C'O f? 
fuch perfon only as the ftatute has appointed for his 
judge. Of this luminary nature are all trials for offences 
and frauds contrary to the laws of the excife, and other 
brunches of the revenue ; which are to be inquired into 
and determined by the' commitlioners of the re fpC drive 
departments, or by juftices of peace in tire country. 
And experience lias fhewn that fuch convidtions are ab- 
folutely neceffary for tiie due colledtion of tire public 
. money f and are in fadt a fpecies of mercy to the delin¬ 
quents, who would be ruined by the expence and delay 
of frequent profecutions by action or indidtment. Ano¬ 
ther branch of fummary proceedings, is that before juf- 
tices of the peace, in order-to inflict divers pettv pecu¬ 
niary muldts, and corporal penalties, denounced by act 
of parliament, for many diforderly offences ; fuch as 
common fwearing, drunkennefs, vagrancy, idlenefs, and 
a vaft variety of others fubjedted to their jurifdidtion. 
Thefe offences ufed formerly to be punifhed by the ver- 
didt of a jury in the court leets, and fherifPs tourn, the 
king’s ancient courts of law ; and which were formerly 
much revered and refpedted, but are now fallen very 
much into difufe and contempt. 
The procefs of thefe fuminary convidtions is extreme¬ 
ly fpeedy. Though the courts of common 'law have 
thrown one check upon them, by making it neceffary to 
fummon the party accufed before lie is condemned ; 
which is now held an indifpenfible requilite, and is high¬ 
ly confonant to the general principles of jultice. Salk. 
181. 2 Ld. Raym. 1405. After this fummons, the magif- 
trate may go on to examine one or more witneffes, as 
the •ftatute may require, upon oath ; and then make his 
convidlion of the offender in writing ; upon which he 
ufually iffues his warrant, either to apprehend the of¬ 
fender, in cafe corporal punifliment is to be inflicted on 
him; orelfe to levy the penalty incurred by diftrefs and 
fale of his goods, according to the diredtions of the fe- 
veral ftatutes which create the offence, or inflict the pu¬ 
nifliment ; and which ufually chalk out the method by 
which offenders are to be convidted in fuch particular 
CONVIC'TION, f. Detedtion of guilt, which is, in 
law, either when a man is outlawed* or appears and con- 
feffes, or elfe is found guilty by the inquelL- Council, 
The third beft abfent is condemn’d, 
Convidt by flight, and rebel to all law; 
ConviEtion to the ferpent none belongs. Milton , 
The adt of convincing; confutation ; the adt of forcing 
others, by argument, to allow a pofition.—When there¬ 
fore the apoltle requireth liability to convidt heretics, 
can we think he judgeth it a tiling unlawful, and not ra¬ 
ther needful, to-ufe the principal inftrument of their ccn - 
vidian, the light of reafon. Hooke <\—State of being con¬ 
vinced.—Their wifdom is only of this world, to put falfe 
colours upon things, to call good evil, and evil good, 
againft the miviSion of their own confciences. Swift. 
CONVIC' 1 IVE, adj. Having the power of convincing. 
To CONVIN'CE, v. a. [convinco, Lat.] To force any 
one to acknowledge .a contefted pofition.^—That which I 
have all this while been endeavouring to convince men of, 
and to perfuade them to, is no other but what God him- 
felf doth particularly recommend to us, as proper for 
human confideration. Tillotfon .■—To convidt; to prove 
guilty of.—To convince all that are ungodly among them, 
of all their ungodly deeds. Jude, 15. 
O feek not to convince me of a crime, 
Which I can ne’er repent, nor can you pardon. Dry den. 
To evince ; to prove ; to manifeft ; to vindicate. Not in 
■ufe. —.Your Italy contains none fo accomplilhed a courtier, 
to convince the honour of my miftrefs. Shakefpeare.— To 
overpower; to furmount. Obfoletc. 
When Duncan is afleep, his two chamberlains 
Will I with wine and waffel fo convince, 
That memory, the warder of the brain, 
Shall be a fume. Shakefpeare. 
■ Vol. V. No. 261 . 
CONVIN'CEMENT, f. Convidlion.'—If that be not 
convincemente nough, let him weigh the other alio. Decay 
of Piety. 
CON VIN'CIBLE, adj. Capable of convidlion. Capa¬ 
ble of being evidently disproved or detedted.—Upon 
what uncertainties, and alfo convincible falflties, they of¬ 
ten eredted fuch emblems, we have delivered. Brown. 
CONVINCINGLY, adv. In fuch a manner as to leave 
no room for doubt or difpute ; fo as to produce convic¬ 
tion.—This he did fo particularly and convincingly, that 
thofe of the parliament were in great confuflon. Clarendon. 
CONVIN'CINGNESS, f. The power of convincing. 
To CONVI'VE, v. a. [ convive , Lat.] To entertain: 
to feaft : 
Firft, all you peers of Greece, go to my tent, 
There In the full convive you. ’ Shakefpeare. 
CONVI'VAL, or Convi'vial, adj. Relating to an 
entertainment; feftal; focial.—Your focial and convivial 
fpirit is fuch, that it is a happir.efs to live and converfe 
with you. Dr. Newton. 
CONUN'DRUM, f Alow jeft; a quibble; amean. 
conceit: a cant word. 
Mean time he fmoaks, and laughs at merry tale, 
Or pun ambiguous, or conumdrum quaint. Philips. 
To CON'VOCATE, v.a. fonvoco, Lat.] To call to- 
gether ; to fummon to an affembly. 
CONVOCA'TlON.y: [convocatio, Lat.] The a 61 of 
calling to ah affembly.—Diaphantus, making a general 
convocation, fpake to them in this manner. Sidney. —An 
affembly.—On the eighth day (hall be an holy convocation 
unto you. Lev. xxiii. 20. 
CONVOCA'TION, f in the Englifh jurifprudence, 
is an affembly of the reprefentatives of the clergy, em¬ 
powered to confult of ecclefiallical matters in time of 
parliament. As there are two houfes of parliament, fo> 
there are two houfes of convocation ; the one called the 
higher or upper houfe, where tire archbifhops and all the 
hilltops (it feverally. by themfelves ; and the other, the 
lower houfe of .convocation, where all the reft of the 
clergy (it, i.e. all deans and archdeacons, one prodtor 
for every chapter, and two prodtors for all the clergy of 
each diocefe, making in the whole number one hundred 
and fixty-fix perfons. Each convocation houfe hath a 
prolocutor, chofen from among themfelves, and that of 
tire lower houfe is prefented to tire hilltops, &c. The 
archbifltop of Canterbury is the prefident of the convo¬ 
cation, and prorogues and diffolyes it by mandate from 
the king. The convocation exercifes jurifdidtion in 
making of canons, with the king’s affent; for, by 25 H. 
8. c. 19. the convocation is not only to be affembled by 
the king’s writ; but the canoiis are to have the royal 
aflent: they have the examining and cenfuring of alL 
heretical and fchifmatical books, and perlons. But ap¬ 
peal lies to the king in chancery, or to his delegates. 4. 
Inf. 322. In ca(e the king himfelf be a party, the ap¬ 
peal lies by 24 H. 8. c. 12. to all the bifliops affembled in 
the upper houfe of convocation. 
Mr. Chriftian, in his note on Blackftone’s Commenta¬ 
ries remarks, that from tire ftatement there given, the 
reader might be apt to fuppofe, that there is only one 
convocation at a time. But the king, before the meet¬ 
ing of every new parliament, diredts his writ to each 
archbifliop to fummon a convocation in his peculiar pro¬ 
vince. Godolphin fays, that the convocation of the 
province of York, conftantly correfponds, debates, and 
concludes the fame matters, with the provincial fynod 
of Canterbury. God. 99. But they are certainly diltinct 
and independent of each other ; aud, when they ufed to 
tax the clergy, the different convocations fometimes 
granted different fubfidies. In 22 Hen. VIII. the convoca¬ 
tion of Canterbury had granted the king ioo,oool. in 
confideration of which an act of parliament was pa (fed, 
granting a free pardon to the clergy for all fpiritual of¬ 
fences; but with a provilo, that it (hould not extend to 
R r the 
