an idiom which was then considered too vulgar to be spoken, and much less written in, by educated Belgians. Although, close by, across the Scheldt, the Dutch possessed a rich and honoured literature, many centuries old, written in a language scarcely to be distinguished from Flemish, a foolish prejudice denied recognition to the language of the Flemish provinces of Belgium. As a matter of fact, nothing had been written in it for many years, when the separation in 1831 served to make the chasm between the nations and the languages one which could never be bridged over. It was therefore with the foresight of a prophet that Conscience wrote, in 1830 itself, “I do not know how it is, but I confess I find in the real Flemish something indescribably romantic, mysterious, profound, energetic, even savage. If I ever gain the power to write, I shall throw myself head over ears into Flemish composition.” His poems, however, written while he was a soldier, were all in French. He received no pension when he was discharged, and going back idle to his father’s house, he determined to do the impossible, and write a Flemish book for sale. A passage in Guicciardini fired his fancy, and straightway he wrote off that series of scenes in the War of Dutch Independence which lives in Belgian literature under the title In’t Wonderjaar 1566; this was published in Ghent in 1837. His father thought it so vulgar of his son to write a book in Flemish that he turned him out of doors, and the celebrated novelist of the future started for Antwerp, with a fortune which was strictly confined to two francs and a bundle of clothes. An old schoolfellow found him in the street and took him to his home; and soon various people of position, amongst them the eminent painter, Wappers, interested themselves in the brilliant and unfortunate young man. Wappers even gave him a suit of clothes, and presented him to the king, who expressed a wish, which was not immediately carried out in consequence of some red tape, that the Wonderjaar should be added to the library of every Belgian school. But it was under the patronage of Leopold I. that Conscience published his second work, Fantasy, in the same year, 1837. A small appointment in the provincial archives relieved him from the actual pressure of want, and in 1838 he made his first great success with the historical romance called The Lion of Flanders, which still holds its place as one of his masterpieces. To this followed How to become a Painter (1843), What a Mother can Suffer (1843), Siska van Roosemael (1844), Lambrecht Hensmans (1847), Jacob van Artevelde (1849), and The Conscript (1850). During these years he lived a variegated existence, for some thirteen months actually as an under-gardener in a country house, but finally as secretary to the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. It was long before the sale of his books, greatly praised but seldom bought, made him in any degree independent. His ideas, however, began to be generally accepted. At a Flemish congress which met at Ghent so early as 1841, the writings of Conscience were mentioned as the seed which was most likely to yield a crop of national literature. Accordingly the patriotic party undertook to encourage their circulation, and each fresh contribution from the pen of Conscience was welcomed as an honour to Belgium. In 1845 Conscience was made a knight of the Order of Leopold. To write in Flemish had now ceased to be regarded as a proof of vulgarity; on the contrary, the tongue of the common people became almost fashionable, and Flemish literature began to live. In 1845 Conscience published a History of Belgium, but he was well advised to return to those exquisite pictures of Flemish home-life which must always form the most valuable portion of his repertory. He was now at the height of his genius, and Blind Rosa (1850), Rikketikketak (1851), The Decayed Gentleman (1851), and The Miser (1853) rank among the most important of the long list of his novels. These had an instant effect upon contemporary fiction, and Conscience had many imitators. Nevertheless, not one of the latter has approached Conscience in popularity, or has deserved to approach him. In 1855 the earliest translations of his tales began to appear in English, French, German and Italian, and his fame became universal. In 1867 the post of keeper of the Royal Belgian museums was created, and this important sinecure was given to Conscience. He continued to produce novels with great regularity, and his separate publications amounted at last to nearly eighty in number. He was now the most eminent of the citizens of Antwerp, and his seventieth birthday was celebrated by public festivities. After a long illness he died, in his house in Antwerp, on the 10th of September 1883; he was awarded a public funeral.
The portraits of Conscience present to us a countenance rather French than Flemish in type, with long smooth hair, contemplative dark eyes under heavy brows, a pointed nose, and a humorous broad mouth; in late life he wore the ornament of a long white beard. Whether the historical romances of Conscience will retain the enormous popularity which they have enjoyed is much less than certain, but far more likely to live are the novels in which he undertook to be the genre-painter of the life of his own day. In spite of too rhetorical a use of soliloquizing, and of a key of sentiment often pitched too high for modern taste, the stories of Conscience are animated by a real spirit of genius, mildly lustrous, perhaps, rather than startlingly brilliant. Whatever glories may be in store for the literature of Flanders, Conscience is always sure of a distinguished place as its forerunner and its earliest classic. (E. G.)
CONSCIENCE (Lat. con-scientia, literally “knowledge of a thing shared with another person” or “complete knowledge,” and
derivatively “consciousness” in general), a philosophical term
used both popularly and technically in many different senses
for that mental faculty which decides between right and wrong.
In popular usage “conscience” is generally understood to give
intuitively authoritative decisions as regards the moral quality
of single actions; this usage implicitly assumes that every action
has an objective or intrinsic goodness or badness, which “conscience” may be said to discern much in the same way as the
eye sees or the ear hears. Moralists generally, however, are
agreed that in all moral judgments of this character there is an
implied reference to moral laws, the validity of which is in some
ethical systems the true subject matter of conscience. The part
played by conscience in relation to general moral laws and
particular cases will vary according to the view taken of the
character of the general laws. If, on what is called the “jural” theory,
these laws are regarded as deriving their authority from
an external source, the operation of conscience is so far limited.
It may be held to recognize the validity of divine laws, for
example; or it may be confined to the deductive process of
applying those laws to particular cases, known as “cases of
conscience” (see Casuistry). If, on the other hand, the general
laws are regarded as intuitive, then the discernment of them
may be taken as the true function of conscience. In either
theory, conscience may be understood as the active principle
in the soul which, in face of two alternatives, tells a man that
he ought to select the one which is in conformity with the moral
law. Apart from the two functions of discerning between right
and wrong, and actively predisposing the agent to moral action,
conscience has further a retrospective action whereby remorse
falls upon the man who recognizes that he has broken a moral law.
See Ethics; also Butler, Joseph; and compare the “moral sense” doctrine of Shaftesbury.
There are certain special uses of the word “conscience.” A Conscience clause is the term given to a special provision often inserted in an English act of parliament to enable persons having religious scruples to absent themselves from certain services, or to abstain from certain duties, otherwise prescribed by the act. Conscience money is the name given to a payment voluntarily made by a person who has evaded his obligations, especially in respect of taxes and the like. This usage derives from the last function of conscience mentioned above. Conscience Courts were local courts, established by acts of parliament in London and various provincial towns, for the recovery of small debts, usually sums under £5. They were superseded by county courts (q.v.).
CONSCRIPTION (from Lat. con-, together, and scribere, to write), the selection, by lot or otherwise, of a proportion of the men of military age for compulsory service in the naval and
