selves influential in the country. Gonçalo de Sousa was despatched on a formal embassy in 1490 ; and the first missionaries entered the country in his train. The king was soon afterwards baptized, and Christianity was nominally established as the national religion. In 1534 a cathedral was founded, and in 1560 the Jesuits arrived with Paulo Dias de Novaes. Of the prosperity of the country at this time the Portuguese have left the most glowing and indeed incredible accounts. The attention of the Portuguese was, however, turned more particularly to the southern districts of Angola and Benguela, and their hold on Congo loosened. In 16 27 their cathedral was removed to Sao Paul de Loanda, and Sao Salvador declined in importance. In the 18th century, again, in spite of the invasions of the Dutch and French, some steps were taken towards re-establishing their authority ; in 1758 they formed a settlement at Encoge ; from 1784 to 1789 they carried on a war against the natives of Mussolo; in 1791 they built a fort at Quincollo on the Loge, the ruins of which are still existent, and for a time they worked the mines of Bembe. At present, however, they possess no fort or settlement to the north of Ambriz, which was first occupied in 1855. The connection of other European nations with Congo has hitherto been either exploratory or commercial, and nothing more powerful has been established than a "factory" or "comptoir. " In 1816 an expedition was despatched from England under the command of J. K. Tuckey, R.N., for the examination of the Zaire. It reached the river on July 6th, and managed to push up stream as far as Sangala, the highest rapid ; but sickness broke out, the commander and several others died, and the expedition had to return. A survey of the first twenty-five miles of the river was effected in 1826 by the "Levin" and the "Barracouta," belonging to Captain Owen's expedition ; and in 1827-29 the Frenchman Douville spent some time in various parts of the country. In 1857 the German explorer, Dr Bastian, passed from Ambriz inland as far as Sao Salvador; and in the same year Captain Hunt, in the "Alecto," made an attempt to ascend the river, but only reached the cataracts. Captain Burton attained the same limit in 1863, and also proceeded inland as far as Banza Noki. In 1872 an expedition under Lieutenant Grandy was despatched from England for the purpose of advancing from the west coast to the relief of Livingstone. Ambriz was chosen as the starting point, and Bembe was reached in 11 days, on the 23d of March 1873. The 15th of May found the party at Congo, but they were detained there till June 20th. Passing through Kilembella, Moila, and Tungwa (a place of about 1600 inhabitants), they arrived at Banza Umpala, on a tributary of the Zaire, about 200 miles inland, but were then obliged to retrace their steps to Congo, whence they proceeded to Bauza Noki and the main river, intending to push their way up the stream. The death of Livingstone was soon after reported ; and a recall shortly reached them, which brought the expedition to a close. They found the natives "exceedingly timid, superstitious, and suspicious, evidently believing that the foreigners had come to interfere with their trade and country." In 1875 a German expedition, under Captain von Homeyer, commenced exploratory operations along the Congo for the purpose of preparing the way for German colonization.
See the older travellers in the collections of Astley, Pinkerton, Churchill, Purchas, and Philipp ; Pellicer de Tovar, Mission Evan- gelica al Reyno de Congo, Madrid, 1649; Tuckey, Narrative of an Expedition to explore the Congo, 1818; Douville, Voyage au Congo, 1832; Owen, Voyages to Africa, Arabia, &c., 1833; Hunt, "Ascent of the Congo," in the Proceedings of the Roy. Geo. Soc. for 1858 ; Bastian, Ein Besuch in San Salvador, Bremen, 1859, and Die Deutsche Expedition an die Loango Kiiste, Jena, 1874 ; Behm, "Die Congo Fluss," in Petermann s Mittheilungen, 1872; Lieut. Grandy s report in the Proceedings of Roy. Geo. Soc., 1874, and also in the Geograph. Mag., 1875 ; J. J. Monteiro, Angola and the River Congo, London, 1875 ; Burton, Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo, 1876 ; P. Duparquet, "Voyage au Zaire," and Codine, " Decouverte de la cote d Afrique . . . pendant les annees 1484-1488," in Bull, do la, Soc. de Geogr., 1876.
late years by the religious denomination formerly known as Independents. This change of name has arisen from no radical alteration in the particular doctrinal or ecclesiastical opinions of that sect (see Independents), but in order to express more definitely the positive aspects of their church life and organization. The negative term Independent implied chiefly a renunciation " of the authority of pope, prelate, presbytery, prince, or parliament," and thus brought into prominence the antagonistic position of the churches so named towards National, Episcopal, and Presbyterian Churches. The word Congregational has been now almost universally substituted for it to indicate more clearly the brotherhood and fellowship maintained in their separate communities, the spiritual equality of every member, the right and the duty of all in the church to have a voice in its deliberations and decisions, the essential necessity for each society to originate its own outward forms of life. As one of the latest exponents of Congregationalism has said,[1] " When the restraints of outward law are repudiated, it is necessary to insist with all the greater intensity on making the polity of the church the expression of its own highest life. Everything must be subordinated to this. The polity must come from within ; it must not be imposed from without ; it may recognize outward circumstances but must not be controlled by them. If the organization of the church is to be a vital growth, the life which it is to reveal is the life which the church has received from Christ. Ecclesiastical statesmen have no right to construct various forms of polity to express the spirit and tendencies prevailing among different races of men, in different countries, and in different churches ; the polity of the church must be created by the idea of the church." It is maintained that this conception of a church organization is entirely in harmony with the genius of the New Testament, and is better expressed by the word Congregational than Independent. In this sense it is applicable to other communities, in particular to the Baptists, who sometimes adopt it. Probably another reason for its employment has been the growing tendency towards outward union among churches that were mainly characterized by their isolation from each other. Independency was often regarded as a synonym for non-catholicity, and there was so strict a jealousy against all possible interference from without that close association or united action was exceed ingly difficult, even amongst those whose doctrinal beliefs and ecclesiastical polity were the same. An endeavour has been made to overcome such obstacles common to co-operation without destroying or infringing the independence of the individual church, and the Congregationalists now have numerous missionary societies for home and foreign work, an association in every county, and a general Congregational Union for England and Wales. The last was established after much discussion in 1833, when a declaration of faith, church order, and discipline was adopted under these express conditions. " It is not intended that the following statement should be put forth with any authority, or as a standard to which assent should be required. Disallowing the utility of creeds and articles of religion as a bond of union, and protesting against subscription to any human formularies as a term of communion, Congregationalists are yet willing to declare, for general information, what is commonly believed among them, reserving to every one the most perfect liberty of conscience." In 1871 a revision of the constitution of the Union took place, when the "fundamental principle "of its existence was thus re-asserted. " The Union recognizes the right of every individual church to administer its affairs, free from external control, and shall not, in any case, assume legislative authority or become a court of appeal." The objects it seeks to promote were then also more definitely stated in these words, " to uphold and extend evangelical religion primarily in connection with churches of the Congregational order ; to promote Scriptural views of church fellowship and organization ; to strengthen the fraternal relations of the Congregational churches, and facilitate co-operation in everything affecting their common interests ; to maintain correspondence with the Congregational churches and other Christian communities throughout the world ; to obtain statistics relating to Congregational
churches at home and abroad ; to assist in procuring perfect religious equality for all British subjects, and in
- ↑ Ecclesia, A Second Series of Essays on Theological and Ecclesiastical Questions, p. 371.
