Part 1

Produced by Marius Masi, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

Transcriber's notes:

(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally printed in subscript. When letters are subscripted, they are preceded by an underscore, like C_n.

(2) Characters following a carat (^) were originally printed in superscript.

(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective paragraphs.

(4) Letters topped by Macron are represented as [=x].

(5) The following typographical errors have been corrected:

Article CONVEYANCING: "By this ingenious device was the publicity of feoffment or enrolment avoided, and the lease and release, as the process was called, remained the usual mode of conveying a freehold, in possession down to the 19th century." 'possession' amended from 'posession'.

Article COPPER: "Vessels of several designs are used--some modelled exactly after steel converters, others barrel-shaped, but all with side tuyeres elevated about 10 in. above the level of the bottom lining." 'others' amended from 'other'.

Article COPYRIGHT: "The obsolete copyright of the crown in Lilly's Latin Grammar was founded on the fact of its having been drawn up at the king's expense. The universities have a joint right (with the crown's patentees) of printing acts of parliament." 'parliament' amended from 'parliment'.

Article COPYRIGHT: "No one, it has been said, has a right to take, whether with or without acknowledgment, a material and substantial portion of another's work, his arguments, his illustrations, his authorities, for the purpose of making or improving a rival publication." 'making' amended from 'makinng'.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION

ELEVENTH EDITION

VOLUME VII, SLICE III

Convention to Copyright

Articles in This Slice:

CONVENTION COOPER, THOMAS (1805-1892) CONVENTION, THE NATIONAL COOPER, THOMAS SIDNEY CONVERSANO COOPERAGE (system of traffic) CONVERSION COOPERAGE (making casks & vessels) CONVEX CO-OPERATION CONVEYANCE COOPERSTOWN CONVEYANCING COOPER UNION CONVEYORS CO-OPTATION CONVOCATION COORG CONVOLVULACEAE COORNHERT, DIRCK VOLCKERTSZOON CONVOY COOT CONVULSIONS COOTE, SIR EYRE CONWAY, HENRY SEYMOUR COPAIBA CONWAY, HUGH COPAL CONWAY, MONCURE DANIEL COPALITE CONWAY, SIR WILLIAM MARTIN COPÁN CONWAY (borough of England) COPARCENARY CONYBEARE, WILLIAM DANIEL COPE, EDWARD DRINKER CONYBEARE, WILLIAM JOHN COPE, EDWARD MEREDITH COODE, SIR JOHN COPE (liturgical vestment) COOK, ALBERT STANBURROUGH COPELAND, HENRY COOK, EDWARD DUTTON COPENHAGEN COOK, ELIZA COPERNICUS, NICOLAUS COOK, JAMES COPIAPÓ COOK, THOMAS COPING COOK ISLANDS COPLAND, ROBERT COOKE, GEORGE FREDERICK COPLESTON, EDWARD COOKE, JAY COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON COOKE, ROSE TERRY COPPÉE, FRANÇOIS ÉDOUARD JOACHIM COOKERY COPPÉE, HENRY COOKSTOWN COPPER COOKTOWN COPPERAS COOKWORTHY, WILLIAM COPPER-GLANCE COOLGARDIE COPPERHEADS COOLIE COPPERMINE COOMA COPPER-PYRITES COOPER, ABRAHAM COPPICE COOPER, ALEXANDER COPRA COOPER, SIR ASTLEY PASTON COPROLITES COOPER, CHARLES HENRY COPTOS COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE COPTS COOPER, PETER COPYHOLD COOPER, SAMUEL COPYING MACHINES COOPER, THOMAS (1517-1594) COPYRIGHT COOPER, THOMAS (1759-1840)

CONVENTION (Lat. _conventio_, an assembly or agreement, from _convenire_, to come together), a meeting or assembly; an agreement between parties; a general agreement on which is based some custom, institution, rule of behaviour or taste, or canon of art; hence extended to the abuse of such an agreement, whereby the rules based upon it become lifeless and artificial. The word is of some interest historically and politically. It is used of an assembly of the representatives of a nation, state or party, and is particularly contrasted with the formal meetings of a legislature. It is thus applied to those parliaments in English history which, owing to the abeyance of the crown, have assembled without the formal summons of the sovereign; in 1660 a convention parliament restored Charles II. to the throne, and in 1689 the Houses of Commons and Lords were summoned informally to a convention by William, prince of Orange, as were the Estates of Scotland, and declared the throne abdicated by James II. and settled the disposition of the realm. Similarly, the assembly which ruled France from September 1792 to October 1795 was known as the National Convention (see below); the statutory assembly of delegates which framed the constitution of the United States of America in 1787 was called the Constitutional Convention; and the various American state constitutions have been drafted and sometimes revised by constitutional conventions. In the party system of the United States the nomination of party candidates for office or election is in the hands of delegates, chosen by the primaries, meeting in the convention of the party; the convention system is universal, from the national conventions of the Republican and Democratic parties, which nominate the candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency, down to a ward convention, which nominates the candidate for a town-councillorship. In diplomacy, "convention" is a general name given to international agreements other than treaties, but not necessarily differing either in form or subject-matter from a treaty, and sometimes used quite widely of all forms of such agreements. Many conventions have been made for the formation of international "unions" to regulate and protect various economic, industrial and other non-political interests, such as postal and telegraphic services, trade-marks, patents, copyright, quarantine, &c. Thus the Latin Monetary Union was created in 1865 by the Convention of Paris, and the abolition of bounties on the production and exportation of sugar by the Convention of Brussels in 1902 (see TREATIES).

CONVENTION, THE NATIONAL, in France, the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from the 20th of September 1792 to the 26th of October 1795 (the 4th of Brumaire of the year IV.). On the 10th of August 1792, when the populace of Paris stormed the Tuileries and demanded the abolition of the monarchy, the Legislative Assembly decreed the provisional suspension of the king and the convocation of a national convention which should draw up a constitution. At the same time it was decided that the deputies to that convention should be elected by all Frenchmen 25 years old, domiciled for a year and living by the product of their labour. The National Convention was therefore the first French assembly elected by universal suffrage, without distinctions of class. The age limit of the electors was further lowered to 21, and that of eligibility was fixed at 25 years.

The first session was held on the 20th of September 1792. The next day royalty was abolished, and on the 22nd it was decided that all documents should be henceforth dated from the year I. of the French Republic. The Convention was destined to last for three years. The country was at war, and it seemed best to postpone the new constitution until peace should be concluded. At the same time as the Convention prolonged its powers it extended them considerably in order to meet the pressing dangers which menaced the Republic. Though a legislative assembly, it took over the executive power, entrusting it to its own members. This "confusion of powers," which was contrary to the philosophical theories--those of Montesquieu especially--which had inspired the Revolution at first, was one of the essential characteristics of the Convention. The series of exceptional measures by which that confusion of powers was created constitutes the "Revolutionary government" in the strict sense of the word, a government which was principally in vigour during the period called "the Terror." It is thus necessary to distinguish, in the work of the Convention, the temporary expedients from measures intended to be permanent.

The Convention held its first session in a hall of the Tuileries, then it sat in the hall of _Manège_, and finally from the 10th of May 1793 in that of the _Spectacles_ (or _Machines_), an immense hall in which the deputies were but loosely scattered. This last hall had tribunes for the public, which often influenced the debate by interruptions or applause. The full number of deputies was 749, not counting 33 from the colonies, of whom only a section arrived in Paris. Besides these, however, the departments annexed from 1792 to 1795 were allowed to send deputations. Many of the original deputies died or were exiled during the Convention, but not all their places were filled by _suppléants_. Some of those proscribed during the Terror returned after the 9th of Thermidor. Finally, many members were sent away either to the departments or to the armies, on missions which lasted sometimes for a considerable length of time. For all these reasons it is difficult to find out the number of deputies present at any given date, for votes by roll-call were rare. In the Terror the number of those voting averaged only 250. The members of the Convention were drawn from all classes of society, but the most numerous were lawyers. Seventy-five members had sat in the Constituent Assembly, 183 in the Legislative.

According to its own ruling, the Convention elected its president every fortnight. He was eligible for re-election after the lapse of a fortnight. Ordinarily the sessions were held in the morning, but evening sessions were also frequent, often extending late into the night. Sometimes in exceptional circumstances the Convention declared itself in permanent session and sat for several days without interruption. For both legislative and administrative purposes the Convention used committees, with powers more or less widely extended and regulated by successive laws. The most famous of these committees are those of Public Safety, of General Security, of Education (_Comité de salut public_, _Comité de sûreté générale_, _Comité de l'instruction_).

The work of the Convention was immense in all branches of public affairs. To appreciate it without prejudice, one should recall that this assembly saved France from a civil war and invasion, that it founded the system of public education (_Muséum_, _École Polytechnique_, _École Normale Supérieure_, _École des Langues orientales_, _Conservatoire_), created institutions of capital importance, like that of the _Grand Livre de la Dette publique_, and definitely established the social and political gains of the Revolution.

See FRENCH REVOLUTION; GIRONDISTS; MOUNTAIN; DANTON; ROBESPIERRE; MARAT, &c.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The Convention published a _Procès-verbal_ of its sessions, which, although lacking the value of those published by assemblies to-day, is an official document of capital importance. Copies of it are rare, however, and it has been too much neglected by historians. See F. A. Aulard, _Recueil des actes du comité de Salut Public avec la correspondance officielle des représentants en mission, et le registre du conseil exécutif provisoire_ (Paris, 1889 et seq.); M. J. Guillaume, _Procès-verbaux du comité d'Instruction Publique de la Convention Nationale_ (Paris, 1891-1904, 5 vols. 4to); F. A. Aulard, _Histoire politique de la Révolution française_ (Paris, 1903); Mortimer-Ternaux, _Histoire de la Terreur_ (1862-1881), a work based on and comprising documents, but written with strong royalist bias; Eugène Despois, _Le Vandalisme révolutionnaire_ (1868), for the scientific work of the Convention. A detailed bibliography of the documents relating to the Convention is given in the _Répertoire général des sources manuscrites de l'histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution française_, vol. viii. &c. (1908), edited by A. Tueléy under the auspices of the municipality of Paris. For a more summary bibliography see M. Tourneux, _Bibliog. de l'histoire de Paris pendant la Révolution française_, i. 89-95 (Paris, 1890). (R. A.*)

CONVERSANO, a town and episcopal see of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Bari, 17 m. S.E. by rail from the town of Bari. Pop. (1901) 13,685. It has a fine southern Romanesque cathedral of the end of the 11th century, with a modernized interior, and a castle which from 1456 belonged to the Acquaviva family, dukes of Atri and counts of Conversano. The convent of S. Benedetto is one of the earliest offshoots of Montecassino. (See S. Simone, _Il Duomo di Conversano_, Trani, 1896). Here, or in the vicinity, is the site of the unimportant ancient town of Norba.

CONVERSION (Lat. _conversio_, from _convertere_, to turn or change), a general term for the operation of converting, changing, or transposing; used technically in special senses in logic, theology and law.

1. _In logic,_ conversion is one of three chief methods of immediate inference by which a conclusion is obtained directly from a single premise without the intervention of another premise or middle term. A proposition is said to be "converted" when the subject and the predicate change places; the original proposition is the "convertend," the new one the "converse." The chief rule governing conversion is that no term which was not _distributed_[1] in the convertend may be distributed in the converse; nor may the quality of the proposition (affirmative or negative) be changed. It follows that of the four possible forms of propositions A, E, I and O (see article A), E and I can be converted simply. If no A is B (E), it follows that no B is A; if some A is B, it follows that some B is A. This form of conversion is called Simple Conversion; E propositions convert into E, and I into I. On the other hand, A cannot be converted simply. If all men are mortal, the most that can follow by conversion is that some mortals are men. This is called Conversion by Limitation or _Per Accidens_. Only if it be known from external or non-logical sources that the predicate also is distributed can there be simple conversion of a universal affirmative. Neither of these forms of conversion can be applied to the particular negative proposition O, which has to be dealt with under a secondary system of conversion, as follows. The terminology by which these secondary processes are described is not altogether satisfactory, and logicians are not agreed as to the application of the terms. The following system is perhaps the most commonly used. We have seen that the converse of "all A is B" is "some B is A"; we can, in addition, derive from it another, though purely formal, proposition "no A is not-B"; i.e. an E proposition. This process is called Obversion, Permutation or Immediate Inference by Privative Conception; it is applicable to every proposition including O. A further process, known as Contraposition or Conversion by Negation, consists of conversion following on obversion. Thus from "all A is B," we get "no not-B is A." In the case of the O proposition we get (by obversion) "some A is not-B" and then (by conversion) "some not-B is A" (i.e. an I proposition). In the case of the I proposition the contrapositive is impossible, as infringing the main rule of conversion. Another term, Inversion, has been used by some logicians for a still more complicated process by the alternative use of conversion and obversion, which is applicable to A and E, and results in obtaining a proposition concerning the contradictory of the original subject; thus "all A is B" becomes "some not-A is not B."

Considerable discussion has centred on the problem as to whether the process of conversion can properly be regarded as inference. The essence of inference is that the conclusion should embody knowledge which is not in the premise or premises, and many logicians have contended that no fact is stated in the converse which was not in the convertend, or, in other words, that conversion is merely a transformation or verbal change of the same statement. Hence the term Eductions and Equivalent Propositional Forms have been given to converse propositions. It is clear, for instance, that if the universal affirmative is taken connotatively as a scientific law, and not historically, no real inference is achieved by stating as another scientific fact its converse, the particular affirmative. Moreover, even if the convertend is stated as an historic fact, though there is acquired a certain new significance, it may well be argued that the inference is not immediate but syllogistic.

For this controversy see J. S. Mill, _Logic_, II. i. 2; Bradley, _Logic_, III. pt. i. chap. ii. 30-37; H. W. B. Joseph, _Introduction to Logic_ (1906), pp. 209 foll.; J. N. Keynes, _Formal Logic_ (3rd ed., 1894).

2. _In theology_, conversion (the equivalent of the Gr. [Greek: strephein, epistrephein]) is originally the acceptation of Christianity by heathens. It is also used generally for a change from one religion to another, or in a narrower sense for a complete change of attitude towards God, involving a deeper conviction of the ultimate religious and moral truths. Considerable difference of opinion has always existed, and still exists, within the Christian Church as to the true nature and the causes of conversion, especially in the sense last described. Some have held that man is merely the passive recipient of the Divine Grace, a view based largely on the rendering of the Authorized Version of Isaiah vi. 10 as quoted in Matt. xiii. 15, Mark iv. 12, and John xii. 40. Others again hold that baptism, as involving a second birth of the baptized person, makes subsequent conversion unnecessary or even meaningless, or conversely that conversion is this very second birth and renders baptism unnecessary. The reply generally made to such arguments is that baptism implies regeneration only, which is a change wrought from the outside by the Divine Spirit in general disposition or spiritual status, while conversion is a positive or concrete demonstration of that change, not merely the negative beginning of a new life but the positive "returning" to God in faith and repentance. The precise connexion between conversion and repentance is again a vexed question. How far and in what sense does man take an active part in his own conversion? To this it is frequently answered that while the initial stage of conversion is and can be the work of the Holy Spirit alone, it lies with man to make it complete by accepting the proffered grace in repentance and faith (cf. Acts vii. 51, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost"). A man may of his own free will avoid those surroundings which predispose him to such "resistance." The view that man cannot convert himself is clearly stated in Article X. by the Church of England. "The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn (_sese convertere_) and prepare himself by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will." Further problems are connected with the possibility of repeated conversions of the same man, the necessity of a single strongly marked conversion completed in a single process, the significance of sudden conversion of persons in a highly emotional state, such as has been common in revivalist meetings, especially in Wales and the United States of America. Conversions of the last kind have followed frequently on striking physical phenomena, perceived in many cases only by the convert himself, such as a sudden bright light or a noise like a clap of thunder.[2] In all cases of conversion, however, the criterion of its validity is generally taken to be the resultant change of a man's character as manifested in his mode of life and thought, in the abstention from sin, and in devotion to good works. (X.)

3. _In English law_, conversion is the unauthorized exercise of dominion by one person over the property (other than money or chattels real) of another, in a manner inconsistent with his rights of possession, or the unauthorized assumption by another of the powers of the true owner of goods. The history and exact definition of this form of actionable wrong have occupied the attention of many learned writers, and the incidents of actions to assert the rights of the true owner form a considerable part of treatises on the rules and forms of civil pleading. There are many ways in which the wrong may be committed. In some cases the exercise of the dominion may amount to an act of trespass or to a crime, e.g. where the taking amounts to larceny, or fraudulent appropriation by a bailee or agent entrusted with the property of another (Larceny Acts of 1861 and 1901). But in such cases, except where money is taken, the civil remedy of the owner is by action for conversion or detention of the property, subject in the case of larceny to the rule that criminal prosecution should precede restitution by the taker. The remedy in use in these cases used to be by what was called an action on the case for trover and conversion, the plaintiff putting aside all suggestions of trespass and of crime, and resting his case on the fiction that the defendant had found and used goods not his own. The fictitious averment of loss was abolished in 1852, and under the present procedure, in which the old forms of action are not in use, the remedy is by a claim (still usually called conversion) for wrongfully depriving the true owner of personal property of its use by some specified act inconsistent with his dominion over it, usually by dealing with the property in a manner inconsistent with the owner's rights. Originally, the action of trover and conversion was limited to goods and chattels, but it is now accepted as applying to valuable securities, such as cheques and bills of exchange.