CONINCE
253
CONNECTICUT
of two hundred Jesuits including professors and stu-
dents. Towards the end of the sixteenth century and
the beginning of the seventeenth, vokiminous com-
mentaries on the philosophical writings of Aristotle
went forth from the university. These conunen-
taries were dictations to the students by the professors
and as such were not intended for publication. Still
they were actually published, but fraudulently. In
order to intercept and disown incorrect and unauthor-
ized editions. Father Claudius Aquaviva, the General
of the Society of Jesus, assigned to Father Peter Fon-
seca, the provincial of the Portuguese province, the
task of supervising the revision of these commentaries
for publication. Father Fonseca was widely known
as the Aristotle of Portugal. The different treatises
appeared in the following order: — (1) "Comnientarii
Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis Jesu in octo libros
Physicorimi Aristotelis Stagyrita;" (Coimbra, 1591).
(2) "Commentarii Collegii Conimbricensis Societatis
Jesu in quattuor libros Aristotelis de Ccelo " (Coimbra,
1592). (3) "Commentarii etc. in libros meteorum
Aristotelis Stagyrita;" (Coimbra, 1592). (4) "Com-
mentarii etc. in libros Aristotelis qui parva naturalia
appellantur" (Coimbra, 1592). (5) "Commentarii
etc. in libros Ethicorum Aristotelis ad Nichomaclium
aliquot Cursus Conimbricensis disputationes in quibus
praecipua quaedam Ethica; disciplinae capita continen-
tur" (Coimbra, 1595). (6) "Commentarii etc. in
duos libros Aristotelis de generatione et corruptione
(Coimbra, 1595). (7) "Commentarii etc. in tres
libros Aristotelis de Anima" (Coimbra, 1.595). This
treatise was published after the death of Father Em-
manuel Golz (whom Father Fonseca had commis-
sioned to publish the earlier volumes) by Father Cos-
mas Maggalliano (Magalha;ns). To it he added a
treatise of Father Balthazar Alvarez " De Anima Sep-
arata" and his own work "Tractatio aliquot proble-
matum ad quinque Sensus Spectantium ". (8) " Com-
mentarii etc. in universam dialecticam Aristotelis
nunc primum" (ed. Venice, 1606).
To this last treatise was prefixed a foreword dis- owning any connexion whatever with the work pub- lished at Frankfort in 1604 and claiming to be the "Commentarii Conimbricen.ses ". The portion of the preface here referred to is substantially the following: " Before we could finish the task entrusted to us of ed- iting our Logic, to which we were bound by many promises, certain German publishers fraudulently brought out a work professing to be from us, abound- ing in errors and inaccuracies which were really their own. They also substituted for our commentaries certain glosses gotten furtively. It is true these writ- ings thirty years previously were the work of one of our professors not indeed intended for publication. They were the fruit of his zeal and he never dreamed they would appear in print". The last treati.se was |)repared for printing by Father Sebastian Couto. The entire eight parts formed five quarto volumes, en- joyed a wide circulation, and appeared in many edi- tions, the best known being those of Lyons, Lisbon, and Cologne. The Commentaries are in flowing Latin and are supplemented by reliable explanations of the text and exhaustive discussion of the system of Aris- totle. Karl Werner says that the Jesuits of Coimbra gave to the world a masterpiece, whose equal is yet to be seen and which has received the admiration that it deserves. Father de Backer gives an exact list of all the editions. The later ones have added the Greek text of .\ristotle.
Laxghorst in Kirchenlex.^ 8. v.; Sommervogel, BibL de la c. de J., II: BR\t;A, Historia da Vniversidade de Coimbra (Lis- bon, 1X92-1902).
John J. Cassidy.
Coninck, Giles de (also called Regiu.s), Jesuit theologian, b. 20 Dec, 1571, at Bailleul in French Flanders; d. 31 May, 1633, at Louvain. At the age of twenty-one he entered the Society of Jesus. During
his course of studies at Louvain he had Lessius among
his professors, and became the worthy successor of his
illustrious teacher in the chair of scholastic theology,
which he held for eighteen years. St. Alphonsus con-
siders Coninck a moral theologian of distinction.
Though de Lugo impugned hLs views on many ques-
tions, he is acknowledged to have rendered consider-
able services to moral theology. His style is concise,
clear, and direct; on several points his writings are
exhaustive. Coninck's principal works are: "Com-
mentariorum ac disputationum in universam doc-
trinam D. Thomae", etc. {Antwerp, 1616; enlarged
and revised 1619, 1624; Lyons, 1619, 1624, 1625, 1643;
Rouen, 1630. The last edition was among the Jesuit;
works condemned to be torn and burnt, by an act of
the parliament of Rouen, 12 Feb., 1762). "De Mora-
litate, natura et effectibus actimm supematuralium ",
etc. (Antwerp, 1623; Lyons, 1623; Paris, 1624. The
author is said to have left very ample additions in-
tended to appear in the subsequent editions of the
work. Father Miillendorff assures his readers that
this treatise may be recommended to the theologians
even of to-day). " Responsio ad dissertationem im-
pugnantem absolutionem moribundi sensibus desti-
tuti", etc. (Antwerp, 1625); "Disputationes theo-
logica;" (Antwerp, 1645, published posthumously,
though finished twelve years before the author's
death).
HuHTER, Nomcndator (Innsbruck, 1892), I, 361; Mullen- DOBFF in Kirckenlex., Ill, 947 ; Sommertoqel, JBibliothf-que de ta c. de J.. II, 1309 sq. A. J MaaS.
Connecticut. — This State, comprising an area of substantially 5000 square miles, was one of the thir- teen colonies which, in 1776, declared their independ- ence from England. It was among the first to ratify the Federal Constitution under which, in 1789, the republic known as the United States of America established its present form of government. The population enrolled in the censiLs of 1900 was 908,420, and in 1908 undoubtedly exceeded 1,000,000, the increase being in the cities, while the rural com- munities barely held their own. Manufacturing industries, rather than agricultural or com- mercial, are the principal re- sources of the State.
Early Settlers. — The first English settlement was estab- lished on the Connecticut River at Windsor by traders from the Plymouth Colony in 1633. In the same year the Dutch from New Amsterdam had sailed up the river and erected a trading hou.se and fort where the city of Hartford now stands, a few miles below Windsor. The Dutch soon after withdrew, leaving the English to establish the first permanent settlements within the boundaries of Con- necticut. Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut River, was settled by the English in 1636, and New Haven by coloni.sts from Massachusetts Bay in 1638. In 1664 the New Haven Colony, then comprising the various settlements along the coast, was forced to unite with those in the Connecticut valley, thus form- ing one commonwealth thereafter known as Connec- ticut.
On 24 January, 1639, settlers of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield then "cohabiting and dwelling in and upon the River of Connectecotte and the lands thereunto adjoining" imited in the adoption of the first written constitution known in history. The " Fundiniental Orders", as they were called, estab- lished a Christian commonwealth, and provided for the election of a governor and other magistrates, to- gether with a General Court having both legislative
Seai. of Connecticut
