Luther in 2 at least of the actors, John Huss and Jerome of Prague. The object for which the council assembled was to find a remedy for the great western schism, which was occasioned by the residence of some of the popes in Avignon, France. Gregory XI. returned to Rome, Jan. 17, 1377. At his death in 1378, the Romans loudly demanded a pope who should be a Roman by birth, and the cardinals so far yielded to their request as to elect Urban VI., an Italian, though not a Roman. This half-way measure irritated the French cardinals, 12 of whom went to Anagni, and protested there that the election of Urban VI. had not been free, and that they had acquiesced in it only through fear of violence on the part of the Roman people. They went then to Fondi, and having been reenforced by three Italian cardinals, they created Robert of Geneva pope, who took the name of Clement VII., and fixed his residence in Avignon. This was the origin of the schism which left the world in doubt as to who was rightfully in possession of the papal chair. Boniface IX., Innocent VII., and Gregory XII. succeeded Urban VI., while Clement VII. was succeeded by the celebrated antipope Cardinal Peter de Luna, who took the name of Benedict XIII., and who continued to maintain his claims to the papacy against all comers for 30 years, until his death in 1424. Gregory XII., previously known as Angelo Corario, swore at his election in 1406 that he would, if called upon, resign the papacy, provided Peter de Luna would do the same. The attempt was made to put an end to the schism, by getting both claimants to resign, ⚫ and electing a third, upon whom all could agree as the real pope. A council was accordingly held at Pisa in 1409, Gregory and Benedict were both deposed, and Alexander V. elected in their stead. But as Benedict would not resign on any condition, and as Gregory maintained that he had only promised to resign in the event of Benedict's doing the same, the astonished world now found itself called upon to choose among 3 claimants to the pontifical office. Peter Philargi, or Alexander V., died in 1410, and was succeeded by the ambitious

cardinal Baltasar Cossa, who called himself John XXIII. It was he who opened the council of Constance, composed in the beginning of 15 cardinals, 2 patriarchs, 23 archbishops, 27 bishops, and a great number of inferior clergy. Ambassadors came from the kings of France, England, Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, and others, beside representatives of the knights Teutonic and hospitallers, and the delegates of many universities. The emperor Sigismund assisted in person, and, dressed as a deacon, he sang the gospel of the first mass on the Christmas following the opening of the council. Before its conclusion, ambassadors arrived from Manuel Palæologus and the patriarch of Constantinople. Forty-five sessions were held altogether, the last one 3 years after the first, that is, April 22, 1418. John XXIII. presided at the 1st session, and was called upon to resign the papacy. In the 2d session he promised under oath to do so, for the sake of peace, provided Angelo Corario, or Gregory XII., and Peter de Luna, or Benedict XIII., would do the same. But on the night following, John, disguised as a rustic, fled secretly from Constance to Schaffhausen. After much perplexity and confusion, negotiations were opened with John to bring him to the desired abdication; but in the midst of them, fearing that he might be besieged by the king of the Romans, he fled on Good Friday to Freiburg. The fathers were at a loss what to do. The able and celebrated Gerson, chancellor of the university of Paris, urged them not only to call before them all persons even of papal dignity, which they had already done, but to declare the superiority of the council over the pope, and proceed to his deposition, whether he consented or not. Others wished Sigismund to bring John by force to the council, which, however, the emperor declined doing, on the plea that he was not sure whether that course would be acceptable to all or not. John complicated matters still further by leaving Freiburg, to which place, however, he returned, and reopened negotiations with Constance. A severe investigation into his past conduct was going on there, which exhibited him in exceedingly dark colors. John yielded at last, and in May, 1415, he resigned the pontifical honors; and that no further trouble might arise, he made a public and solemn declaration, that he gave up of his own free will all claim to them for ever. Baltasar Cossa bore his degradation with sufficient dignity, and submitted even to be confined in a prison near Constance, where, singu larly enough, the ex-pontiff was housed with the innovator and reformer John Huss, waiting for judgment at the hands of the same council who had stripped his fellow prisoner of the tiara. There was less trouble with Gregory XII. than there had been with the so-called John XXIII. Gregory was, unlike John, a man of irreproachable morals; he was sincerely desirous of peace, and willing to make any sacrifice to secure it. On June 15, while

the 18th session was being held, Carlo Malatesta, prince of Rimini, which was then the residence of Gregory, entered Constance with a splendid retinue, and, to the great joy of the fathers, announced that he came as Gregory's legate, to make in his name a free and full renunciation of the papacy, so that tranquillity might be restored to the church. The action of Gregory began by solemnly convening the council as the supreme head of the church. Catholic writers, therefore, with the exception of some Gallicans, consider the council to have been lawfully assembled only from this point, and its decrees to have been made binding by the subsequent action of Pope Martin V., who approved by a bull of all that the assembly had done conciliariter, saying nothing of its other proceedings. The Catholics likewise consider Gregory as the real successor of Urban VI., and therefore as the real pope, and Baltasar Cossa and Peter de Luna as antipopes. In the confusion of the times, however, it is certain that good Catholics were divided among the 3 obediences, or parties of the 3 pontifical claimants, holding in good faith that the chief they followed was the true pontiff. The plan of the council was to secure beyond cavil its own legitimacy, by the joint consent of the 3 to its convocation, and to settle the papal difficulty by obtaining a spontaneous resignation from all the claimants of the tiara, and then electing a new pope, upon whom all could agree. In the 14th session, July 4, Gregory completed the good work he had begun by resigning, through Carlo Malatesta his legate, all claim to the pontifical throne. The council proceeded afterward with rather less ceremony to get rid of Peter de Luna, the so-called Benedict XIII., calling upon him summarily to resign. But the negotiations opened with him were fruitless, and several personages, both ecclesiastical and royal, and even Sigismund himself, attempted to bring the matter to a close in vain. Peter had fled to a strongly fortified peninsula called Peñiscola, in Valencia, and time passed on without any thing satisfactory being heard from him. This antipope, a man endowed with indomitable resolution, and many noble and virtuous traits of character, persisted in calling himself pope even when all his followers had abandoned him, and finally died in his schism, at Peniscola, Feb. 17, 1424. The council, after waiting 100 days for him to come to some arrangement with them, condemned him publicly as an inveterate "schismatic, heretic, and scandalous sinner," and proceeded to the election of a new pope. The cardinals announced, on Nov. 11, at noon, that their choice was made, and the clergy and laity of all the 8 obediences now joined in doing homage as pope to Cardinal Otho Colonna, who, in honor of the saint of the day, took the name of Martin V. The council held many sessions for the examination of the doctrines of Wycliffe, which they condemned, commanding his books to be burnt, and his bones to be disinterred. John Huss, a

CONSTANT DE REBECQUE

Bohemian priest, had caused much excitement in Germany and Bohemia, by his reproducti of Wycliffe's teachings, that the church consisted only of those predestined to glory, that jurisdiction was lost by magistrates, whether lay or clerical, with the loss of grace, &c. Huss came to the council on the faith of a safe-conduct from the emperor Sigismund, and was examined at great length. He resisted all inducements, threats, and censures, and excommunication itself, and persisted in asserting the doctrines he had preached in Bohemia. The coun cil finally condemned his doctrines and his books, ordered him to be degraded from the priesthood, and handed him over to the secular magistrates of Constance, by whom he was burnt alive. His disciple, Jerome of Prague, after having retracted his anti-Catholic doctrines, and relapsed, met with a similar fate the following year (1416).

CONSTANS, emperor of Rome (A. D. 387350), son of Constantine the Great and Fansta, divided the empire after the death of his father with his brothers, Constantine II. and Constan tius II., receiving for his share Illyricum, Italy, and Africa. Constantine, who invaded his provinces, having been slain in the battle of Aquileia, Constans became emperor of the whole West. He was weak, profligate, and rapacious. His misrule caused an insurrection in Gaul under Magnentius; he fled to Spain, but was overtaken at the foot of the Pyrénées by the soldiers of the usurper, and slain. Constans protected the creed of Nice against the Arians and the Donatists, and closed the pagan temples.

CONSTANT DE REBECQUE, HENRI BENJA MIN, a French publicist and orator, born at Lan sanne, Oct. 25, 1767, died in Paris, Dec. 10, 188 He descended from a family of French Protestant exiles in Switzerland, attended the universi ties of Oxford, Erlangen, and Edinburgh, became acquainted with many of the learned men of Eng land and the continent, married a German lady, officiated for some time as chamberlain of the duke of Brunswick, formed an intimate friendship with Madame de Staël, which lasted for life, and repairing to Paris in 1795, published in the following year his first pamphlet, De la force du gouvernement actuel de la France, &c., which attracted considerable attention. Other pamphlets, several articles in the newspapers, and a petition which he presented at the bar of the council of 500 in behalf of exiled Protestants, added to his reputation. He aided in the formation of the republican club of Salm, estab lished in opposition to the royalist club of Clichy, became its prominent orator, and eventually a member of the tribunate; but his systematic opposition to the consular government caused him to be expelled from France along with Madame de Staël. He soon met her again at Weimar, where they became acquainted with Goethe and Schiller, and afterward at M. Necker's seat in Switzerland, Coppet, where the brilliant conversation of Madame de Staël and of Constant, who almost excelled her in conver

sational power, drew around them a coterie of the most eminent opponents of Napoleon. About this time he translated Schiller's Wallenstein into French, and wrote the novel of Adolphe, which is by many considered his best literary production. After his departure from Coppet he repaired to Göttingen; and having been divorced from his first wife, he married a widow nearly related to Prince Hardenberg. Once more he found himself among the German aristocracy, and this time among the enemies of his adopted country. He then wrote his celebrated pamphlet, De l'esprit de conquête et de l'usurpation, which was published in 1814, when Napoleon's power was gone. Its success was great, and ingratiated him still more with the European sovereigns, some of whose proclamations were ascribed to Constant's pen. He returned to France in the wake of the invading armies, and could be seen, with the son of Madame de Staël, in the carriage of Bernadotte, the prince royal of Sweden, when the procession of the conquerors passed through the streets of Paris. Espousing the cause of the Bourbons, he was elected to the chamber of deputies, where, however, he made some show of opposition to reactionary measures. Having published in the Journal des débats a violent article against Napoleon, on the very day before his reentry into Paris, Constant left the city in fear of his resentment. Napoleon, however, far from prosecuting him, invited him to the palace, received him with the greatest cordiality, and appointed him a councillor of state. The fickle politician accepted the appointment, and now became Napoleon's friend. In conjunction with M. Molé he framed the famous acte additionnel to the constitution of the empire, which gave satisfaction to nobody, only detracting from the power of the sovereign without increasing the liberties of the people. After the battle of Waterloo, Constant retired to England, being included in the proscription list of July 24, 1815. He was allowed to return, however, by royal decree of Sept. 5, 1816. He now joined the writers of the socalled liberal school, and was one of the founders of the Minerve, a periodical started in opposition to the Conservateur of Châteaubriand and other royalists. In a series of Lettres sur les cent jours, he attempted to explain his conduct during that period, but with little effect. In 1819 he was elected by the department of the Sarthe to the chamber of deputies; ⚫ and here he made brilliant speeches on every important question, while he supported at the same time his opinions through the press. His experience secured him a great influence over his party, and for several years he was their principal leader. He refused to come to an understanding with the semi-liberal cabinet of Decazes, opposed Richelieu during his second ministry, but evinced all his capacity against the ultra-royalist administration, headed by Villèle. His speeches during this period are masterpieces of logical discussion and keen irony.

They are moreover remarkable as literary productions; although he rarely spoke without preparation, he was gifted with a wonderful facility of composition. In his long struggle against Villèle's reactionary measures, he exhausted nearly all his energy, and toward the end of the restoration his health began to fail. He was in the country, and still suffering from a surgical operation, when the decrees which brought on the revolution of July were pub lished. "We are now playing here a terrible game," his friend Vatout wrote to him; "our heads are the stakes; come and bring yours." The contest was over when he arrived in Paris, and he had only to concur in the proceedings which placed the crown on the head of Louis Philippe. He was himself appointed presiding officer of the council of state, and at the same time he put himself under pecuniary obligations to the new king. A confirmed gambler, he was frequently involved in difficulties, and Louis Philippe put 200,000 francs at his disposal. Constant, in accepting this offer, said: "It is on condition that I keep my liberty of speech." "Of course," replied the cunning prince, "I understand it so." He continued in the chamber of deputies, but his prestige was gone, and he uselessly raised his voice on several occasions. Another disappointment marred his later days: he had presented himself as a candidate to the French academy, and was not elected. Grief probably hastened his death. Benjamin Constant was not merely a politician; philosophical and historical studies had occupied much of his time, and just before dying he completed an important work, De la religion considérée dans sa source, ses formes, et ses développements (Paris, 1823-31, 5 vols.). He left beside Du polythéisme Romain considéré dans ses rapports avec la philosophie Grecque et la religion Chrétienne (Paris, 1833).

CONSTANTIA, a small village, a few miles from Cape Town, S. Africa, noted for its wine. There are 2 kinds, the red and the white; yield, from 8,000 to 12,000 gallons annually.

CONSTANTIN, ABRAHAM, a Swiss painter on porcelain, born in Geneva in 1785. He was originally an ornamenter of watch dials, but upon going to Paris devoted himself to painting on porcelain. His first work, a copy of Raphael's Madonna della seggiola, was executed for the empress Josephine. He afterward spent many years in Italy in close study of the works of Raphael, of whose style he became a successful imitator. In 1832 he was commissioned by Louis Philippe to make copies of Raphael's chief works in the Vatican, in the execution of which he carried the art of enamel painting to a perfection never before attained. The "Transfiguration" alone occupied him a year. He has also made copies of the masterpieces of Titian, Correggio, and others, and in a few instances has attempted original compositions and portraits from life, which are highly prized. His best works are in the museum at Sèvres, for the national factory of which place he has executed

many commissions, and in the royal collection at Turin. Constantin has made some valuable discoveries in the mechanical processes of his art. particularly with reference to the effect of burning upon the colors.

CONSTANTIN (or CONSTANCE) FAULCON, also PHAULCON OF PAULCON, a Greek adventurer, born at Custode, a village in the island of Cephalonia, in 1648, put to death in Siam in 1688. Engaged in commercial ventures in the East Indies, he was several times shipwrecked, and on one such occasion, when thrown on the coast of Malabar, he met an ambassador of the king of Siam, who had likewise been shipwrecked. Constantin afforded him every assistance, helped him to reach Siam, and in return for these services he received an appointment at the court of Siam. After the death of the prime minister, Constantin became the ruling spirit of that country. In order to strengthen his position he sought the assistance of France. Louis XIV. despatched the chevalier de Chaumont as ambassador to Siam, while Siamese ambassadors were sent to France. In the meanwhile the jealousy of the Siamese statesmen against the influence of Constantin, and their hatred of the French, had fearfully increased. The luckless adventurer was arrested, subjected to cruel tortures, and executed.

CONSTANTINE, one of the 3 great administrative and military divisions of Algeria, bounded N. by the Mediterranean, W. by Tunis, E. by the province of Algiers, from which it is separated by Cape Corbelin, and S. by territories inhabited by various native tribes; area, 109,200 sq. m.; pop. 27,882 Europeans (15,967 French, 4,664 Maltese, 3,841 Italians, 1,522 Spaniards, 857 Germans, 419 Swiss, 612 various nationalities), and 41,865 natives; total 69,247. The area under cultivation in 1854 was estimated at 500,000 acres. The planters of tobacco, from 537 in 1851, had increased to 2,320 in 1854, and the land planted from 1,100 acres to 6,000 acres. The production of cotton is still in its infancy, but amounted in 1854 to 50,000 lbs. Another article of trade which promises to become of considerable importance is oil. The coral fisheries employ on an average 150 to 180 boats per annum, and the approximate value is from $800,000 to $400,000.-CONSTANTINE, or CONSTANTINA, the capital, is the seat of the provincial, civil, and military authorities; pop. in 1856, 85,865, of whom 4,462 were Europeans. It stands on an isolated eminence, well fortified by nature and by art, and contains a citadel On 3 sides are ravines, across one of which stretches a Roman bridge. The houses are mostly of brick and stone. There are some Roman remains of considerable interest, and a good trade is carried on with Tunis and the Countries southward. In ancient times the site on which Constantine now stands was occupied by a great city called Citra, the capital of the Numidian kings. It was plundered and almost totally destroyed in 811. Constantine afterward rebuilt it and gave it his name. It shared

the fortunes of Algiers from that period up to the occupation of the province by the French in 1830, and in 1837, after a long protracted siege, was taken by assault. Five agricultural colonies are established in the vicinity of Constantine, which yielded in 1855 $100,000 worth of grain. Constantine is connected by telegraph with Philippeville, and has an active trade in grain, wool, groceries, and fruits. Manufactories of various articles begin to flourish, several specimens of native skill having received premium at the great Paris exhibition of 1855.

CONSTANTINE, CAIUS FLAVIUS VALERIUS AURELIUS CLAUDIUS, surnamed the Great, a R man emperor (A. D. 306-337), born in 274 a Naissus in Upper Moesia, died at Constantinople in 337. His father, Constantius Chlorus, was i 292 appointed Cæsar or lieutenant-emperor of the western portion of the empire, which at that time was divided between the 2 Augusti, or em perors, Maximian and Diocletian. Constantine, a youth of fine appearance and great physical strength and courage, was sent to serve under Diocletian as a hostage for his father's loyalty. In several campaigns in Egypt and Persia he rose to the rank of tribune. When in 305 Diocletian and Maximian retired into private life, Constantine, who had every thing to fear from the jeal ousy of the new eastern emperor Galerius, took refuge with his father, who had succeeded Maximian as emperor of the West. He followed him to England, where Constantius died in 306. The army immediately proclaimed Constantine emperor, but Galerius disapproved of the choice, and recognizing Constantine as lieutenant-emperor, appointed Severus emperor of the West. While Constantine protected Gaul and the Rhenish frontier against the invasions of the warlike Germans, violent struggles arose at Rome between Severus and Maximian's son Maxentius, who had been elected emperor by the people and army. Maximian himself, having become tired of private life, once more laid claim to the imperial purple. He had Severus assassinated, but was overcome by his own son and compelled to seek refuge with his son-in-law Constantine, whose aid he endeavored to obtain by promising him the succession. Constantine, while preparing to comply with Marimian's request, became aware that he himself was secretly conspired against by his treacherous ally, whom he now in 310 compelled to commit suicide. Maxentius, in order to avenge his father's death, was about to set out for Ganl, when suddenly Constantine, very much like Cæsar under similar circumstances, led his legions to Italy, and, in spite of tremendous odds, triumphantly entered Rome. There he was greeted as emperor by the senate, Maxentius having been accidentally drowned. It was during this campaign that Constantine, while encamped near Mentz, is said to have beheld in the sky a flaming cross, bearing the inscription: 'Ev TOUTO vika ("With this you will conquer"). From that time the symbol of Christianity appeared on the shields of the sol

diers and the banners of the Roman army. In the mean time Galerius, who still assumed supreme authority, had appointed Licinius emperor of the West, but Constantine made common cause with him. Galerius died in 311; his successor Maximin was defeated by Licinius, and thus in 313 the empire was once more divided between 2 rulers, Constantine for the West and Licinius for the East. The next year Constantine attempted to overthrow Licinius, but could only wrest Illyria from him. A peace of 9 years followed, during which Constantine patiently consolidated his power by radical reforms in the civil, military, and judicial administration. At last, in 323, he was ready to realize his desire to reunite the whole empire. He took the field against Licinius, defeated him in 2 battles at Adrianople and Chalcedon, compelled him to surrender, and, in spite of a solemn promise to spare his life, condemned him to an ignominious death. -It is in vain that zealous writers have tried to relieve Constantine's reputation from the crimes committed to satisfy his ambition. However they may have succeeded in vilifying the character of his competitors, it is nevertheless true that he himself was not their better in moral qualities. His father-in-law, his brother-in-law (Licinius), nay, his own son Crispus, his nephew (the son of Licinius), a boy of 11 years, and lastly, his wife Fausta, were successively his victims. It is said by Zosimus and Sozomenus that he became a convert to Christianity only because the pagan priests refused to absolve him from those crimes, but not much reliance is to be placed on this assertion. Constantine's character scarcely warrants the belief that he was seriously troubled by remorse, nor is it to be supposed that the pagan priests at that time were over scrupulous in regard to the sins of emperors. As a statesman and politician, but scarcely from religious motives, Constantine favored and protected Christianity, though he was baptized only on his death-bed. He conceived that the vast structure of a centralized empire, comprising almost the whole civilized world, was not to be built upon the decaying remnants of paganism. A new and vigorous principle, which, by inculcating obedience to existing authorities, seemed admirably adapted to the wants of absolute monarchism, was to instil new life into the Roman empire. This may have been Constantine's idea. As early as 312 he granted absolute toleration to the Christians, and restored to them the property confiscated by his predecessors. Sunday was set apart for religious exercises, and every attempt to restrain the religious liberty of Christians was severely punished. By convening and attending the general council at Nice (325), Constantine openly declared the Christian to be the official church of the empire. The removal of the seat of government from Rome to Byzantium was another great measure by which he intended to strengthen the empire. New Rome was to be the name of the new capital, but the name of Constantinople prevailed.

a

All vestiges of republican forms were extinguished by Constantine; while, in the administration of affairs, he with an iron will brought order out of chaos, and constructed a powerful machinery of government by separating the civil from the military administration, but uniting both in the hands of the sovereign, he made his court outshine in splendor and magnificence even those of the oriental princes, and created a hierarchy of officials which to this day has remained the model of European monarchical courts. The very titles still in use, such as excellency," "right honorable," "serenity," also "duke," "count," "viscount," may be attrib uted to Constantine. A standing army of 300,000 men and 29 naval squadrons supported the imperial authority. Heavy impositions upon the people were necessary to cover the enormous expenses, but the introduction of a regular financial system, and a just distribution of the taxes, made them appear less onerous than they would otherwise have been. With the exception of a brief war in 332 against the Goths, occupying the present Danubian principalities, the reign of Constantine after the reunion of the empire was a peaceful one. He was preparing a war against Persia when he suddenly fell ill, and died on the day of Pentecost, after having been baptized by the bishop of Nicomedia. He was buried in the church of the apostles at Constantinople. There is scarcely any personage in history who has been judged so differently as Constantine. If the distinction between a great prince and a great man holds good, he may however be safely set down as the former. He was endowed with quick perception, vast ideas, great activity of mind, tenacity of purpose, and energy in action; but of true moral and religious sentiment he would seem to have been devoid. Still, to judge him correctly, it is necessary to bear in mind the state of society at his time. Eutropius says of him that his character was most excellent during the earlier, but indifferent during the latter part of his reign.

CONSTANTINE VII., surnamed PORPHYRO-⚫ GENITUS, emperor of the East, born 905, died 959. On the death of his uncle Alexander in 912, he became emperor under a council of regency. He had a great fondness for literature, which he cultivated, while his father-inlaw, the usurping Romanus Lecapenus, who was proclaimed emperor Dec. 17, 919, administered the affairs of the empire. In 945, after the death of Lecapenus, he became sole einperor, but he still devoted himself to literature, leaving the cares of state to his wife Helena. He is said to have been poisoned by his son Romanus, who succeeded him as the 2d of this name. His writings are chiefly valuable as illustrations of his time.

CONSTANTINE NICOLAEVITCH, grand duke and grand admiral of Russia, brother of the emperor Alexander II., born Sept. 21, 1827. His father, the emperor Nicholas, who made him grand admiral at the age of 4 years, appointed as his tutor the captain, afterward ad