CONKING. 311 CONSCIENCE. the circulation of the blood. His De Origine ■Juris Oermuiiici (1643) was the pioneer work on the history of German law: and his Exerei- tationcs dc IlcpiMica Imperii OcriiKiiiici (1674) was an important contribution to the literature of the civil law. A six-volume edition of his works was prepared by Giibel, with a biography (BrunsW'iek, ITJiO). Consult Stobbe, Hermann Conring, der Bcgriindcr der deutschen Kechtsge- schichte (Berlin, 1870). CONSALVI, kunsal've, Ercole, Harchese (1757-1824). A Papal diplomatist and re- former of abuses in the Papal St.ates. He became chamberlain to Pope Pius VI. in 1783, and auditor of the Rota Romana in 1792, in which ollice he displayed great administrative ability. As secretary of the conclave at Venice, in 1709, he contributed mainly to the election of Pius VII., who in 1800 made him a cardinal and Secretary of State. In this capacity he conclud- ed with great diplomatic skill the concordat with Xapoleon in 1801; but having afterwards in- curred the displeasure of the Emperor by his stout resistance to the encroachments of France on the rights of his sovereign. Napoleon demand- ed his removal from otTice in 1806. After the Emperor's downfall, the Pope sent him as his representative first to London, to meet the allied princes assembled there ; then to the Congress at Vienna, where, by his tact and moderation, he succeeded in securing the restoration of the Papal Stiites, the government of which he as- sumed as Secretary of State, continuing in office until 1823. His clever management of the rela- tions to the European Powers resulted in the conclusion of concordats with most of them under conditions most favorable to the Papal authority, and he made his domestic policy memorable by beneficial reforms and the sup- pression of abuses in various branches of ad- ministration. The sciences, literature, and especially the fine arts, are much indebted to his liberal patronage. CONSANGUINITY (Lat. consanguiiiitas, from consaiiiiuinctts, having the same blood, from com-, together ^- sanguis, blood). The relatfion- ship which subsists between persons who are of the same blood ; that is, who are descended from a common ancestor. It is either direct, which is the relationship between ascendants and de- scendants ; or collateral, between persons who have a common ancestor but are in n different line of descent ; as cousins, who have the same grandparents on either their fathers' or mothers' sides, but who are the issue of different chil- dren of those grandparents. Degrees of Consanguinity. For legal pur- poses diflerent degrees of consanguinity are established. Thus, in the direct line, a child is in the first degree from its parents, a grandchild in the second degree, and so on. In the collateral line degrees are established beginning with brothers and sisters and extending to the most distant collateral relatives. The method of computing degrees varies in different jurisdictions according as they follow the civil or canon law in this particular. By the civil law the degrees are separately numbered downward to each party, the common ancestor not being counted. Thus, by this nile brothers would be in the second degree, uncle and nephew in the third, and so on. By the canon law, where the parties are equally removed from the conmion ancestor, con- sanguinity is computed by tlic number of de- grees between them and the common ancestor, and by this rule brothers would be in the first degree and others correspondingly one degree less than luider the civil law. The question of consanguinity is importiint, and sometimes controlling in determining a per- son's legal rights, qualifications, or disabilities, especially as to entering into certain relations with another, or acting in certain capacities. Thus the law prohibits marriage between certain relations; judges and jurors and other officers are sometimes disqualified from serving in their particular capacities because of relationship with j)ersons who may come before, or deal with, them in public matters; and consanguinity within the prohibited degree is the gravamen of the crime of incest. It is the controlling factor in the laws of inheritance and descent, which, although they vary somewhat in difi'erent juris- dictions, are always based on relationship; and blood relatives always take in preference to collaterals. See Aff'initt; Collateral; Mab- m.GE; Succession; Heir. CONSCIENCE (Lat. conscicntia, from con- scire, to be conscious, from com-, together + scire, to know). A term that has been used with various shades of meaning. Perhaps the definition that agrees best with general usage, and with the requirements of the scientific treat- ment of ethics, is that conscience is the process of consciousness which surveys one's own pa-st, present, or contemplated action, and judges that it comes up to or falls short of a moral standard ■ — a process which is pleasant or unpleasant ac- cording as the judgment approves or condemns the act. See Ethics. CONSCIENCE, Coltsts of. English courts for the recovery of small debts, constituted by special local acts of Parliament in London, West- minster, and other trading districts. These courts were also called courts of requests. The first of these, the Court of Conscience for London, «as created in the ninth year of Henry VIII. , but others were subsequently established and their jurisdiction and procedure minutely regu- lated by Parliament. They were freely resorted to for the small cases within their jurisdiction, which was originally limited to 40s., but after- wards extended to £5. With the reorganization of the county courts in 1888 (the County Courts Act, 51 and 52 Vict. c. 43) the courts of con- science lost their importance, and were, with a few exceptions, abolished. See Court. CONSCIENCE, koN'syiiNs', Hendrik (1812- 83), A Belgian novelist, distinguished for his pictures of Flemish village life. He was born in Antwerp, December 3, 1812, and was largely self- educated. He entered the army in 1830, left it in 1836, and in 1837 published his first novel in Flemish, In the Wonderful Year 156(i, w"hich won him great success, hut left him in debt to his printer. Patronage secured him a post in a Government office. He wrote Phantasy (1837), a collection of fantastic tales, and The Lion of Flanders (1838). Finding office work irksome, he abandoned it for gardening, which in turn he pave up for a sinecure at the Royal Academy of Painting. In 1845 he was ajipointed associate professor in the University of Ghent and in-
