CONSECRATION CONSERVATORY. 



407 



two for each consul, were annually levied. The con- 

 suls who, in the time of the republic, were always 

 commanders of the army, announced every year, 

 after the legionary tribunes were elected, by a herald 

 or a written order, that a levy was to be made (milites 

 cogere, colligere, scribere, conscribere). This was the 

 proper conscription. All citizens capable of bearing 

 arms were obliged, under penalty of losing their for- 

 tune and liberty, to assemble in the Campus Martius, 

 or near the capitol, where the consuls, seated in their 

 curule chairs, made the levy by the assistance of 

 the legionary tribunes. The consuls ordered such 

 as they pleased to be cited out of each tribe, and 

 every one was obliged to answer to his name, after 

 which as many were chosen as were wanted. This 

 lasted until the time of the emperors, when large 

 armies were constantly required : these were general- 

 ly recruited in the provinces. France, in the begin- 

 ning of the revolution, declared it the duty and hon- 

 our of every citizen to serve in the army of his coun- 

 try. Every French citizen was born a soldier, and 

 obliged to serve in the army from sixteen to forty 

 years of age. From forty to sixty years, he belong- 

 ed to the national guard. Every year, the young 

 men of the military age were assembled, and distri- 

 buted in the different military divisions. It was de- 

 cided by lot who, among the able-bodied men of suit- 

 able age, should take arms. In several states be- 

 longing to the confederation of the Rhine, this mea- 

 sure was imitated. But the constant wars under the 

 imperial government, and the anticipation, in some 

 cases, of the year of conscription, made this usage, 

 though just and patriotic in its principle, so unpo- 

 pular in France, that it was deemed necessary to abol- 

 ish it in the charter (Charte constitutionnelle, art. 12). 

 In the kingdom of Westphalia, and some other states 

 of the confederation of the Rhine, a great part of the 

 soldiers raised by conscription served so reluctantly, 

 that the governments made parents, and even neigh- 

 bours, answerable for their conduct. In a greater or 

 less degree, however, conscription exists, at present, 

 throughout the continent of Europe. In Prussia, 

 every person, except the mediatised princes, and 

 the sons of a widow who support her, &c., (the latter 

 exceptions also existed in France,) is obliged to serve 

 three years in the standing army, from seventeen 

 years of age to twenty -one ; after this, he belongs to 

 the militia (q. v.) until fifty. Those, however, who 

 outer the army voluntarily, and pay for their equip- 

 ment, serve but one year in the standing army ; but 

 only such persons as, on examination, appear to have 

 a certain degree of education, are admitted. Theo- 

 logical students are not exempted. In Austria, 

 a person once enlisted must serve as long as the go- 

 vernment pleases. Denmark is the only continental 

 state in which the old principle, common in Europe 

 before the French revolution, is kept up, that all per- 

 sons born in cities, the sons of officers and noblemen, 

 are exempted from service. In Britain and the 

 United States, no citizen is obliged to serve in the 

 standing, army. The character, therefore, of the 

 armies of these two countries is very different from 

 that of those on the continent of Europe, the latter 

 being of a decidedly superior quality. The advantage 

 of obtaining superior soldiers, however, would never 

 reconcile the people of these two countries to the 

 system of compelling citizens to serve in the standing 

 army. See Militia. 



CONSECRATION ; the action by which a thing, 

 animal, or person is destined for the service of God 

 or of the deities of paganism. It is opposed to pro- 

 fanation and sacrilege. With the Romans, consecratio 

 at first signified only dedication ; but under the em- 

 perors, it denoted deification (avotiaffif.) (See Apo- 

 t/ieojis.) The Greek and Roman Catholic churches 



practise the consecration of things and persons, 

 and ground the usage on numerous passages in the 

 Old Testament and several in the New. That God 

 commanded consecration in the Old Testament is 

 undeniable. (For the consecration of priests, see 

 Priest.) In a narrower sense, the word consecration 

 is particularly used for the act of the priest who cele- 

 brates the mass, by which he is considered as 

 changing the bread and wine, into the real body and 

 bloool of Christ. There was formerly a warm contest 

 between the Greek and Roman Catholic churches on 

 this subject ; the former maintaining that, in .the 

 consecration of the elements, it was necessary not 

 only to use the words of Christ, but to invoke the 

 Holy Spirit; while the latter denied that any such 

 invocation was required. At present the Greeks 

 themselves are divided on this point. The Protes- 

 tants do not consider consecration so important as 

 the two Catholic sects do. (See the articles Sacra- 

 ment and Transubstantiation.) The consecration 

 of the pope is a ceremony which takes place immedi- 

 ately after his election. 



CONSERVATORY (conservator io, in Italian) ; 

 a musical school intended for the scientific cultiva- 

 tion of musical talents. They are sometimes pub- 

 lic benevolent establishments, including hospitals, 

 supported by rich private persons. The pupils have 

 board, lodging, clothing, and instruction gratis. Be- 

 sides these pupils, others are received, who pay for 

 their instruction ; as, in Italy, the instruction in con 

 servatories is preferred to private teaching. In Naples, 

 there were formerly three conservatories for boys; 

 in Venice, four for girls. The most famous among the 

 former was that of Santa Maria Loretto, established in 

 1537. Leo, Durante, Scarlatti, and Popora were 

 teachers at this school ; and, among the great musi- 

 cians educated there, it counted the distinguished 

 names of Traetta, Piccini, Sachini, Guglielmi, Anfossi, 

 Paesiello, and others. There were generally more 

 than 200 pupils from eight to ten years of age in 

 the conservatory of Loretto ; in the others, about 

 half this number. Pupils were received from eight 

 to twenty years of age. The period during which 

 they obliged themselves to stay in the establish- 

 ment was generally eight years. If, however, it was 

 discovered that a pupil had no talents for music 

 he was sent away. The conservatories in Venice 

 were established in the same way. They were 

 called ospedale delta pictd, delle mendicanti, delle 

 incurabili, and ospedaletto di San Giovanni e Paolo. 

 Sacchini was for a long tune the first instructor in 

 the latter. The girls were obliged to conform to 

 a very strict monastic kind of life, and used to re- 

 main in the establishment till they were married. 

 All instruments used in the public concerts were 

 played here by girls and women. From these 

 conservatories issued the great number of compo- 

 sers, and male and female singers, who were met 

 in every part of Europe. In Naples the conserva- 

 tories are reduced to a single establishment, which 

 in 1818, was removed to the former nunnery of St 

 Sebastiano, and received the name real collegia di 

 musica. In Milan, the viceroy Eugene established 

 a conservatory in 1808, the direction of which was 

 given to Asioli. It has fourteen professors and 

 sixty pupils, in France, music was very little cul- 

 tivated until Italian and German music were intro- 

 duced by Piccini, Sacchini, Gluck, and others. The 

 want of singers was now felt. The opera therefore 

 established a musical school, and, in 1784, it was ele- 

 vated into an ecole royale de chant et de declamation. 

 But it was not until the revolution that this institution 

 acquired a high degree of importance. The want of 

 musicians for fourteen armies was then felt, and in 

 November, 1793, the convention decreed an instilut 



