of manors frequently possessed the powers of conservators within their manors by prescription, and it was not unusual for lands to be held on the tenure of discharging the duties of a conservator of the peace within the county. Lastly, conservators were appointed by letters-patent from the crown in cases of emergency for the preservation of the peace in particular districts. All these different kinds of conservators, with the exception of these judges and others who are conservators ex officio were superseded by the appointment of justices of the peace (q.v.).

CONSERVATOR OF THE STAPLE. See CAMPVERE.

CONSERVATORY, in horticulture, a house for the cultivation of tender exotic plants, which, although requiring protectiou from frosts, and a little assistance of artificial heat, do not need the heat of the hot-house or stove. The only distinction between a C. and a green-house is, that in the former the plants grow in borders of earth; in the latter, they are in pots; and these two characters are often combined. The structure, management, etc., are much the same for the C. as for the green-house; but in the warmer parts of the country, the roof and even the sides are with advantage made capable of being removed in summer. In all situations, the most free and frequent ventilation is requisite. A C. is often attached to a mansion, so as to communicate directly with one or more of the apartments, instead of being placed in the garden.

CON'SERVES are described by Cooley in his Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts, to be "recent vegetable matter, as flowers, herbs, roots, fruit, and seed, beaten with powdered sugar to the consistence of a stiff paste, so as to preserve them as nearly as possible in their natural freshness.' C. are made by druggists as vehicles for more active medicines, and by confectioners as sweetmeats.

CONSHOHOCK'EN, a borough on the Schuykill river and the Reading railroad, 13 m. n.w. of Philadelphia; pop. 12,000. It is a manufacturing place, and has blast-furnaces, rolling-mills, machine-shops, etc.

CONSIDÉRANT, VICTOR-PROSPER, a French socialist, was b. in 1805 at Salins, in the department of Jura. After being educated at the polytechnic school at Paris, he entered the army, which, however, he soon left to promulgate the doctrines of Fourier (q.v.). After the death of his master, C. became the head of the societarians, and undertook the management of The Phalanx, a review devoted to the maintenance and spread of their opinions. Having gained the support of a young Englishman, Mr. Young, who advanced the required sum of money, C. established, 1832, on a large estate in the department Eure et Loire, a socialist colony or Phalanstère; but the experiment failed, and with it The Phalanx fell to the ground. However, a new organ of co-operative doctrine, the Démocratie Pacifique, was soon established, and was edited by C., who displayed great zeal, perseverance, and ability in his hopeless battle with the laws of society as now constituted. Among his numerous writings, the chief is the Destinée Sociale, dedicated to Louis Philippe. In 1849, C. was accused of high treason, and compelled to escape into Belgium, whence he emigrated to Texas, returned to Brussels, and again went to Texas, where he founded a societarian community, La Réunion, which flourished for a time, but has since come to nothing. C. returned to France in 1869. See COMMUNISM.

CONSIDERATION, in law, the thing given, or done, or the forbearing or suffering something as recompense to another, for doing, giving, forbearing, or suffering. An obligation incurred without C. is, in England, termed voluntary, in Scotland gratuitous; if for C., it is so styled in England, but in Scotland it is called onerous. Considerations are divided in England into good and valuable, the former being affection for a near relative, the latter a pecuniary or other tangible benefit, or marriage. There is no corresponding division in Scotland. But in Scotland, on the other hand, there is, as a general rule, no need for the intervention of a C. to make a contract valid, while in England a contract without C. is invalid, unless it be evidenced by formal deed (q.v.). In this respect, the law of England is founded upon the maxim of the civil law, ex nudo pacto non oritur actio; while the Scottish rule is founded on that of the canon law, omne verbum de ore fideli cadit in debitum. But the C. which in England is sufficient to support a contract, may be of the most illusory kind. Thus, an agreement to take less than the full sum in payment of a debt is without C. and invalid, even though the sum stipulated be paid, because there is no C. to support the agreement to give up the residue; but if the agreement was to take a stick of sealing-wax instead of the money, it is an agreement for valuable C. and binding, and the transfer of the wax extinguishes the debt.

There are some circumstances which, in both countries, warrant the setting aside of obligations without C., whether made by deed or not. In England, they are void as against bona fide purchasers, by 27 Eliz. c. 4; and void as against creditors where the grantor is indebted to such creditors at the time to the extent of insolvency, by 13 Eliz. c. 5. A similar rule to the latter is established in Scotland by the act 1696, c. 5., and without proof of insolvency when the deed is granted to a near relation, or a person in a confidential situation, by 1621, c. 18. And all obligations for which the C. is illegal or immoral, are in both countries void.

Conspiracy.

CONSIGNMENT, in mercantile law, is the term applied to goods which are placed in the hands of an agent or factor, for sale, or for some other specified purpose. Where either the consigner or consignee becomes bankrupt, questions of nicety often arise regarding ownership, and the consequent rights of the parties and their creditors.

CONSISTORY (Lat. consistorium), properly, a place of assembly, but in the later Latinity the word came to signify the particular place where the privy council or cabinet of the Roman emperor met, and after the time of Diocletian and Constantine, the council itself. The assessors of this council were partly the ordinary members (comites consistoriani), such as the imperial chancellor and seneschal, partly extraordinary; and their duty was to deliberate on all the important affairs of legislation, administration, and justice. The form of the imperial C. passed over into the early Christian church. The bishops established their consistories; and the highest ecclesiastical court, composed only of cardinals (the college of cardinals), which meets in the Vatican, under the presidency of the pope, to determine all such matters as the appointment of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, etc., still bears this name, as do also the private councils which the pope can call at his pleasure. The Protestant church of Germany was induced to perpetuate the consistorial courts principally because the episcopal authority passed into the hands of territorial princes (Ger. Landesfürsten) not familiar with ecclesiastical affairs. The first Lutheran C. was established at Wittenberg in 1542. After 1555, when the peace of Augsburg secured the recognition of the Protestant religion, similar consistories were gradually formed in other places. The Lutheran consistories exercise a supervision and discipline over religion and education, over the clergy and the schoolmasters, and examine the theological candidates on their trials for license and ordination. They have the regulation of divine worship, the administration of church property, and at an earlier period possessed a certain jurisdiction in regard to marriage.-In the French Protestant churches, the C. possesses a more restricted jurisdiction than in Germany. It exercises authority over a circonscription-i.e., a division of the church containing 6,000 souls-and is composed of all the pastors of the circonscription, together with from 6 to 12 lay-elders elected by a certain number of the people. In that portion of the French Protestant church which has adopted the Augsburg confession, the authority of the French monarch is more recognized than in the reformed church, for it has a consistoire général, composed of delegates, lay and clerical, of the various circonscriptions, the president of which is a layman nominated by the emperor.-In England, the word is used to denote the court Christian, or spiritual court. Every archbishop and bishop has a consistorial court, held either in his cathedral or other convenient place, before his chancellor or commissary for ecclesiastical causes. In Scotland, the consistorial courts have lapsed into the commissary courts. See COMMISSARY.

CONSISTORY (ante), the name of the body of officials in each local church of the "reformed" denominations (Dutch or German) in the United States.

CONSOLA'TO DEL MA'RE. See MERCANTILE LAW.

CON'SOLE (Fr.), in architecture, a projection resembling a bracket, frequently in the form of the letter S, used to support cornices, or for placing busts, vases, or figures on. Consoles were often richly ornamented in the under part. See BRACKET, CANTĂLIVER.

CONSOLIDATION ACTS. In order to secure uniformity in acts of parliament having reference to public undertakings, and to avoid the necessity of repeating, in each special act, the clauses usually introduced into such acts, the device has been adopted of consolidating or combining all these provisions in one act having reference to the particular kind of undertaking. Of general acts of this nature the most important are: The companies' clauses consolidation act, 1845 (8 and 9 Vict. c. 16); the lands' clauses consolidation act, 1845 (8 and 9 Vict. c. 18), amended as to Ireland (14 and 15 Vict. c. 70); and the railways' clauses consolidation act, 1845 (8 and 9 Vict. c. 20).

CON'SOLS, a contraction of consolidated annuities. In incurring the national debt, government borrowed money at different periods on special conditions, being generally the payment of an annuity of so much per cent on the sum borrowed. Great confusion arose from the variety of stocks thus created, and it was thought expedient to strike an average of their value, and consolidate them into one fund, kept in one account at the bank of England. The consolidated annuities' act was passed in 1757.

CON'SONANCE, in music, a term applied to combinations of sounds, whose vibrations when heard together so satisfy the ear that no other sound is wished for, or expected to follow. The more or less satisfying effect of C. depends on the greater or less simplicity of the interval formed by the combined sounds. Intervals whose relative vibrations can be expressed by numbers from 1 to 6, are considered consonant; while those which can only be expressed by the higher numbers, not a duplication of the lower, as 7, 9, 11, 13, etc., are called dissonant. Sounds vibrating as 1: 1, are unison; as 1: 2, produce the octave; as 2: 3, the fifth, which inverted becomes 3: 4, the fourth; as 4: 5, the major third, which inverted becomes 5: 8, the minor sixth; and 5: 6,, the minor third, which inverted becomes 6: 10, or 3: 5, the major sixth. Consonant intervals are therefore the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and octave; from which it follows that there is only one consonant fundamental chord in music, viz., the common chord, or trias harmonica perfecta, being a bass note with its third, fifth, and octave, which inverted

Conspiracy.

produces the chords of the 6th and the . See CHORD. The ancient Greeks admitted of still fewer consonances in their system of music, as they treated the third and sixth as dissonances; a proof that their system of harmony was not the same as ours. Their name for C. was symphony, and for dissonance, diaphony. Early in the middle ages, only the octave, fifth, and third were treated as consonances. Franco of Cologne was the first who divided C. into perfect, semi-perfect, and imperfect. In the writings of Marchettus, and of Joannes de Muris, in the first half of the 14th c., we find already the important rule, that two perfect consonances following in similar progression are not allowable. The study of the C. was carried still further in the 16th c. by Zerlino, who ascertained the true mathematical proportions of the major and minor thirds. Notwithstanding this, Palestrina, up to the end of the same century, and, long after him, all who wrote in the same style, carefully avoided the use of the third in the final chord, finishing always with the perfect consonances according to Franco. Of late years, the importance of the C. has attracted the attention of many eminent theorists in music, as well as philosophical writers of undoubted judgment, some of whom do not hesitate to consider the interval of the seventh a C., because it differs from other dissonances in not requiring preparation. There cannot be a doubt that the chord of the seventh, C, E, G, and B flat, considered individually, and not in connection with other chords, is as euphonious and satisfying as the common chord; and when these intervals are placed at the distance from the fundamental note they harmonically arise at, the consonant nature of the combination is still more obvious. A scientific organ-builder in Scotland has long been in the practice of introducing the seventh as an interval in his mixture stops, forming with the fundamental stops a union of sound decidedly consonant, and producing a remarkably brilliant effect. The exact limit of C., or the point where dissonance begins, seems not definitely fixed, if fixed it can be. To define C. to be agreeable sounds, and dissonance to be the reverse, as some do, is clearly absurd, because they both essentially belong to harmony or concord, or, as the Germans more properly call it, Die Kunst des Wohlklangs, in which there can be nothing absolutely discordant. A perfect C. causes a musical effect known as Tartini's grave harmonic, it having been first observed by the eminent violinist of that name. Along with any two musical notes sounded continuously, there may be heard (if the notes are in accord) a third deeper tone, caused by that number of vibrations which is the greatest common measure of the numbers producing the primary notes, and upon this Tartini founded his theory of harmony (now obsolete), by assuming that the grave note is the natural base of the chord producing it. The note thus sounded may be too deep to be appreciated by the uneducated ear, although felt as a succession of beats, and these should not be confounded with the "beats" resulting from the sound of a discordant interval, a species of jar or flutter known to tuners as the consequence of the imperfection of a consonance. The subject is treated at length by prof. de Morgan in a paper published in the transactions of the Cambridge philosophical society, 1858.

CONSONANT. See LETTERS.

CONSORT, literally, one who throws in his lot with another. In English constitutional law, the term is applied to the husband or wife of the reigning sovereign, viewed not in a private but a public capacity, as participating to a certain limited extent in the prerogatives of sovereignty. The extent of these prerogatives in the case of a queen C. are stated by Blackstone. She is, he says, a public person, exempt and distinct from the king, and "not, like other married women, so closely connected, as to have lost all legal or separate existence so long as the marriage continues." For this, sir Edward Coke gives the curious reason, that "the wisdom of the common law would not have the king (whose continual care and study is for the public, and circa ardua regni) to be troubled and disquieted on account of his wife's domestic affairs." In addition to this peculiarity in her domestic position, the queen C. enjoys several exemptions and minute prerogatives. She pays no toll, and is not liable to amercement in any court. But where no such exemption is expressly recognized by law in favor of the royal C., she is on a footing of equality with other subjects, and the privileges which the title conveys are chiefly those of precedence, and belong to court etiquette. Up to the year 1857, the husband of queen Victoria possessed no distinctive English title, and no place in court ceremonial except such as was conceded to him by courtesy. In that year, the title of prince C. was conferred upon him by letters-patent.

CONSPIRACY, a combination between two or more persons to perpetrate an unlawful act. See COMBINATION.

CONSPIRACY BILL. In consequence of an attempt to assassinate the emperor and empress of the French whilst going to the opera on the evening of the 14th Jan., 1858, by the Italian refugee Orsini and others, by means of explosive shells partly manufac tured in England, a bill was introduced into parliament by lord Palmerston, declaring conspiracy to murder, which the law of England had hitherto treated as a misdemeanor, to be a felony, punishable with penal servitude, and applying that provision to all persons whether English or foreign, and to all conspiracies to murder wherever intended. In place of being regarded merely as a piece of law reform, the C. B. obtained a political character partly from a dispatch from the French minister, count Walewski, demanding some such change in our law, and partly from expressions contained in certain addresses

Constans.

which were presented to the emperor by the French army, and published in the government organ, the Moniteur, which were regarded as insulting to England. The ministry were accused of truckling to France; and though on the motion for leave to bring in the bill they had a majority of 200 (299 against 99), an amendment by Mr. M. Gibson on the second reading, virtually amounting to a vote of censure, was carried by a majority of 19 against them (234 to 215).

CONSTABLE (Lat. constabulus). Whether this officer was called originally comes stabuli, the count of the stable or master of the horse (as alleged by Ducange), or the koning-stapel, staff and stay of the king (as Coke, Selden, and others, with less reason, have maintained), the C., both in France and England, was a military personage of the very highest rank. The C. of France rose gradually in importance from the comparatively modest position of an officer of the household, till at last he became, ex officio, the commander-in-chief of the army in the absence of the monarch, the highest judge in military offenses and in all questions of chivalry and honor, and the supreme regulator and arbitrator in all matters connected with tilts, tournaments, and all martial displays. The office of C. is traced back by Anselme to Alberic, who held it in 1060; but the first C. of France who appeared at the head of an army was Matthew, the second seigneur de Montmorency. The office was suppressed by Louis XIII. in 1626. Among the offices of the ancient monarchy which were restored by Napoleon for mere purposes of state, that of C. was one. His brother, prince Louis Napoleon, afterwards king of Holland, was created grand C., the vice-C. being marshal Berthier. The office was again abolished on the restoration of the Bourbons, and has not since been re-established. But besides the C. of France, almost all the great vassals of the crown had constables who filled analogous offices at their minor courts. There were constables of Burgundy, of Champagne, and of Normandy; the latter of whom may be regarded as the progenitor of the C. of England.

Shortly after the conquest, a lord high C. of England appears, with powers and privileges closely corresponding to those of the C. of France (13 Rich. II. st. 1. c. 2). His position as judge of the court of chivalry, in conjunction with the earl-mareschal, and the limitation of his power, which followed on the statute 13 Rich II. c. 2, are explained under CHIVALRY, COURT OF. The office was abolished by Henry VIII. on the attainder of Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham; and a lord high C. is now appointed only on the occurrence of great state ceremonies, e.g., a coronation, The high C. of Scotland was an officer very similar to the C. of France and England. After the rebellion, the offices of the inferior constables dependent on the high C., such as the C. of the castle (q.v.), were abolished, but that of the high C. himself was expressly exempted, and still exists in the noble family of Errol. The privileges attaching to this office are now entirely honorary; but in virtue of it, the earl of Errol is said to be the first subject in Scotland after the blood-royal; and on the occasion of the visit of king George IV. to Edinburgh, the then earl was allowed to take precedence of the possessors of all other hereditary honors. The present earl of Errol is the 22d high C. of Scotland.

CONSTABLE OF A CASTLE was the keeper or governor of a castle belonging to the king or to a great baron. These offices were frequently hereditary; thus there were constables or hereditary keepers of the tower, and of the castles of Dover, Windsor, etc. -CONSTABLE OF THE HUNDRED, and CONSTABLE OF THE VILL, were the predecessors of the high and petty constables of later times. The statute of Winchester (13 Ed. I. st. 2, c. 6), by which the office of high constable is usually, though probably not correctly, said to have been first introduced, ordains that in every hundred or franchise there shall be chosen two constables, to make the view of armor, and to see to the conservation of the peace. The petty constable exercised similar functions within the narrower limits of the township or parish, and was subordinate to the high constable of the hundred. The high constables are appointed by the courts leet of the franchise or hundred over which they preside; or, in default of such appointment (7 and 8 Vict. c. 33, s. 8), by the justices at their special sessions. The appointment of petty constables is by 5 and 6 Vict. c. 109, and 13 and 14 Vict. c. 20, given to justices, who are directed annually to require from the overseers of parishes a list of those within the parish qualified and liable to serve as constables. When not specially exempted, every able-bodied man, between 25 and 55 years of age, resident in the parish, and rated to the poor or a tenant to the value of £4 per annum, must be included in this list. These lists are to be revised by the justices, who shall choose therefrom such number of persons as they deem requisite. No person who has served shall be liable to serve again till all the others are exhausted. Certain penalties are imposed by the act on those who shall refuse to serve, and an oath of office is prescribed. This act entirely supersedes the ancient method of appointing petty constables.-SPECIAL CONSTABLES are persons sworn in by the justices to preserve the peace, or to execute warrants on special occasions. By 1 and 2 Will. IV. c. 41, and 5 and 6 Will. IV. c. 43, any two justices of the peace who shall learn, on the oath of a credible witness, that a tumult, riot, or felony has taken place, or is apprehended, may, if they are of opinion that the ordinary officers are insufficient, swear in as many householders or others as they may think fit (not belonging to the classes of persons exempted from the duties of ordinary petty constables) to act as special constables for a limited time or for a particular place. The lord-lieuten

ant may also, by direction of one of the principal secretaries of state, cause special constables to be appointed for the whole county, or any part of it, in which case exemptions may be disallowed. For county constabulary, see POLICE.

CONSTABLE (ante). In the United States, the duties of constables in regard to keeping the peace and making arrests are generally the same as in England, but generally only petty constables are retained. There was a high constable in New York until about 50 years ago, but the office was merged in that of chief of police. Philadelphia also has had the office of high constable. Some of the states have an official known as constable of the commonwealth.

CONSTABLE, ARCHIBALD, 1774-1827; widely known as a publisher of books in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was a bibliopolist by nature, and before coming of age went into business on his own account. He took great interest in Scottish literature, and the elegance of his publications soon brought him prominently into notice. Among publications wholly or partially under his care were the Scot's Magazine and the Edinburgh Review. His acquaintance and friendship with sir Walter Scott is well known, and nearly all the works of the great novelist came to the people through Constable's press. Among his latest effort were the purchase and enlarging of the Encyclopædia Britannica, and the starting of Constable's Miscellany, a series of original standard works to be issued in cheap form. This was continued but a short time, and the firm became heavily in debt and failed in 1826, leaving Walter Scott largely involved in their liabilities.

CONSTABLE, JOHN, 1776–1837; an English artist excelling in landscapes and scenes from nature. Among his pictures are "Stratford Mill," the "Hay Cart," "Salisbury Cathedral, "The Loch," "Valley Farm," and "The Cornfield.

CONSTANCE, LAKE (called by the Germans Bodensee or Bodmansee, from the old castle of Bodman-the Lacus Brigantinus of the Romans), lies on the north side of the Alps of Switzerland, and forms a meeting point of the five territories-Baden, Würtemberg, Bavaria, the Tyrol, and Switzerland. It has an elevation variously estimated at from 1250 ft. to 1385 ft. above the sea. Lake C. is traversed by the Rhine from e. to w. its greatest length is about 44 m., utmost breadth 9 m., and depth 964 feet. It is divided into the upper and lower lakes, the latter of which extends from Constance to Stein. Anciently, the lake was more extensive toward the s. than now. In the 4th c., it is said to have extended as far as Rheineck, now some miles distant from the shore. The shores are formed by hilly lands, with low tracts at the mouths of the Rhine and smaller rivers. Cornfields, vineyards, pastures, orchards, and wooded declivities, with here and there the ruins of old castles interspersed, surround the lake. The water has a dark-green hue, often rises suddenly some 10 or 12 ft. during a thaw, and rolls in high waves during the prevalence of a strong s., n.w., or e. wind. Without visible cause, it sometimes rises and falls to a considerable degree. In one hour, in 1770, it rose between 20 and 24 feet above the ordinary level. It is seldom frozen, except in very severe winters. The lake contains sixty kinds of aquatic fowl; twenty-five species of fish, including fine salmon and salmon-trout; and several species of shell-fish. Since 1824, steam-navigation has added to the facilities of commerce across the lake, and its commercial importance has been greatly increased by the opening of a railway from Friedrichshafen, by Ulm and Stuttgart, to Heilbronn.

CONSTANCE, or KOSTNITZ (anciently Constantia), a city of Baden, once a free imperial city, is situated on the s. shore of the lake of Constance, at the place where the Rhine connects the upper and lower lakes together. C. is one of the most ancient towns in Germany, but it is very much decayed, its pop. once 40,000, being now not more than (1880) 13,372. Its cathedral was erected in the 11th century. C. is notable in history for the ecclesiastical council held in 1414-18. The object of the council of C. was to put an end to the disorders in the popedom and in the election of popes, and also to prevent the spread of the doctrines of Huss. There assembled, with the emperor Sigismund and pope John XXIII., 26 princes, 140 counts, more than 20 cardinals, 7 patriarchs, 20 archbishops, 91 bishops, 600 prelates and doctors, and about 4,000 priests. The three rival popes, John XXIII., Gregory XII., and Benedict XIII., were deposed, and Martin V. was elected. Huss and Jerome of Prague were condemned and burned. The emperor was disappointed in his hope of a thorough ecclesiastical reform, and the council of Basel was afterwards called to carry on the work which the council of C. had failed to accomplish. The hall in which the council met is now the markethall of Constance. C. has manufactures of silk, cotton, and watches, active fisheries, and the cultivation of vineyards and gardens employs a considerable number of the inhabitants.

CONSTANS, FLAVIUS JULIUS, 320-350; second son of Constantine the great, and emperor of Rome, after having defeated and killed his brother (Constantine II.) at the battle of Aquileia in 340. He was rapacious and profligate, but he protected the Christians and closed many of the pagan temples. His reign became so obnoxious that his troops in Gaul revolted, and sent emissaries to slay him, which they did while he was flying towards Spain.