Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/374

* CONSPIRACY. 318 CONSTABLE. land and in the United States, is that the gist of the civil cause of action is the actual damage done to the ijlainlill", not the agreement or con- federation against him. Consult: Vriglit, Law of Criminal Conspira- cies (London, 1873; Philadelphia, 1887) ; Bishop, A'ew; Commeiihirics on the Criminal Law (Bos- ton, 1900) ; and Commentaries on the Xon-Con- iraet Law (Boston) ; also consult the Encyclo- pedia of the Laws of England (London, 1897). CONSTABLE, kun'sta-b'l (OF. conestable, Fr. connetahlc, from ML. conestahulus, come- jiiahnltis, eoniislniinli, constable, from Lat. comes 3tabuli, count of the stable). (1) An officer of great dignitv and authority in the Eastern Roman Kmpire, whence the office passed, with varying functions but no loss of authority, to the west- ern nations of Europe. The Constable of France, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy and chief arbitrator in chivalry, became the most powerful olliccr and dignitary in the State after the King, and, because of the danger to the Crown that lurlced in its greatness, the office was abolished by Richelieu in 1027. The dignity was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte, but again abolished after the restoration of the monarchy. Across the Channel the office existed with similar functions, under the title of Lord High Constable of England, but it never attained to the author- ity which attended it in France, and it was sus- pended for reasons of economy by Henry VIII. It is now filled by temporary appointment on great occasions of state, as the coronation of the monarch, etc. Formerly the Lord High Con- stable, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal of England, held the courts of chivalry, or honor, and the courts martial of the kingdom. But the former jurisdiction has now completely lapsed, and courts martial are held by the ordinary military authorities. The court of the constable iind marshal, therefore, while still nominally in existence, is practically obsolete. The office of constable still survives in Scotland, where it has become an hereditary dignity of the earls of Errol, but shorn of its former authority. I, (2) The office of constable also existed in Eng- land with the signification of warden or keeper of certain royal castles and fortified towns. In a few cases "it long survived as an hereditary office, and in some others it is filled by royal appointment. Of the latter class are the con- stables of the Tower of London and of Windsor and Dover castles. (3) The peace officer whom we know as con- stable is the petty constable of English law, an officer of great antiquity — so called to distinguish him from the High Constables of Hundreds, created by the Statute of Winchester, 13 Edward I. (1285). The office has in recent years lost much of its importance in England, the institu- tion of county and borough police having de- prived it of most of its fimctions. In most of the United States, however, outside the cities, the constable continues to be the principal officer of the peace. As such he is invested with large powers of arresting, imprisoning, breaking open bouses, executing civil and criminal process, and often with limited judicial functions. His duties are generally defined by statute. In cities, as in English boroughs and counties, his func- tions have generally been transferred to the police (q.v.). See Peace: Sheriff; and con- sult: Bacon, New Abridgment of the Law, title Constable (any edition) ; Dalton, The Country Justice: Containing the Practice, Duty, and I'owir of tlir Justices of the Peace. CONSTABLE, Archibald (1774-1827). A Scottish publisher, born in Fifeshire. He be- came famous for the sumptuousness of his edi- tions and the liberality shown toward his em- ployees. He iJublished nearly all of Sir Walter Scott's works, and his failure in 1820, with that of Ballanlyne & Co., involved Scott for £120.000. Constable became publisher of the Scots' Maga- zine (1801), and of the Edinburgh Keview (1802), and owner of the Encycloptedia Bri- tannica (1812), which he enlarged. He edited the Chronicle of Fife (1810), and wrote a Memoir of George Heriot (1822). Consult: Constable, Archibald Constable and Bis Literary Correspondents (3 vols., Edinburgh, 1873) ; and Lockhart, Life of Scott (7 vols., London, 1838). CONSTABLE, Henry (1362-1013). An English poet. He was graduated from Saint John's College, Cambridge, in 1580: became a Roman Catholic, and therefore found it best to live mostly on the Continent. He died at Li&ge, October 9, 1013. He wrote many pretty pastorals and sonnets to Diana, sometimes marred by con- ceits, and decadent in tone. His one independent publication was Diana (1592; enlarged, 1594; reprinted in Arber's English Garner, 1877). He contributed four pastorals to England's Helicon (1600), and sonnets to other collections. Six- teen "Spiritual Sonnets," attributed to Constable, were first printed bv T. Park in Eelieonia (1815). CONSTABLE, John (1776-1837). An Eng- lish landscape painter, the founder of modern landscape art. He w-as born on June 11, 1776, in East Bergholt, Suft'olk, the son of a wealthy miller. His father intended liim for the clergj-, and afterwards tried him as a miller, but the youth's taste was all for ai't. He received his first instruction from a local amateur named Dunthorne, with whom he painted the scenes about his native home, always in the open air. In 1795 he went to London in order to study painting, but was recalled soon afterwards. In 1799 he returned to London and entered the Academy School, where he received instruction from Farrington and Eeinagle. He was greatly impressed with the works of Ruysdael in the National Gallery. At first he attempted por- traits and historical subjects, according to the custom of the day, but in 1803, weary of study- ing pictures and of acquiring truth second-hand, he returned to East Bergholt. From this time he painted landscapes from nature only, passing at least the suuuner months entirely in the coun- try near his home. His work, however, Avas too revolutionary and original to become popular in his native land, although he found a few devoted friends who believed in him and bought his pictures. Among these were Sir George Beaumont, the J[a?cenas of his boyhood. Bishop Fisher, of Salisbury, and his nephew. Archdeacon Fisher. Constable's most intimate friend, and. above all. itiss JIaria Biclcnell. whom he afterwards married. He did not sell a single picture to a stranger until 1814, but was compelled to support himself by paint- ins portraits and copies of paintings. But never discouraged, he worked on in his quiet way, knowing well that the future was his. At length