Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/581

* IMPRESSMENT. 507 IMPROVISATION. impressed Americans serving in British ships between the years 1802 and 1812 was seldom less than the total enlisted force of the United States Navy at the time, and at the beginning of the war more than 2000 Americans were discliarged into prison ships for refusing to fight against their own country. In the treaty of peace Great Britain did not formally give up her claim to the right of impressment as respected seamen in American ships, for the subject was not men- tioned; but the claim of the United States was tacitly admitted, and no further attempts were made to impress men from American ships. IMPRISONMENT (from imprison, OF., Fr. emprisonner, from en, in + prison, prison, from Lat. prensio, arrest, from prehendere, prendere, to seize ). The restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatever, whether by authority of the Government or in defiance thereof. In the latter case it is 'false imprisonment' (q.v.). It does not necessarily imply a prison with bolts and bars, but may be exercised by any use or display of force, lawfully or unlawfully, in the open street. A man becomes a prisoner, wher- ever he may be, by the mere word or touch of a duly authorized officer directed to that end. Usu- ally, however, imprisonment is understood to imply an actual confinement in some jail or prison employed for the purpose according to the provisions of law. The power to imprison is in many cases inherent in courts or magis- trates, and in others conferred upon them by statute, and it may be employed in civil as well as criminal proceedings. Imprisonment for debt, once universal in this country, under the opera- tion of the English common law, is now generally abolished by statute, except in cases where the action of the debtor is tainted by fraud, or he is reasonably suspected of an intention to avoid his debts by concealing his property, or removing that and himself from the State. Witnesses whose testimony is necessary for the conviction of a criminal often are imprisoned to prevent their escape from the jurisdiction of the court. Per- sons accused of crime are either confined till the day of trial or released on bail, according to the gravity of the off'ense. Courts have the power to imprison for contempt of their authority, and persons found guilty of crime are imprisoned for periods definitely fixed by statute or by the judg- ment of the court. The confinement of lunatics in asylums appointed for the purpose is not here considered, as such asylums are not usually re- garded as prisons. A person who wrongfully or illegally deprives another of liberty may be sued in a civil action for false imprisonment by the person aggrieved, or prosecuted as for a criminal oflfense. A prisoner desiring release is entitled to a writ of habeas corpus to obtain the judg- ment of a competent court as to the legality of his imprisonment. See Arre.st: Debtok; Du- ress; Punishment; B.il; Debt; etc. IMPROBATION (Lat. improhatio. disap- proval, from improbare, to disapprove, from in-, not -|- proharc. to approve, from probtis, good). In Scotch law, the title of a proceeding for set- ting aside a dee<l or other instrument, which is apparently valid and probative, on the ground of forgery or falsehood. It belongs to the class of 'rescissory' actions, and is equivalent to the juris- diction exercised by the courts of equity in Eng- land and America, in setting aside and canceling Vol. X.— ••is. legal instruments, and in removing clouds on title. See Equity; Feaud; Mistake. IMPROMP'TU (Lat., in readiness). In music, a short extemporaneous composition. Also a title given to compositions for pianoforte that have little thematic development. IMPROMPTU DE VERSAILLES, JiN'proN'- tu' dp var'sa'y', L'. A play by Jloli&re (1003), in which he attacked the critics of his Ecole des femynes. IM'PROPE'RIA (Lat. nom. pi., reproaches). A series of antiphons and responses which are sung in the Catholic Church on Good Friday, as a part of the mass of the presanctified. Ever since 1560 Palestrina's famous Improperia have been sung in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. IMPROPRIATION (from ML. impropriatio, from iinpropriare, to impropriate, from Lat. in, in + proprius, own). A term used in England, signifying the transfer to a layman of the reve- nues of a benefice to which the cure of souls is annexed, with an obligation to provide for the performance of the spiritual duties attaclied to the benefice. The spiritual duties are discharged by a clergyman, who is called a vicar, and who receives a certain portion of the emoluments of the living, generally consisting of a part of the glebe-land of the parsonage, together with wliat are called the 'small tithes' (i.e. tithes of hops, potatoes, and the like farming products) of the parish. IMPROVISATION (from Lat. improvisus, unforeseen, from iti-, not + providers, to foresee, from pi-o, before + videre, to see). The art of producing without previous preparation a poem, or a musical composition. Oratory, although in its original form it is founded on spontaneous efforts, is not ordinarily considered under the head of improvisation; but poetry and music, while subject to inspiration, are rather domi- nated by their complexity, and improvisation in these branches represents a peculiar and unusual ability. Poetry and music, like the dance and music, were inseparable in their early history; the Egyptian priests chanted improvised hymns to their deities; while in Greece, the real home of improvisation in antiquity, it was customary' for poets to recite impromptu verses to the ac- companiment of the lyre. In later Roman times Archias. the friend of Cicero, Publilius Syrus, Ovid, and Statins, were famous improvisatori. But as in the course of centuries languages grew more compact, and as less license was allowed, improvisation almost died out among civilized nations. Among savage peoples it has always been practiced. From the decline of Rome to the ninth century improvisation as an art was practically unknown. Then. however, came the renaissance, and the troubadours, the trouvSres, the minnesingers, and the mcistersingers (qq.v. ) followed each other in rapid succession. Italj' was quick to t^ke advantage of the adapta- bility of hcT language, and the courts of Na- ples, Milan, and Ferrara became poetical cen- tres from which the new art spread through- out the Peninsula. In Germany and in France improvisation was soon superseded by careful composition, but in Spain, and especially in Italy, it lingered long. Petrarcli. in the twelfth cen- tury, gave a great impetus to improvisation, and down tn the present day in Italy it has played an important rOle in the imaginative life of th«