Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/420

* PKEDIS. 358 PREFORMATION. school, despite ecrtain defects of drawing. Con- sult Morelli, ItaUaii Painters (London, 1802). PREEMPTION (ML. prwemptio, a buying before, from Lat. prw, before + cmptio, pur- chase, from cmere, to buy). In international law, the right of a nation to seize provisions and other ai'ticles belonging to a foreign nation or its citizens, while they are being shipped across the territory of the former, as being proliable contraband of war, and for which proper com- pensation or indemnit}' is made to the owners. The English rule is to pay the market value of the goods seized, together with a reasonable prob- able profit, usually estimated at 10 per cent, on that amount. By the treaty of November 19,1794, between the L'nited States and Great Britain, certain articles, as munitions of war and naval stores, were classed as absolute contraband of war and subject to confiscation, and it was fur- ther stipulated that all other articles seized as contraband of war should be bought at a reason- able price and the owner indemnified for all damages sustained thereby. See Contraband of Wab; International Law; and consult the authorities mentioned under the latter title. In the English law, the term preemption is emploj'ed to denote a contract right to buy real property, in event of a sale, at a price equal to or greater than the highest price offered by any other person to the owner within the stipulated time. This sort of a right is commonly included under the phrase 'option to purchase,' in the United States. Pkeicmption Right. A right fmmerly given to citizens of the United States imder our public land laws to buy a quarter section of public lands at a limited price in preference to all other persons, provided they complied with certain regulations. The preemption laws were repealed by act of Congress, March 3, 1891 (26 U. S. Stat, at Large, p. 1097), but the rights of those who had previously filed their claims Avere saved. This means of acquiring public land differed from the homestead laws, which require occupation and cultivation. See Homestead Laws; Lands, Pur.Lir. PREESTABLISHED HARMONY, The Doctrine of. The theory propounded by Leibnitz to account for the empirical fact that a regular connection exists between changes in the body and modifications in the mental life, and for the cor- respondence between the experiences of different persons. Leibnitz held that the bodily changes do not cause the mental changes, and' that the correspondence between the experiences of dif- ferent persons are not due to external influences ■working on them from without, but that from the beginning God has so ordained the course of each person's life that there shall be such a correspondence between his experiences and his bodily changes, and between the experiences of different persons under like conditions. This view differs from occasionalism (q.v.), propounded by Geulincx, in that the latter holds that the cor- respondence is produced by God at the particular time on occasion of what we call causes, while according to the doctrine of preestablishcd har- mony the correspondence has lieen prcvioiishj or- dained and leaves no necessity for the perpetual intervention of God. PREEXISTENCE, Doctrine of. The belief that human souls were in existence before the generation of the bodies with which they are united in this world. The idea has always been widely spread throughout the East. The Greek philosopliers too, especially those who held the doctrine of transmigration, as the Pythagor- eans, Empedocles, and Plato, were familiar with the conception. With some of the early Christians, as Origen, the assumption of such preexistence was connected with the belief that God had created the souls of men licfore the world, and that these were united with human bodies at generations or at birth. Subsequently the followers of this opinion were termed pre- ej;istencists, to distinguish them from the ira- ducianists, who held that children received soul as well as body from their parents. Direct inter- est in this doctrine has nearl.y ceased in modern times, although in the later philosophy of Ger- many it has been revived by the younger Fichte; it also forms the basis of .lulius Miiller's Die chrinHiche Lehre t^on dcr Hiiiidi- (Breslau. 1839; 2d ed. 1888; Eng, trans., Edinburgh, 18,)6). and is involved in the theory of a universe consisting solely of eternal conscious personalities each, causa sui, advocated by Howison in The Limits of Evolution (New York, 1901). PREFECT (Lat. pra-fectus, overseer, gov^ ernor, from prwficerc, to set over, from pro:, be- fore -|- facere, to make). The title of many officers and magistrates in ancient Rome. The most important was the prwfectus url}i. or city warden, an appointive oflice of high rank estab- lished in very early times. In the kingly period the city prefect represented the King during his absence from the city in time of war, and under the Republic he performed the same office for the consuls, being himself always an ex-consul. Later, with the establishment of the office of city prte- tor (see Pr.etor), that of city prefect lost its importance, until renewed in the reorganization of the government by Augustus. It now became an Imperial magistracy of very high importance, and, as before, only ex-consuls were eligible. The duty of the prwfectus urbi was to maintain order in Rome ; he was thus a sort of chief of police, as in France and Italy to-day. Other prefects of high (senatorial) rank under the Em [lire were the prcefeefus alinientornm, in charge of the pub- lic grain supply; the prwfectus wrarii Saturni, or head of the civil treasury and the prwfectus wra- rii militaris, or head of the military treasury. Members of the second, or equestrian, rank were eligible, under the Empire, to another class of prefectures, of which the most important was the command of the Emperor's body-guard (the 'prae- torian guard'), with the title prwfectus prwtorio. The power of the praetorian prefect was often great enough to cause the overthrow of an em- peror and dictate the choice of his successor. The prwfectus annonw^ in charge of the free distribu- tion of grain to the poor, and the prwfectus .-Efiypti, viceregent of the Emperor in Egypt, were both men of equestrian rank, as were also the ad- mirals stationed at the navy-yards of Ravenna and Misenum (prwfecti classis) and the captain of the city police (prwfectus vigilum). In the army also there were prefects in charge of the camp, and of the seperate legions, cohorts, and ahe. Finally, in some towns of Italy the highest local magistrate had the tite oi prwfectus iure dicuiido. PREFORMATION (from Lat. prwformare, to shape beforehand, from prw, before -(- formare.