CONSISTORY. 



CONSTABLE. 



151 



Exeter, tt Taunt ). such settlsnmit after murage being held to 

 be voluntary or gratuitous. But xiHlament of property made in con- 

 sideration of a future marriage, which afterward* take* place, is a 

 settlement (or valuable consideration ; and au in an actual Mttlemeot 

 after marriage, if it is made pursuant to a written agreement entered 

 into before marriage. But the distinction just pointed out between 

 good and ralmabU ootuUantieut exUU only in the cane of oontraota 

 n*ii(r ml. In the oaae of contract* not tmdtr teal, no conaideratiou U 

 good which is not also valuable. 



So by the Statute IS Eli*, o 5, the object of which U to prevent 

 penoiu from cheating Uieir creditor* by disposing of their real or 

 |j.i.^l property, it i* declared that the provision* of the Act do not 

 extend to eitate* or intoreet* made or conveyed " upon good considera- 

 tion and tend jMe ; " and the twin good consideration here ha* been 

 held to be equivalent to what has been above defined to be a valuable 

 consideration. 



The Act* 27 Kli*. c. 4, and SO Eliz. c. 18, $ S, made void, as against 

 subsequent purchaser*, all conveyance*, Ac., of real property which are 

 made for the purpose* of defrauding such purchaser*, unless " upon or 

 for good consideration and bond Jitte." This statute ha* received a 

 singular interpretation ; for it has been decided that it mokes void a 

 previous conveyance, though not mode to defraud any one, if the con- 

 sideration is not such as the statute intends ; and accordingly, as in the 

 case just stated, if a man settles his land after marriage on his wife and 

 children, and then sells it, the prior settlement is void an a fraudulent 

 conveyance. 



A voluntary conveyance by a man who is at the time insolvent is 

 not valid against his creditors ; but if a man is not insolvent at the 

 time, a voluntary conveyance that is, one where there is no valuable 

 consideration is valid against future creditors. (13 Eliz. c. 5.) A 

 conveyance for valuable consideration, such OK marriage, is a valid con- 

 veyance, even if a man be insolvent at the time. An insolvent may 

 therefore cheat his creditors by settling his property on a woman with 

 a view to marriage, and then marrying her; but in certain case*, such 

 settlement* are not valid against creditors when made by a |>erson who 

 is subject to the bankrupt laws. A voluntary conveyance is not valid 

 against a future purchaser for good consideration : it is a fraudulent 

 transaction according to the construction of the 27th of Eliz. ; and as 

 such U declared void against the purchaser. If the purchaser knew 

 that there was such a voluntary prior conveyance, that makes no 

 difference ; his purchase is valid against such conveyance. 



It appears from these instances that the fact of there being a good 

 consideration may be evidence that there is no fraud ; and that the 

 absence of it may raise a presumption of fraud. 



Every deed, therefore, or instrument by which property is conveyed 

 to another, ought to show some consideration for which the person 

 conveys such property ; for though a deed is valid between the parties 

 to it when no consideration is expressed, it may be invalid with respect 

 to other persons who are not parties to it. 



There is no absolute amount of consideration which can be legally 

 required ; but if the amount were very small, this might in some 

 esses raise a presumption of fraud ; although, even if the amount of 

 consideration should be the full value of the thing conveyed, it might be 

 necessary in some cases to inquire whether the consideration expressed 

 was actually paid. 



In the case of a contract or agreement to give or settle property, the 

 necessity for a consideration is obvious, both for the protection of the 

 giver, and of others to whom he is indebted, or whom it is his moral 

 duty to provide for. No such contract can be enforced unless it be 

 made as a sufficient legal consideration. An agreement to settle pro- 

 perty on a lawful child may be such consideration ; the case of an 

 illegitimate child is not such a consideration. An illegitimate child is 

 viewed as standing to his supposed father exactly in the (situation of a 

 stranger. 



Many curious legal questions have arisen on the doctrine of con- 

 sideration, as, for instance, in the case of one man promising to pay the 

 debt of another. But the rule is, that a promise to pay a debt already 

 incurred by another is not binding, unless it be made on some con- 

 sideration : for example, the agreement by the creditor to forbear 

 proceedings against the debtor to recover it ; or unless such debt was 

 originally incurred at the request of the party making such promi-.-. 



Of course any contract made in consideration of the doing of a 

 fraudulent or illegal act, is void. 



CONS1STOK1 is the court Christian, or spiritual court, formerly 

 held in the nave of the cathedral church, or in Home chap. I aisle or 

 portico belonging to it, in which the l>inh..p pi.-.-i.l.-d. and li.-u) sunn- ui 

 his clergy for assessors and assistants. But thin court is now held )>y 

 the bishop's chancellor or commissary, and by archdeacons and their 

 official*, either in the cathedral church or other convenient j>la-e in 

 the dioce*e, for the hearing and determining of matters of ecclesiastical 

 cognisance happening within that diocese. 



By stat. 24 Henry VIII. c. 12, an appeal lien from this court to the 

 court of the archbishop of the province ; but as proceedings against 

 the beneficed clergy now toko placo under the Church Discipline Act, 

 8 & 4 Viet. c. 86, and against curates under stat. 1 A 2 Vict.c. 106, 

 and proceeding* against laymen are almost unknown, the functions ol 

 the consistory court are rarely called into action. 



CONSOLS, a term familiarly used to denote a considerable portion i,t 



t of the United Kingdom, more correctly known as the 

 three per cent, consolidated annuities. This |M>rtion ,,i the .M .t originated 

 under an Act 25 Oeo. II., whereby various perpetual and lottery 

 annuities then outstanding, and which from the time of their or. 

 bad respectively borne an interest of S per cent, were brought under 

 one head in the public account*. Various additions have from time 

 to time been made to the amount of these annuities ; and, on the 

 band, some diminution has been effected by the operation of the sink- 

 ing-fund and the application of lurplu* revenue. The capital out- 

 standing and unredeemed under this head, on the Sth of January. 

 1859, amounted to 407.202,885/., of which 0,873,0444. wa* on account of 

 the Irish debt. The whole bear* an interest of 8 per cent, per annum. 

 COX- in Music, a term which ha*, we think, often been 



explained with too strict a regard to its etymological meaning. That 

 it signifies one found heard tri/A another 'is undeniable, 1. . 

 sounds must, in our opinion, be concords. [CONCORD.] Ootuoiutnet 

 and diaonance are words which, in music, ought to be considered a* 

 synonyms of concord and diicord. 



\XT. [Al.l'JIAUKT.] 



CONSPIRACY. KM-ry conspiracy to do an unlawful act which U 

 injurious to individuals or to the public, is a misdemeanor at the 

 common law of England. Many frauds affecting individuals, which 

 cannot be made the subject of prosecution as such, become indictable 

 when they are effected by the co-operation of several confederates. 

 Thus, where several persons agree by indirect means to impoverish a 

 third person, as by circulating calumnies injurious to his character or 

 credit, the offence is punishable as a conspiracy, though the concerted 

 acts alone, when committed by individuals, could only have formed 

 the subject of a civil action by the injured party. Another instance of 

 this is, the case of a conspiracy among journeymen or servants to raise 

 the price of wages, by molesting those who work under a certain 

 In former times, persons convicted of conspiracy at the suit if tin: 

 king (the nature of which offence is very doubtful), were liable to 

 receive what was called riUainoiu judgment, by which they were ren- 

 dered incapable of acting as jurors or witnesses, their lands and good* 

 were forfeited for life, and their bodies committed to prison. This 

 judgment was never however inflicted upon persons convicted of con- 

 spiracies of a less aggravated kind at the suit of the party ; and in 

 modern times, the villainous judgment having become obsolete by long 

 disuse, the punishment of conspiracy has been by fine, imprisonment, 

 and sureties for good behaviour, at the discretion of the court. (Russell 

 on Crime* and MMemtanart, vol. ii.) 



CONSTABLE. This word is supposed by Ducange, Speluiau, 

 t'owell, and other legal etymologists, to be corrupted from coma italiuli, 

 which was another name fortherriiumu italitUi or prepositiw cquorum, a 

 kind of master of the horse, frequently mentioned as an onV 

 state in the middle ages. (See Ducange s ' Glossary ,'ad r, 

 Stabuli.') Sir Edward Coke, Selden, and several other writers, insist 

 upon another etymology from two Saxon words, l-unlay, a king, and 

 stajtfl or ttalttl, a stay or support qiuui colttmm rtyit. Both these 

 derivations are equally remote from the description of the office of 

 our modern constable ; but the former appears to be far the moi 

 bable ; and in accordance with it, the constable of France was an im- 

 portant officer of the highest rank in that country, who had the chief 

 command of the army, and had judicial cognisance of military offences; 

 and whose duty it was to regulate all matters of chivalry, such as 

 tilts, tournament?, and feats of arms. This office was suppressed iu . 

 France by an edict in the year 1607 ; it was revived by Napoleon, and 

 constituted one of the six grand dignities under the French empire ; 

 am! wan finally abolished upon the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty 

 in 1814. 



Immediately after the Norman conquest, we find in England on 

 officer of the crown called the Lord High Constable, whose duties, 

 powers, and jurisdiction were in most respects strictly analogous to 

 those of the constable of France. The office was one of great dignity 

 and power, both in war and ]>eace, the constable having the command 

 of the army and the regulation of all military affairs. He was the 

 supreme judge of the court of chivalry, in which character his en- 

 croachments upn other courts were so heavy a grievance in 

 times, that the stat. 13 lli< h II a '-', was passed to restrict his juris- 

 diction to " contracts and deeds of arms and things which touch war, 

 and whii-h cannot bo discussed or determined by the common 

 The office for several rent m irs after the Conquest, passed by inherit- 

 ance in the line of the llohuns, Karls of Hereford and Essex, and 

 wards in tin' line ol their lint.- ^i-n.-r.il. tin- St.ifloi-ds, Dukes of Buck- 

 ingham, in ri^-lit of certain manors ln:M by them by the' feudal .- 



of being constables of England. The fees ol ti Mice \\CP- e\n 



burdensome to the crown ; and the possession by a subject of the 

 hereditary ripht to command the militia of the realm, Independently; of 

 any royal up]Kiitment, was an unusual and frequently a < Ian - 

 power; and on this account Henry VIII., in the early part of his 

 reign (1.11 I', co!i-ult-d the judges respecting the means ,,t abolishing 

 the tenure. He wan advised by them, that OH the individuals li- 

 the manors were only compellable to exercise the office ail 

 rrgit, he hod the power of discharging the feudal service altogether ; 



:- :t],ou this opinion, the king abolished the office, 1 . 

 claiming to have the services any longer executed. (See Dyer's 

 ,' p. 282 b.) TI. 'hat. Kdward Stajfcrd, 



