A thousand liveried angels lackey her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt;
And, in clear dream and solemn vision,
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear;
Till oft converse with heavenly habitants
Begins to cast a beam on th' outward shape,
The unpolluted temple of the mind,
And turns it, by degrees, to the soul's essence,
Till all be made immortal."
Conchology. See Shells.
Con′cord, a town of Middlesex County, Mass., 23 miles by rail from Boston. It was settled in 1635. As early as 1767 its people took a strong stand against the measures of the British. In February, 1775, the colonial government gathered valuable military stores at Concord. British spies visited the place, and an expedition from Boston to seize or destroy the stores was decided upon by General Gage. On the morning of April 19, 800 soldiers reached Concord. The country had been thoroughly alarmed; the people were engaged in concealing stores; and the militia, to the number of 180, had gathered when the enemy came in sight. Some were for resisting them, but, desiring to throw the blame of the attack on the invaders, Colonel Barrett led his men across the North bridge. While part of the British were destroying arms and provisions, a detachment marched to secure the North and South bridges. The Americans, believing the enemy were burning the village, marched toward the bridge, while the British drew up on the east bank and began to pull up the bridge-planks. They were commanded to stop, which they did; but a single gun, followed by a volley, was fired at the Americans. The minute-men answered with a volley also, and a general fusillade ensued, both sides losing several men. The British retreated to the center of the town, the Americans following and posting themselves along the Boston road. About noon the retreat began, the minutemen pursuing the British as far as Lexington. The Revolution was really begun by the skirmish at North bridge, where, as Emerson puts it, was "fired the shot heard round the world." Concord, out of a population of 1,300, sent 174 men to the army of 1775, the town raising the soldiers' pay. Concord is noted as the home of Hawthorne, Emerson, Thoreau, Louisa M. Alcott and Channing. Population, 6,421.
Con′cord, the capital of New Hampshire, is on the Merrimac River and has some handsome public buildings. The city has extensive water-power. It manufactures large numbers of carriages, also shoes, twine, leather-goods, silverware, electrical apparatus, machine-shop products; and has quantities of fine granite in its vicinity. An island in the Merrimac near the city is famous as the place where Mrs. Hannah Dustin and her nurse, with the aid of a boy, in 1697 killed ten Indians who had taken them captive. Concord was the home of the Penacooks, a powerful tribe of Indians. It was settled in 1725. Population, 21,497.
Concordat, The, of 1801, was an agreement between Pope Pius VII and Napoleon as first consul of France. This is the most famous of many such concordats between the popes and secular rulers. By the concordat of 1801 the national Catholic church was restored to France, though its administration was henceforth more dependent upon the government. Church property which had been seized was not to be restored, but the government was to provide for the support of a reduced number of bishops. As in English history of old, it was agreed that the government should select the bishops, but the pope invest them with their office. This concordat was replaced by similar agreements under different French governments. But there always was a strong party against having any state-church; and in 1906 it was disestablished and the concordat repealed.
Concrete, a composition of broken rock, gravel, broken bricks, sand, etc., usually cemented into solid form by the use of hydraulic cement. The proportions of the various ingredients differ according to the use to which the artificial stone called concrete is to be put, but the principle to be kept in mind in the mixing is that there should be enough of the mortar to a little more than fill the space between the fragments of broken rock, etc. A typical concrete is made of one part of cement, three parts of sand and five parts of broken rock. The mixing is usually done dry, only enough water being used to lay the dust, but more water is added when the stuff is tamped into position. Where concrete has to be laid down under water, it is usually put in position in bags. It is used for the foundations of structures of all sorts, for piers, fortifications, sidewalks and, recently, to a great extent in monolithic buildings, that is, buildings that are virtually one stone. In such buildings, as well as in many foundations, many iron girders and rods are imbedded in the concrete to add to its strength, and this is called reinforced concrete. The great earthquake in California made apparent the superiority of this kind of construction. Concrete was used extensively by the Babylonians, Egyptians, Greek and Romans. Some of their buildings have stood over 3,600 years. See Cement.
Conde (kôn-dē̇′), Louis II of Bourbon, Prince of, called the Great Condé, was born Sept. 8, 1621. He early started in his soldier's career. At the age of 22 he was given command of a French army,
