Act 1832. There are special rules applic

Produced by Marius Masi, Don Kretz, Juliet Sutherland and

the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

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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) [oo] stands for infinity; [int] for integral; [alpha], [beta], etc.

for greek letters.

(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:

Article COMBERMERE, STAPLETON COTTON: "In 1834 he was sworn a privy

councillor, and in 1852 he succeeded Wellington as constable of the

Tower and lord lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets." 'Wellington'

amended from 'Wellingtion'.

Article COMMERCE: "But in the ancient records we see commerce

exposed to great risks, subject to constant pillage, hunted down in

peace and utterly extinguished in war." 'pillage' amended from

'pilage'.

Article COMPANY: "But they also contemplate the ultimate

controlling power as residing in the shareholders." 'contemplate'

amended from 'comtemplate'.

Article COMPASS: "and if the magnetic variation and the disturbing

effects of the ship's iron are known, the desired angle between the

ship's course and the geographical meridian can be computed."

'ship's' amended from 'ships's'.

Article COMTE, AUGUSTE: "Comte began to fret under Saint-Simon's

pretensions to be his director. Saint-Simon, on the other hand,

perhaps began to feel uncomfortably conscious of the superiority

of his disciple." 'feel' from 'fell'.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA

A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE

AND GENERAL INFORMATION

ELEVENTH EDITION

VOLUME VI, SLICE VII

Columbus to Condottiere

Articles in This Slice:

COLUMBUS (city of Georgia, U.S.A.) COMO (city of Italy)

COLUMBUS (city of Indiana, U.S.A.) COMO (lake of Italy)

COLUMBUS (city of Mississippi, U.S.A.) COMONFORT, IGNACIO

COLUMBUS (city of Ohio, U.S.A.) COMORIN, CAPE

COLUMELLA, LUCIUS JUNIUS MODERATUS COMORO ISLANDS

COLUMN COMPANION

COLURE COMPANY

COLUTHUS COMPARATIVE ANATOMY

COLVILLE, JOHN COMPARETTI, DOMENICO

COLVIN, JOHN RUSSELL COMPASS

COLVIN, SIDNEY COMPASS PLANT

COLWYN BAY COMPAYRE, JULES GABRIEL

COLZA OIL COMPENSATION

COMA COMPIEGNE

COMA BERENICES COMPLEMENT

COMACCHIO COMPLUVIUM

COMANA (city of Cappadocia) COMPOSITAE

COMANA (city of Pontus) COMPOSITE ORDER

COMANCHES COMPOSITION

COMAYAGUA COMPOUND

COMB COMPOUND PIER

COMBACONUM COMPRADOR

COMBE, ANDREW COMPRESSION

COMBE, GEORGE COMPROMISE

COMBE, WILLIAM COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850

COMBE (closed-in valley) COMPSA

COMBERMERE, STAPLETON COTTON COMPTON, HENRY

COMBES, EMILE COMPTROLLER

COMBINATION COMPURGATION

COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS COMTE, AUGUSTE

COMBUSTION COMUS

COMEDY COMYN, JOHN

COMENIUS, JOHANN AMOS CONACRE

COMET CONANT, THOMAS JEFFERSON

COMET-SEEKER CONATION

COMILLA CONCA, SEBASTIANO

COMINES CONCARNEAU

COMITIA CONCEPCION (province of Chile)

COMITY CONCEPCION (city of Chile)

COMMA CONCEPCION (town of Paraguay)

COMMANDEER CONCEPT

COMMANDER CONCEPTUALISM

COMMANDERY CONCERT

COMMANDO CONCERTINA

COMMEMORATION CONCERTO

COMMENDATION CONCH

COMMENTARII CONCHOID

COMMENTRY CONCIERGE

COMMERCE (trade) CONCINI, CONCINO

COMMERCE (card-game) CONCLAVE

COMMERCIAL COURT CONCORD (Massachusetts, U.S.A)

COMMERCIAL LAW CONCORD (North Carolina, U.S.A.)

COMMERCIAL TREATIES CONCORD (New Hampshire, U.S.A.)

COMMERCY CONCORD, BOOK OF

COMMERS CONCORDANCE

COMMINES, PHILIPPE DE CONCORDAT

COMMISSARIAT CONCORDIA (Roman goddess)

COMMISSARY CONCORDIA (town of Venetia)

COMMISSION CONCRETE (solidity)

COMMISSIONAIRE CONCRETE (building material)

COMMISSIONER CONCRETION

COMMITMENT CONCUBINAGE

COMMITTEE CONDE, PRINCES OF

COMMODIANUS CONDE, LOUIS DE BOURBON

COMMODORE CONDE, LOUIS II. DE BOURBON

COMMODUS, LUCIUS AELIUS AURELIUS CONDE (villages of France)

COMMON LAW CONDE, JOSE ANTONIO

COMMON LODGING-HOUSE CONDENSATION OF GASES

COMMON ORDER, BOOK OF CONDENSER

COMMONPLACE CONDER, CHARLES

COMMON PLEAS, COURT OF CONDILLAC, ETIENNE BONNOT DE

COMMONS CONDITION

COMMONWEALTH CONDITIONAL FEE

COMMUNE CONDITIONAL LIMITATION

COMMUNE, MEDIEVAL CONDOM

COMMUNISM CONDOR

COMMUTATION CONDORCET, CARITAT

COMNENUS CONDOTTIERE

COLUMBUS, a city and the county-seat of Muscogee county, Georgia,

U.S.A., on the E. bank and at the head of navigation of the

Chattahoochee river, about 100 m. S.S.W. of Atlanta. Pop. (1890) 17,303;

(1900) 17,614, of whom 7267 were negroes; (1910, census) 20,554. There

is also a considerable suburban population. Columbus is served by the

Southern, the Central of Georgia, and the Seaboard Air Line railways,

and three steamboat lines afford communication with Apalachicola,

Florida. The city has a public library. A fall in the river of 115 ft.

within a mile of the city furnishes a valuable water-power, which has

been utilized for public and private enterprises. The most important

industry is the manufacture of cotton goods; there are also cotton

compresses, iron works, flour and woollen mills, wood-working

establishments, &c. The value of the city's factory products increased

from $5,061,485 in 1900 to $7,079,702 in 1905, or 39.9%; of the total

value in 1905, $2,759,081, or 39%, was the value of the cotton goods

manufactured. There are many large factories just outside the city

limits. Columbus was one of the first cities in the United States to

maintain, at public expense, a system of trade schools. It has a large

wholesale and retail trade. The city was founded in 1827 and was

incorporated in 1828. In the latter year Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar

(1798-1859) established here the Columbus _Independent_, a

State's-Rights newspaper. For the first twenty years the city's leading

industry was trade in cotton. As this trade was diverted by the railways

to Savannah, the water-power was developed and manufactories were

established. During the Civil War the city ranked next to Richmond in

the manufacture of supplies for the Confederate army. On the 16th of

April 1865 it was captured by a Union force under General James Harrison

Wilson (b. 1837); 1200 Confederates were taken prisoners; large

quantities of arms and stores were seized, and the principal

manufactories and much other property were destroyed.

COLUMBUS, a city and the county-seat of Bartholomew county, Indiana,

U.S.A., situated on the E. fork of White river, a little S. of the

centre of the state. Pop. (1890) 6719; (1900) 8130, of whom 313 were

foreign-born and 224 were of negro descent (1910 census) 8813. In 1900

the centre of population of the United States was 5 m. S.E. of Columbus.

The city is served by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis, and

the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis railways, and is connected

with Indianapolis and with Louisville, Ky., by an electric interurban

line. Columbus is situated in a fine farming region, and has extensive

tanneries, threshing-machine and traction and automobile engine works,

structural iron works, tool and machine shops, canneries and furniture

factories. In 1905 the value of the city's factory product was

$2,983,160, being 28.4% more than in 1900. The water-supply system and

electric-lighting plant are owned and operated by the city.

COLUMBUS, a city and the county-seat of Lowndes county, Mississippi,

U.S.A., on the E. bank of the Tombigbee river, at the head of steam

navigation, 150. m. S.E. of Memphis, Tennessee. Pop. (1890) 4559; (1900)

6484 (3366 negroes); (1910) 8988. It is served by the Mobile & Ohio and

the Southern railways, and by passenger and freight steamboat lines. It

has cotton and knitting mills, cotton-seed oil factories, machine shops,

and wagon, stove, plough and fertilizer factories; and is a market and

jobbing centre for a fertile agricultural region. It has a public

library, and is the seat of the Mississippi Industrial Institute and

College (1885) for women, the first state college for women--the

successor of the Columbus Female Institute (1848)--of Franklin Academy

(1821), and of the Union Academy (1873) for negroes. The site was first

settled about 1818; the city was incorporated in 1821, and in 1830 it

became the county-seat of the newly formed Lowndes county. During the

Civil War the legislature met here in 1863 and 1865, and in the former

year Governor Charles Clark (1810-1877) was inaugurated here.

COLUMBUS, a city, a port of entry, the capital of Ohio, U.S.A., and the

county-seat of Franklin county, at the confluence of the Scioto and

Olentangy rivers, near the geographical centre of the state, 120 m. N.E.

of Cincinnati, and 138 m. S.S.W. of Cleveland. Pop. (1890) 88,150;

(1900) 125,560, of whom 12,328 were foreign-born and 8201 were negroes;

(1910) 181,511. Columbus is an important railway centre and is served by

the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, the Pittsburg,

Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis (Pennsylvania system), the Baltimore &

Ohio, the Ohio Central, the Norfolk & Western, the Hocking Valley, and

the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus (Pennsylvania system) railways, and by

nine interurban electric lines. It occupies a land area of about 17 sq.

m., the principal portion being along the east side of the Scioto in the

midst of an extensive plain. High Street, the principal business

thoroughfare, is 100 ft. wide, and Broad Street, on which are many of

the finest residences, is 120 ft. wide, has four rows of trees, a

roadway for heavy vehicles in the middle, and a driveway for carriages

on either side.

The principal building is the state capitol (completed in 1857) in a

square of ten acres at the intersection of High and Broad streets. It is

built in the simple Doric style, of grey limestone taken from a quarry

owned by the state, near the city; is 304 ft. long and 184 ft. wide, and

has a rotunda 158 ft. high, on the walls of which are the original

painting, by William Henry Powell (1823-1879), of O. H. Perry's victory

on Lake Erie, and portraits of most of the governors of Ohio. Other

prominent structures are the U.S. government and the judiciary

buildings, the latter connected with the capitol by a stone terrace, the

city hall, the county court house, the union station, the board of

trade, the soldiers' memorial hall (with a seating capacity of about

4500), and several office buildings. The city is a favourite

meeting-place for conventions. Among the state institutions in Columbus

are the university (see below), the penitentiary, a state hospital for

the insane, the state school for the blind, and the state institutions

for the education of the deaf and dumb and for feeble-minded youth. In

the capitol grounds are monuments to the memory of Ulysses S. Grant,

Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, William T. Sherman, Philip H.

Sheridan, Salmon P. Chase, and Edwin M. Stanton, and a beautiful

memorial arch (with sculpture by H. A. M'Neil) to William McKinley.

The city has several parks, including the Franklin of 90 acres, the

Goodale of 44 acres, and the Schiller of 24 acres, besides the

Olentangy, a well-equipped amusement resort on the banks of the river

from which it is named, the Indianola, another amusement resort, and the

United States military post and recruiting station, which occupies 80

acres laid out like a park. The state fair grounds of 115 acres adjoin

the city, and there is also a beautiful cemetery of 220 acres.

The Ohio State University (non-sectarian and co-educational), opened as

the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1873, and reorganized

under its present name in 1878, is 3 m. north of the capitol. It

includes colleges of arts, philosophy and science, of education (for

teachers), of engineering, of law, of pharmacy, of agriculture and

domestic science, and of veterinary medicine. It occupies a campus of

110 acres, has an adjoining farm of 325 acres, and 18 buildings devoted

to instruction, 2 dormitories, and a library containing (1906) 67,709

volumes, besides excellent museums of geology, zoology, botany and

archaeology and history, the last being owned jointly by the university

and by the state archaeological and historical society. In 1908 the

faculty numbered 175, and the students 2277. The institution owed its

origin to federal land grants; it is maintained by the state, the United

States, and by small fees paid by the students; tuition is free in all

colleges except the college of law. The government of the university is

vested in a board of trustees appointed by the governor of the state for

a term of seven years. The first president of the institution (from 1873

to 1881) was the distinguished geologist, Edward Orton (1829-1899), who

was professor of geology from 1873 to 1899.

Other institutions of learning are the Capital University and

Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary (Theological Seminary opened

in 1830; college opened as an academy in 1850), with buildings just east

of the city limits; Starling Ohio Medical College, a law school, a

dental school and an art institute. Besides the university library,

there is the Ohio state library occupying a room in the capitol and

containing in 1908 126,000 volumes, including a "travelling library" of

about 36,000 volumes, from which various organizations in different

parts of the state may borrow books; the law library of the supreme

court of Ohio, containing complete sets of English, Scottish, Irish,

Canadian, United States and state reports, statutes and digests; the

public school library of about 68,000 volumes, and the public library

(of about 55,000), which is housed in a marble and granite building

completed in 1906.

Columbus is near the Ohio coal and iron-fields, and has an extensive

trade in coal, but its largest industrial interests are in manufactures,

among which the more important are foundry and machine-shop products

(1905 value, $6,259,579); boots and shoes (1905 value, $5,425,087, being

more than one-sixtieth of the total product value of the boot and shoe

industry in the United States, and being an increase from $359,000 in

1890); patent medicines and compounds (1905 value, $3,214,096);

carriages and wagons (1905 value, $2,197,960); malt liquors (1905 value,

$2,133,955); iron and steel; regalia and society emblems; steam-railway

cars, construction and repairing; and oleo-margarine. In 1905 the city's

factory products were valued at $40,435,531, an increase of 16.4% in

five years. Immediately outside the city limits in 1905 were various

large and important manufactories, including railway shops, foundries,

slaughter-houses, ice factories and brick-yards. In Columbus there is a

large market for imported horses. Several large quarries also are

adjacent to the city.

The waterworks are owned by the municipality. In 1904-1905 the city

built on the Scioto river a concrete storage dam, having a capacity of

5,000,000,000 gallons, and in 1908 it completed the construction of

enormous works for filtering and softening the water-supply, and of

works for purifying the flow of sewage--the two costing nearly

$5,000,000. The filtering works include 6 lime saturators, 2 mixing or

softening tanks, 6 settling basins, 10 mechanical filters and 2

clear-water reservoirs. A large municipal electric-lighting plant was

completed in 1908.

The first permanent settlement within the present limits of the city was

established in 1797 on the west bank of the Scioto, was named

Franklinton, and in 1803 was made the county-seat. In 1810 four citizens

of Franklinton formed an association to secure the location of the

capital on the higher ground of the east bank; in 1812 they were

successful and the place was laid out while still a forest. Four years

later, when the legislature held its first session here, the settlement

was incorporated as the Borough of Columbus. In 1824 the county-seat was

removed here from Franklinton; in 1831 the Columbus branch of the Ohio

Canal was completed; in 1834 the borough was made a city; by the close

of the same decade the National Road extending from Wheeling to

Indianapolis and passing through Columbus was completed; in 1871 most of

Franklinton, which was never incorporated, was annexed, and several

other annexations followed.

See J. H. Studer, _Columbus, Ohio; its History and Resources_

(Columbus, 1873); A. E. Lee, _History of the City of Columbus, Ohio_

(New York, 1892).

COLUMELLA, LUCIUS JUNIUS MODERATUS, of Gades, writer on agriculture,

contemporary of Seneca the philosopher, flourished about the middle of

the 1st century A.D. His extant works treat, with great fulness and in a

diffuse but not inelegant style which well represents the silver age, of

the cultivation of all kinds of corn and garden vegetables, trees,

flowers, the vine, the olive and other fruits, and of the rearing of

cattle, birds, fishes and bees. They consist of the twelve books of the

_De re rustica_ (the tenth, which treats of gardening, being in dactylic

hexameters in imitation of Virgil), and of a book _De arboribus_, the

second book of an earlier and less elaborate work on the same subject.

The best complete edition is by J. G. Schneider (1794). Of a new

edition by K. J. Lundstrom, the tenth book appeared in 1902 and _De

arboribus_ in 1897. There are English translations by R. Bradley

(1725), and anonymous (1745); and treatises, _De Columellae vita et

scriptis_, by V. Barberet (1887), and G. R. Becher (1897), a compact

dissertation with notes and references to authorities.

COLUMN (Lat. _columna_), in architecture, a vertical support consisting

of capital, shaft and base, used to carry a horizontal beam or an arch.

The earliest example in wood (2684 B.C.) was that found at Kahun in

Egypt by Professor Flinders Petrie, which was fluted and stood on a

raised base, and in stone the octagonal shafts of the early temple at

Deir-el-Bahri (c. 2850). In the tombs at Beni Hasan (2723 B.C.) are

columns of two kinds, the octagonal or polygonal shaft, and the reed or

lotus column, the horizontal section of which is a quatrefoil. This

became later the favourite type, but it was made circular on plan. In

all these examples the column rests on a stone base. (See also CAPITAL

and ORDER.)

The column was employed in Assyria in small structures only, such as

pavilions or porticoes. In Persia the column, employed to carry timber

superstructures only, was very lofty, being sometimes 12 diameters high;

the shaft was fluted, the number of flutes varying from 30 to 52.

The earliest example of the Greek column is that represented in the

temple fresco at Cnossus (c. 1600 B.C.), of which portions have been

found. The columns were in cypress wood raised on a stone base and

tapered downwards.[1] The same, though to a less degree, is found in the

stone semi-detached columns which flank the doorway of the Tomb of

Agamemnon at Mycenae; the shafts of these columns were carved with the

chevron design.

The earliest Greek columns in stone as isolated features are those of

the Temple of Apollo at Syracuse (early 7th century B.C.) the shafts of

which were monoliths, but as a rule the Greek columns were all built of

drums, sometimes as many as ten or twelve. There was no base to the

Doric column, but the shafts were fluted, 20 flutes being the usual

number. In the Archaic Temple of Diana at Ephesus there were 52 flutes.

In the later examples of the Ionic order the shaft had 24 flutes. In the

Roman temples the shafts were very often monoliths.

Columns were occasionally used as supports for figures or other

features. The Naxian column at Delphi of the Ionic order carried a

sphinx. The Romans employed columns in various ways: the Trajan and the

Antonine columns carried figures of the two emperors; the columna

rostrata (260 B.C.) in the Forum was decorated with the beaks of ships

and was a votive column, the miliaria column marked the centre of Rome

from which all distances were measured. In the same way the column in

the Place Vendome in Paris carries a statue of Napoleon I.; the monument

of the Fire of London, a finial with flames sculptured on it; the duke

of York's column (London), a statue of the duke of York.

With the exception of the Cretan and Mycenaean, all the shafts of the

classic orders tapered from the bottom upwards, and about one-third up

the column had an increment, known as the _entasis_, to correct an

optical illusion which makes tapering shafts look concave; the

proportions of diameter to height varied with the order employed. Thus,

broadly speaking, a Roman Doric column will be eight, a Roman Ionic

nine, a Corinthian ten diameters in height. Except in rare cases, the

columns of the Romanesque and Gothic styles were of equal diameter at

top and bottom, and had no definite dimensions as regards diameter and

height. They were also grouped together round piers which are known as

clustered piers. When of exceptional size, as in Gloucester and Durham

cathedrals, Waltham Abbey and Tewkesbury, they are generally called

"pillars," which was apparently the medieval term for column. The word

_columna_, employed by Vitruvius, was introduced into England by the

Italian writers of the Revival.

In the Renaissance period columns were frequently banded, the bands

being concentric with the column as in France, and occasionally richly

carved as in Philibert De L'Orme's work at the Tuileries. In England

Inigo Jones introduced similar features, but with square blocks

sometimes rusticated, a custom lately revived in England, but of which

there are few examples either in Italy or Spain.

The word "column" is used, by analogy with architecture, for any upright

body or mass, in chemistry, anatomy, typography, &c. (R. P. S.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The tree-trunk used as a column was inverted to retain the sap;

hence the shape.

COLURE (from Gr. [Greek: kolos], shortened, and [Greek: oura], tail), in

astronomy, either of the two principal meridians of the celestial

sphere, one of which passes through the poles and the two solstices, the

other through the poles and the two equinoxes; hence designated as

_solstitial colure_ and _equinoxial colure_, respectively.

COLUTHUS, or COLLUTHUS, of Lycopolis in the Egyptian Thebaid, Greek epic

poet, flourished during the reign of Anastasius I. (491-518). According

to Suidas, he was the author of _Calydoniaca_ (probably an account of

the Calydonian boar hunt), _Persica_ (an account of the Persian wars),

and _Encomia_ (laudatory poems). These are all lost, but his poem in

some 400 hexameters on _The Rape of Helen_ ([Greek: Harpage Helenes]) is

still extant, having been discovered by Cardinal Bessarion in Calabria.

The poem is dull and tasteless, devoid of imagination, a poor imitation

of Homer, and has little to recommend it except its harmonious

versification, based upon the technical rules of Nonnus. It related the

history of Paris and Helen from the wedding of Peleus and Thetis down to

the elopement and arrival at Troy.

The best editions are by Van Lennep (1747), G. F. Schafer (1825), E.

Abel (1880).

COLVILLE, JOHN (c. 1540-1605), Scottish divine and author, was the son

of Robert Colville of Cleish, in the county of Kinross. Educated at St

Andrews University, he became a Presbyterian minister, but occupied

himself chiefly with political intrigue, sending secret information to

the English government concerning Scottish affairs. He joined the party

of the earl of Gowrie, and took part in the Raid of Ruthven in 1582. In

1587 he for a short time occupied a seat on the judicial bench, and was

commissioner for Stirling in the Scottish parliament. In December 1591

he was implicated in the earl of Bothwell's attack on Holyrood Palace,

and was outlawed with the earl. He retired abroad, and is said to have

joined the Roman Church. He died in Paris in 1605. Colville was the

author of several works, including an _Oratio Funebris_ on Queen

Elizabeth, and some political and religious controversial essays. He is

said to be the author also of _The Historie and Life of King James the

Sext_ (edited by T. Thompson for the Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, 1825).

Colville's _Original Letters_, 1582-1603, published by the Bannatyne

Club in 1858, contains a biographical memoir by the editor, David

Laing.

COLVIN, JOHN RUSSELL (1807-1857), lieutenant-governor of the North-West

Provinces of India during the mutiny of 1857, belonged to an

Anglo-Indian family of Scottish descent, and was born in Calcutta on the

29th of May 1807. Passing through Haileybury he entered the service of

the East India Company in 1826. In 1836 he became private secretary to

Lord Auckland, and his influence over the viceroy has been held partly

responsible for the first Afghan war of 1837; but it has since been

shown that Lord Auckland's policy was dictated by the secret committee

of the company at home. In 1853 Mr Colvin was appointed

lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces by Lord Dalhousie. On

the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857 he had with him at Agra only a weak

British regiment and a native battery, too small a force to make head

against the mutineers; and a proclamation which he issued to the natives

was censured at the time for its clemency, but it followed the same

lines as those adopted by Sir Henry Lawrence and subsequently followed

by Lord Canning. Exhausted by anxiety and misrepresentation he died on

the 9th of September, his death shortly preceding the fall of Delhi.

His son, SIR AUCKLAND COLVIN (1838-1908), followed him in a

distinguished career in the same service, from 1858 to 1879. He was

comptroller-general in Egypt (1880 to 1882), and financial adviser to

the khedive (1883 to 1887), and from 1883 till 1892 was back again in

India, first as financial member of council, and then, from 1887, as

lieutenant-governor of the North-West Provinces and Oudh. He was created

K.C.M.G. in 1881, and K.C.S.I. in 1892, when he retired. He published

_The Making of Modern Egypt_ in 1906, and a biography of his father, in

the "Rulers of India" series, in 1895. He died at Surbiton on the 24th

of March 1908.

COLVIN, SIDNEY (1845- ), English literary and art critic, was born at

Norwood, London, on the 18th of June 1845. A scholar of Trinity College,

Cambridge, he became a fellow of his college in 1868. In 1873 he was

Slade professor of fine art, and was appointed in the next year to the

directorship of the Fitzwilliam Museum. In 1884 he removed to London on

his appointment as keeper of prints and drawings in the British Museum.

His chief publications are lives of Landor (1881) and Keats (1887), in

the English Men of Letters series; the Edinburgh edition of R. L.

Stevenson's works (1894-1897); editions of the letters of Keats (1887),

and of the _Vailima Letters_ (1899), which R. L. Stevenson chiefly

addressed to him; _A Florentine Picture-Chronicle_ (1898), and _Early

History of Engraving in England_ (1905). But in the field both of art

and of literature, Mr Colvin's fine taste, wide knowledge and high

ideals made his authority and influence extend far beyond his published

work.

COLWYN BAY, a watering-place of Denbighshire, N. Wales, on the Irish

Sea, 40-1/2 m. from Chester by the London & North-Western railway. Pop. of

urban district of Colwyn Bay and Colwyn (1901) 8689. Colwyn Bay has

become a favourite bathing-place, being near to, and cheaper than, the

fashionable Llandudno, and being a centre for picturesque excursions.

Near it is Llaneilian village, famous for its "cursing well" (St

Eilian's, perhaps Aelianus'). The stream Colwyn joins the Gwynnant. The

name Colwyn is that of lords of Ardudwy; a Lord Colwyn of Ardudwy, in

the 10th century, is believed to have repaired Harlech castle, and is

considered the founder of one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales. Nant

Colwyn is on the road from Carnarvon to Beddgelert, beyond Llyn y gader

(gadair), "chair pool," and what tourists have fancifully called Pitt's

head, a roadside rock resembling, or thought to resemble, the great

statesman's profile. Near this is Llyn y dywarchen (sod pool), with a

floating island.

COLZA OIL, a non-drying oil obtained from the seeds of _Brassica

campestris_, var. _oleifera_, a variety of the plant which produces

Swedish turnips. Colza is extensively cultivated in France, Belgium,

Holland and Germany; and, especially in the first-named country, the

expression of the oil is an important industry. In commerce colza is

classed with rape oil, to which both in source and properties it is very

closely allied. It is a comparatively inodorous oil of a yellow colour,

having a specific gravity varying from 0.912 to 0.920. The cake left

after expression of the oil is a valuable feeding substance for cattle.

Colza oil is extensively used as a lubricant for machinery, and for

burning in lamps.

COMA (Gr. [Greek: koma], from [Greek: koiman], to put to sleep), a deep

sleep; the term is, however, used in medicine to imply something more

than its Greek origin denotes, namely, a complete and prolonged loss of

consciousness from which a patient cannot be roused. There are various

degrees of coma: in the slighter forms the patient can be partially

roused only to relapse again into a state of insensibility; in the

deeper states, the patient cannot be roused at all, and such are met

with in apoplexy, already described. Coma may arise abruptly in a

patient who has presented no pre-existent indication of such a state

occurring. Such a condition is called _primary coma_, and may result

from the following causes:--(1) concussion, compression or laceration of

the brain from head injuries, especially fracture of the skull; (2) from

alcoholic and narcotic poisoning; (3) from cerebral haemorrhage,

embolism and thrombosis, such being the causes of apoplexy. _Secondary

coma_ may arise as a complication in the following diseases:--diabetes,

uraemia, general paralysis, meningitis, cerebral tumour and acute yellow

atrophy of the liver; in such diseases it is anticipated, for it is a

frequent cause of the fatal termination. The depth of insensibility to

stimulus is a measure of the gravity of the symptom; thus the

conjunctival reflex and even the spinal reflexes may be abolished, the

only sign of life being the respiration and heart-beat, the muscles of

the limbs being sometimes perfectly flaccid. A characteristic change in

the respiration, known as Cheyne-Stokes breathing occurs prior to death

in some cases; it indicates that the respiratory centre in the medulla

is becoming exhausted, and is stimulated to action only when the

venosity of the blood has increased sufficiently to excite it. The

breathing consequently loses its natural rhythm, and each successive

breath becomes deeper until a maximum is reached; it then diminishes in

depth by successive steps until it dies away completely. The condition

of apnoea, or cessation of breathing, follows, and as soon as the

venosity of the blood again affords sufficient stimulus, the signs of

air-hunger commence; this altered rhythm continues until the respiratory

centre becomes exhausted and death ensues.

_Coma Vigil_ is a state of unconsciousness met with in the algide stage

of cholera and some other exhausting diseases. The patient's eyes remain

open, and he may be in a state of low muttering delirium; he is entirely

insensible to his surroundings, and neither knows nor can indicate his

wants.

There is a distinct word "coma" (Gr. [Greek: kome], hair), which is used

in astronomy for the envelope of a comet, and in botany for a tuft.

COMA BERENICES ("BERENICE'S HAIR"), in astronomy, a constellation of the

northern hemisphere; it was first mentioned by Callimachus, and

Eratosthenes (3rd century B.C.), but is not included in the 48 asterisms

of Ptolemy. It is said to have been named by Conon, in order to console

Berenice, queen of Ptolemy Euergetes, for the loss of a lock of her

hair, which had been stolen from a temple to Venus. This constellation

is sometimes, but wrongly, attributed to Tycho Brahe. The most

interesting member of this group is _24 Comae_, a fine, wide double

star, consisting of an orange star of magnitude 5-1/2, and a blue star,

magnitude 7.

COMACCHIO, a town of Emilia, Italy, in the province of Ferrara, 30 m.

E.S.E. by road from the town of Ferrara, on the level of the sea, in the

centre of the lagoon of Valli di Comacchio, just N. of the present mouth

of the Reno. Pop. (1901) 7944 (town), 10,745 (commune). It is built on

no less than thirteen different islets, joined by bridges, and its

industries are the fishery, which belongs to the commune, and the

salt-works. The seaport of Magnavacca lies 4 m. to the east. Comacchio

appears as a city in the 6th century, and, owing to its position in the

centre of the lagoons, was an important fortress. It was included in the

"donation of Pippin"; it was taken by the Venetians in 854, but

afterwards came under the government of the archbishops of Ravenna; in

1299 it came under the dominion of the house of Este. In 1508 it became

Venetian, but in 1597 was claimed by Clement VIII. as a vacant fief.

COMANA, a city of Cappadocia [frequently called CHRYSE or AUREA, i.e.

the golden, to distinguish it from Comana in Pontus; mod. _Shahr_],

celebrated in ancient times as the place where the rites of M[=a]-Enyo,

a variety of the great west Asian Nature-goddess, were celebrated with

much solemnity. The service was carried on in a sumptuous temple with

great magnificence by many thousands of _hieroduli_ (temple-servants).

To defray expenses, large estates had been set apart, which yielded a

more than royal revenue. The city, a mere apanage of the temple, was

governed immediately by the chief priest, who was always a member of the

reigning Cappadocian family, and took rank next to the king. The number

of persons engaged in the service of the temple, even in Strabo's time,

was upwards of 6000, and among these, to judge by the names common on

local tombstones, were many of Persian race. Under Caracalla, Comana

became a Roman colony, and it received honours from later emperors down

to the official recognition of Christianity. The site lies at Shahr, a

village in the Anti-Taurus on the upper course of the Sarus (Sihun),

mainly Armenian, but surrounded by new settlements of Avshar Turkomans

and Circassians. The place has derived importance both in antiquity and

now from its position at the eastern end of the main pass of the western

Anti-Taurus range, the Kuru Chai, through which passed the road from

Caesarea-Mazaca (mod. _Kaisarieh_) to Melitene (Malatia), converted by

Septimius Severus into the chief military road to the eastern frontier

of the empire. The extant remains at Shahr include a theatre on the left

bank of the river, a fine Roman doorway and many inscriptions; but the

exact site of the great temple has not been satisfactorily identified.

There are many traces of Severus' road, including a bridge at Kemer, and

an immense number of milestones, some in their original positions,

others in cemeteries.

See P. H. H. Massy in _Geog. Journ._ (Sept. 1905); E. Chantre,

_Mission en Cappadocie_ (1898). (D. G. H.)

COMANA (mod. _Gumenek_), an ancient city of Pontus, said to have been

colonized from Comana in Cappadocia. It stood on the river Iris (Tozanli

Su or Yeshil Irmak), and from its central position was a favourite

emporium of Armenian and other merchants. The moon-goddess was

worshipped in the city with a pomp and ceremony in all respects

analogous to those employed in the Cappadocian city. The slaves attached

to the temple alone numbered not less than 6000. St John Chrysostom died

there on the way to Constantinople from his exile at Cocysus in the

Anti-Taurus. Remains of Comana are still to be seen near a village

called Gumenek on the Tozanli Su, 7 m. from Tokat, but they are of the

slightest description. There is a mound; and a few inscriptions are

built into a bridge, which here spans the river, carrying the road from

Niksar to Tokat. (D. G. H.)

COMANCHES, a tribe of North American Indians of Shoshonean stock, so

called by the Spaniards, but known to the French as Padoucas, an

adaptation of their Sioux name, and among themselves _nimenim_ (people).

They number some 1400, attached to the Kiowa agency, Oklahoma. When

first met by Europeans, they occupied the regions between the upper

waters of the Brazos and Colorado on the one hand, and the Arkansas and

Missouri on the other. Until their final surrender in 1875 the Comanches

were the terror of the Mexican and Texan frontiers, and were always

famed for their bravery. They were brought to nominal submission in 1783

by the Spanish general Anza, who killed thirty of their chiefs. During

the 19th century they were always raiding and fighting, but in 1867, to

the number of 2500, they agreed to go on a reservation. In 1872 a

portion of the tribe, the Quanhada or Staked Plain Comanches, had again

to be reduced by military measures.

COMAYAGUA, the capital of the department of Comayagua in central

Honduras, on the right bank of the river Ulua, and on the interoceanic

railway from Puerto Cortes to Fonseca Bay. Pop. (1900) about 8000.

Comayagua occupies part of a fertile valley, enclosed by mountain

ranges. Under Spanish rule it was a city of considerable size and

beauty, and in 1827 its inhabitants numbered more than 18,000. A fine

cathedral, dating from 1715, is the chief monument of its former

prosperity, for most of the handsome public buildings erected in the

colonial period have fallen into disrepair. The present city chiefly

consists of low adobe houses and cane huts, tenanted by Indians. The

university founded in 1678 has ceased to exist, but there is a school of

jurisprudence. In the neighbourhood are many ancient Indian ruins (see

CENTRAL AMERICA: _ARCHAEOLOGY_).

Founded in 1540 by Alonzo Caceres, who had been instructed by the

Spanish government to find a site for a city midway between the two

oceans, Valladolid la Nueva, as the town was first named, soon became

the capital of Honduras. It received the privileges of a city in 1557,

and was made an episcopal see in 1561. Its decline dates from 1827, when

it was burned by revolutionaries; and in 1854 its population had

dwindled to 2000. It afterwards suffered through war and rebellion,

notably in 1872 and 1873, when it was besieged by the Guatemalans. In

1880 Tegucigalpa (q.v.), a city 37 m. east-south-east, superseded it as

the capital of Honduras.

COMB (a word common in various forms to Teut. languages, cf. Ger.

_Kamm_, the Indo-Europ. origin of which is seen in [Greek: gomphos], a

peg or pin, and Sanskrit, _gambhas_, a tooth), a toothed article of the

toilet used for cleaning and arranging the hair, and also for holding it

in place after it has been arranged; the word is also applied, from

resemblance in form or in use, to various appliances employed for

dressing wool and other fibrous substances, to the indented fleshy crest

of a cock, and to the ridged series of cells of wax filled with honey in

a beehive. Hair combs are of great antiquity, and specimens made of

wood, bone and horn have been found in Swiss lake-dwellings. Among the

Greeks and Romans they were made of boxwood, and in Egypt also of ivory.

For modern combs the same materials are used, together with others such

as tortoise-shell, metal, india-rubber and celluloid. There are two

chief methods of manufacture. A plate of the selected material is taken

of the size and thickness required for the comb, and on one side of it,

occasionally on both sides, a series of fine slits are cut with a

circular saw. This method involves the loss of the material cut out

between the teeth. The second method, known as "twinning" or "parting,"

avoids this loss and is also more rapid. The plate of material is rather

wider than before, and is formed into two combs simultaneously, by the

aid of a twinning machine. Two pairs of chisels, the cutting edges of

which are as long as the teeth are required to be and are set at an

angle converging towards the sides of the plate, are brought down

alternately in such a way that the wedges removed from one comb form the

teeth of the other, and that when the cutting is complete the plate

presents the appearance of two combs with their teeth exactly

inosculating or dovetailing into each other. In india-rubber combs the

teeth are moulded to shape and the whole hardened by vulcanization.

COMBACONUM, or KUMBAKONAM, a city of British India, in the Tanjore

district of Madras, in the delta of the Cauvery, on the South Indian

railway, 194 m. from Madras. Pop. (1901) 59,623, showing an increase of

10% in the decade. It is a large town with wide and airy streets, and is

adorned with pagodas, gateways and other buildings of considerable

pretension. The great _gopuram_, or gate-pyramid, is one of the most

imposing buildings of the kind, rising in twelve stories to a height of

upwards of 100 ft., and ornamented with a profusion of figures of men

and animals formed in stucco. One of the water-tanks in the town is

popularly reputed to be filled with water admitted from the Ganges every

twelve years by a subterranean passage 1200 m. long; and it consequently

forms a centre of attraction for large numbers of devotees. The city is

historically interesting as the capital of the Chola race, one of the

oldest Hindu dynasties of which any traces remain, and from which the

whole coast of Coromandel, or more properly Cholamandal, derives its

name. It contains a government college. Brass and other metal wares,

silk and cotton cloth and sugar are among the manufactures.

COMBE, ANDREW (1797-1847), Scottish physiologist, was born in Edinburgh

on the 27th of October 1797, and was a younger brother of George Combe.

He served an apprenticeship in a surgery, and in 1817 passed at

Surgeons' Hall. He proceeded to Paris to complete his medical studies,

and whilst there he investigated phrenology on anatomical principles. He

became convinced of the truth of the new science, and, as he acquired

much skill in the dissection of the brain, he subsequently gave

additional interest to the lectures of his brother George, by his

practical demonstrations of the convolutions. He returned to Edinburgh

in 1819 with the intention of beginning practice; but being attacked by

the first symptoms of pulmonary disease, he was obliged to seek health

in the south of France and in Italy during the two following winters. He

began to practise in 1823, and by careful adherence to the laws of

health he was enabled to fulfil the duties of his profession for nine

years. During that period he assisted in editing the _Phrenological

Journal_ and contributed a number of articles to it, defended phrenology

before the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, published his

_Observations on Mental Derangement_ (1831), and prepared the greater

portion of his _Principles of Physiology Applied to Health and

Education_, which was issued in 1834, and immediately obtained extensive

public favour. In 1836 he was appointed physician to Leopold I., king of

the Belgians, and removed to Brussels, but he speedily found the climate

unsuitable and returned to Edinburgh, where he resumed his practice. In

1836 he published his _Physiology of Digestion_, and in 1838 he was

appointed one of the physicians extraordinary to the queen in Scotland.

Two years later he completed his _Physiological and Moral Management of

Infancy_, which he believed to be his best work and it was his last. His

latter years were mostly occupied in seeking at various health resorts

some alleviation of his disease; he spent two winters in Madeira, and

tried a voyage to the United States, but was compelled to return within

a few weeks of the date of his landing at New York. He died at Gorgie,

near Edinburgh, on the 9th of August 1847.

His biography, written by George Combe, was published in 1850.

COMBE, GEORGE (1788-1858), Scottish phrenologist, elder brother of the

above, was born in Edinburgh on the 21st of October 1788. After

attending Edinburgh high school and university he entered a lawyer's

office in 1804, and in 1812 began to practise on his own account. In

1815 the _Edinburgh Review_ contained an article on the system of

"craniology" of F. J. Gall and K. Spurzheim, which was denounced as "a

piece of thorough quackery from beginning to end." Combe laughed like

others at the absurdities of this so-called new theory of the brain, and

thought that it must be finally exploded after such an exposure; and

when Spurzheim delivered lectures in Edinburgh, in refutation of the

statements of his critic, Combe considered the subject unworthy of

serious attention. He was, however, invited to a friend's house where he

saw Spurzheim dissect the brain, and he was so far impressed by the

demonstration that he attended the second course of lectures.

Investigating the subject for himself, he became satisfied that the

fundamental principles of phrenology were true--namely "that the brain

is the organ of mind; that the brain is an aggregate of several parts,

each subserving a distinct mental faculty; and that the size of the

cerebral organ is, _caeteris paribus_, an index of power or energy of

function." In 1817 his first essay on phrenology was published in the

_Scots Magazine_; and a series of papers on the same subject appeared

soon afterwards in the _Literary and Statistical Magazine_; these were

collected and published in 1819 in book form as _Essays on Phrenology_,

which in later editions became _A System of Phrenology_. In 1820 he

helped to found the Phrenological Society, which in 1823 began to

publish a _Phrenological Journal_. By his lectures and writings he

attracted public attention to the subject on the continent of Europe and

in America, as well as at home; and a long discussion with Sir William

Hamilton in 1827-1828 excited general interest.

His most popular work, _The Constitution of Man_, was published in 1828,

and in some quarters brought upon him denunciations as a materialist and

atheist. From that time he saw everything by the light of phrenology. He

gave time, labour and money to help forward the education of the poorer

classes; he established the first infant school in Edinburgh; and he

originated a series of evening lectures on chemistry, physiology,

history and moral philosophy. He studied the criminal classes, and tried

to solve the problem how to reform as well as to punish them; and he

strove to introduce into lunatic asylums a humane system of treatment.

In 1836 he offered himself as a candidate for the chair of logic at

Edinburgh, but was rejected in favour of Sir William Hamilton. In 1838

he visited America and spent about two years lecturing on phrenology,

education and the treatment of the criminal classes. On his return in

1840 he published his _Moral Philosophy_, and in the following year his

_Notes on the United States of North America_. In 1842 he delivered, in

German, a course of twenty-two lectures on phrenology in the university

of Heidelberg, and he travelled much in Europe, inquiring into the

management of schools, prisons and asylums. The commercial crisis of

1855 elicited his remarkable pamphlet on _The Currency Question_ (1858).

The culmination of the religious thought and experience of his life is

contained in his work _On the Relation between Science and Religion_,

first publicly issued in 1857. He was engaged in revising the ninth

edition of the _Constitution of Man_ when he died at Moor Park, Farnham,

on the 14th of August 1858. He married in 1833 Cecilia Siddons, a

daughter of the great actress.

COMBE, WILLIAM (1741-1823), English writer, the creator of "Dr Syntax,"

was born at Bristol in 1741. The circumstances of his birth and

parentage are somewhat doubtful, and it is questioned whether his father

was a rich Bristol merchant, or a certain William Alexander, a London

alderman, who died in 1762. He was educated at Eton, where he was

contemporary with Charles James Fox, the 2nd Baron Lyttelton and William

Beckford. Alexander bequeathed him some L2000--a little fortune that

soon disappeared in a course of splendid extravagance, which gained him

the nickname of Count Combe; and after a chequered career as private

soldier, cook and waiter, he finally settled in London (about 1771), as

a law student and bookseller's hack. In 1776 he made his first success

in London with _The Diaboliad_, a satire full of bitter personalities.

Four years afterwards (1780) his debts brought him into the King's

Bench; and much of his subsequent life was spent in prison. His spurious

_Letters of the Late Lord Lyttelton_[1] (1780) imposed on many of his

contemporaries, and a writer in the _Quarterly Review_, so late as 1851,

regarded these letters as authentic, basing upon them a claim that

Lyttelton was "Junius." An early acquaintance with Lawrence Sterne

resulted in his _Letters supposed to have been written by Yorick and

Eliza_ (1779). Periodical literature of all sorts--pamphlets, satires,

burlesques, "two thousand columns for the papers," "two hundred

biographies"--filled up the next years, and about 1789 Combe was

receiving L200 yearly from Pitt, as a pamphleteer. Six volumes of a

_Devil on Two Sticks in England_ won for him the title of "the English

le Sage"; in 1794-1796 he wrote the text for Boydell's _History of the

River Thames_; in 1803 he began to write for _The Times_. In 1809-1811

he wrote for Ackermann's _Political Magazine_ the famous _Tour of Dr

Syntax in search of the Picturesque_ (descriptive and moralizing verse

of a somewhat doggerel type), which, owing greatly to Thomas

Rowlandson's designs, had an immense success. It was published

separately in 1812 and was followed by two similar _Tours_, "in search

of Consolation," and "in search of a Wife," the first Mrs Syntax having

died at the end of the first _Tour_. Then came _Six Poems_ in

illustration of drawings by Princess Elizabeth (1813), _The English

Dance of Death_ (1815-1816), _The Dance of Life_ (1816-1817), _The

Adventures of Johnny Quae Genus_ (1822)--all written for Rowlandson's

caricatures; together with _Histories_ of Oxford and Cambridge, and of

Westminster Abbey for Ackermann; _Picturesque Tours_ along the Rhine and

other rivers, _Histories of Madeira_, _Antiquities of York_, texts for

_Turner's Southern Coast Views_, and contributions innumerable to the

_Literary Repository_. In his later years, notwithstanding a by no means

unsullied character, Combe was courted for the sake of his charming

conversation and inexhaustible stock of anecdote. He died in London on

the 19th of June 1823.

Brief obituary memoirs of Combe appeared in Ackermann's _Literary

Repository_ and in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for August 1823; and in

May 1859 a list of his works, drawn up by his own hand, was printed in

the latter periodical. See also _Diary of H. Crabb Robinson_, _Notes

and Queries for 1869_.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Thomas, 2nd Baron Lyttelton (1744-1779), commonly known as the

"wicked Lord Lyttelton," was famous for his abilities and his

libertinism, also for the mystery attached to his death, of which it

was alleged he was warned in a dream three days before the event.

COMBE, or COOMB, a term particularly in use in south-western England for

a short closed-in valley, either on the side of a down or running up

from the sea. It appears in place-names as a termination, e.g.

Wiveliscombe, Ilfracombe, and as a prefix, e.g. Combemartin. The

etymology of the word is obscure, but "hollow" seems a common meaning to

similar forms in many languages. In English "combe" or "cumb" is an

obsolete word for a "hollow vessel," and the like meaning attached to

Teutonic forms _kumm_ and _kumme_. The Welsh _cwm_, in place-names,

means hollow or valley, with which may be compared _cum_ in many Scots

place-names. The Greek [Greek: kumbe] also means a hollow vessel, and

there is a French dialect word _combe_ meaning a little valley.

COMBERMERE, STAPLETON COTTON, 1ST VISCOUNT (1773-1865), British

field-marshal and colonel of the 1st Life Guards, was the second son of

Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton of Combermere Abbey, Cheshire, and was born

on the 14th of November 1773, at Llewenny Hall in Denbighshire. He was

educated at Westminster School, and when only sixteen obtained a second

lieutenancy in the 23rd regiment (Royal Welsh Fusiliers). A few years

afterwards (1793) he became by purchase captain in the 6th Dragoon

Guards, and he served in this regiment during the campaigns of the duke

of York in Flanders. While yet in his twentieth year, he joined the 25th

Light Dragoons (subsequently 22nd) as lieutenant-colonel, and, while in

attendance with his regiment on George III. at Weymouth, he became a

great favourite of the king. In 1796 he went with his regiment to India,

taking part _en route_ in the operations in Cape Colony (July-August

1796), and in 1799 served in the war with Tippoo Sahib, and at the

storming of Seringapatam. Soon after this, having become heir to the

family baronetcy, he was, at his father's desire, exchanged into a

regiment at home, the 16th Light Dragoons. He was stationed in Ireland

during Emmett's insurrection, became colonel in 1800, and major-general

five years later. From 1806 to 1814 he was M.P. for Newark. In 1808 he

was sent to the seat of war in Portugal, where he shortly rose to the

position of commander of Wellington's cavalry, and it was here that he

most displayed that courage and judgment which won for him his fame as a

cavalry officer. He succeeded to the baronetcy in 1809, but continued

his military career. His share in the battle of Salamanca (22nd of July

1812) was especially marked, and he received the personal thanks of

Wellington. The day after, he was accidentally wounded. He was now a

lieutenant-general in the British army and a K.B., and on the conclusion

of peace (1814) was raised to the peerage under the style of Baron

Combermere. He was not present at Waterloo, the command, which he

expected, and bitterly regretted not receiving, having been given to

Lord Uxbridge. When the latter was wounded Cotton was sent for to take

over his command, and he remained in France until the reduction of the

allied army of occupation. In 1817 he was appointed governor of

Barbadoes and commander of the West Indian forces. From 1822 to 1825 he

commanded in Ireland. His career of active service was concluded in

India (1826), where he besieged and took Bhurtpore--a fort which

twenty-two years previously had defied the genius of Lake and was deemed

impregnable. For this service he was created Viscount Combermere. A long

period of peace and honour still remained to him at home. In 1834 he was

sworn a privy councillor, and in 1852 he succeeded Wellington as

constable of the Tower and lord lieutenant of the Tower Hamlets. In 1855

he was made a field-marshal and G.C.B. He died at Clifton on the 21st of

February 1865. An equestrian statue in bronze, the work of Baron

Marochetti, was raised in his honour at Chester by the inhabitants of

Cheshire. Combermere was succeeded by his only son, Wellington Henry

(1818-1891), and the viscountcy is still held by his descendants.

See Viscountess Combermere and Captain W. W. Knollys, _The Combermere

Correspondence_ (London, 1866).

COMBES, [JUSTIN LOUIS] EMILE (1835- ), French statesman, was born at

Roquecourbe in the department of the Tarn. He studied for the

priesthood, but abandoned the idea before ordination, and took the

diploma of doctor of letters (1860), then he studied medicine, taking

his degree in 1867, and setting up in practice at Pons in

Charente-Inferieure. In 1881 he presented himself as a political

candidate for Saintes, but was defeated. In 1885 he was elected to the

senate by the department of Charente-Inferieure. He sat in the

Democratic left, and was elected vice-president in 1893 and 1894. The

reports which he drew up upon educational questions drew attention to

him, and on the 3rd of November 1895 he entered the Bourgeois cabinet as

minister of public instruction, resigning with his colleagues on the

21st of April following. He actively supported the Waldeck-Rousseau

ministry, and upon its retirement in 1903 he was himself charged with

the formation of a cabinet. In this he took the portfolio of the

Interior, and the main energy of the government was devoted to the

struggle with clericalism. The parties of the Left in the chamber,

united upon this question in the _Bloc republicain_, supported Combes in

his application of the law of 1901 on the religious associations, and

voted the new bill on the congregations (1904), and under his guidance

France took the first definite steps toward the separation of church and

state. He was opposed with extreme violence by all the Conservative

parties, who regarded the secularization of the schools as a persecution

of religion. But his stubborn enforcement of the law won him the

applause of the people, who called him familiarly _le petit pere_.

Finally the defection of the Radical and Socialist groups induced him to

resign on the 17th of January 1905, although he had not met an adverse

vote in the Chamber. His policy was still carried on; and when the law

of the separation of church and state was passed, all the leaders of the

Radical parties entertained him at a noteworthy banquet in which they

openly recognized him as the real originator of the movement.

COMBINATION (Lat. _combinare_, to combine), a term meaning an

association or union of persons for the furtherance of a common object,

historically associated with agreements amongst workmen for the purpose

of raising their wages. Such a combination was for a long time expressly

prohibited by statute. See TRADE UNIONS; also CONSPIRACY and STRIKES AND

LOCK OUTS.

COMBINATORIAL ANALYSIS.

Historical Introduction.

The Combinatorial Analysis, as it was understood up to the end of the

18th century, was of limited scope and restricted application. P.

Nicholson, in his _Essays on the Combinatorial Analysis_, published in

1818, states that "the Combinatorial Analysis is a branch of mathematics

which teaches us to ascertain and exhibit all the possible ways in which

a given number of things may be associated and mixed together; so that

we may be certain that we have not missed any collection or arrangement

of these things that has not been enumerated." Writers on the subject

seemed to recognize fully that it was in need of cultivation, that it

was of much service in facilitating algebraical operations of all kinds,

and that it was the fundamental method of investigation in the theory of

Probabilities. Some idea of its scope may be gathered from a statement

of the parts of algebra to which it was commonly applied, viz., the

expansion of a multinomial, the product of two or more multinomials, the

quotient of one multinomial by another, the reversion and conversion of

series, the theory of indeterminate equations, &c. Some of the

elementary theorems and various particular problems appear in the works

of the earliest algebraists, but the true pioneer of modern researches

seems to have been Abraham Demoivre, who first published in _Phil.

Trans._ (1697) the law of the general coefficient in the expansion of

the series a + bx + cx^2 + dx^3 + ... raised to any power. (See also

_Miscellanea Analytica_, bk. iv. chap. ii. prob. iv.) His work on

Probabilities would naturally lead him to consider questions of this

nature. An important work at the time it was published was the _De

Partitione Numerorum_ of Leonhard Euler, in which the consideration of

the reciprocal of the product (1 - xz) (1 - x^2z) (1 - x^3z) ...

establishes a fundamental connexion between arithmetic and algebra,

arithmetical addition being made to depend upon algebraical

multiplication, and a close bond is secured between the theories of

discontinuous and continuous quantities. (Cf. Numbers, Partition of.)

The multiplication of the two powers x^a, x^b, viz. x^a + x^b = x^(a+b),

showed Euler that he could convert arithmetical addition into

algebraical multiplication, and in the paper referred to he gives the

complete formal solution of the main problems of the partition of

numbers. He did not obtain general expressions for the coefficients

which arose in the expansion of his generating functions, but he gave

the actual values to a high order of the coefficients which arise from

the generating functions corresponding to various conditions of

partitionment. Other writers who have contributed to the solution of

special problems are James Bernoulli, Ruggiero Guiseppe Boscovich, Karl

Friedrich Hindenburg (1741-1808), William Emerson (1701-1782), Robert

Woodhouse (1773-1827), Thomas Simpson and Peter Barlow. Problems of

combination were generally undertaken as they became necessary for the

advancement of some particular part of mathematical science: it was not

recognized that the theory of combinations is in reality a science by

itself, well worth studying for its own sake irrespective of

applications to other parts of analysis. There was a total absence of

orderly development, and until the first third of the 19th century had

passed, Euler's classical paper remained alike the chief result and the

only scientific method of combinatorial analysis.

In 1846 Karl G. J. Jacobi studied the partitions of numbers by means of

certain identities involving infinite series that are met with in the

theory of elliptic functions. The method employed is essentially that of

Euler. Interest in England was aroused, in the first instance, by

Augustus De Morgan in 1846, who, in a letter to Henry Warburton,

suggested that combinatorial analysis stood in great need of

development, and alluded to the theory of partitions. Warburton, to some

extent under the guidance of De Morgan, prosecuted researches by the aid

of a new instrument, viz. the theory of finite differences. This was a

distinct advance, and he was able to obtain expressions for the

coefficients in partition series in some of the simplest cases (_Trans.

Camb. Phil. Soc._, 1849). This paper inspired a valuable paper by Sir

John Herschel (_Phil. Trans._ 1850), who, by introducing the idea and

notation of the circulating function, was able to present results in

advance of those of Warburton. The new idea involved a calculus of the

imaginary roots of unity. Shortly afterwards, in 1855, the subject was

attacked simultaneously by Arthur Cayley and James Joseph Sylvester, and

their combined efforts resulted in the practical solution of the problem

that we have to-day. The former added the idea of the prime circulator,

and the latter applied Cauchy's theory of residues to the subject, and

invented the arithmetical entity termed a denumerant. The next distinct

advance was made by Sylvester, Fabian Franklin, William Pitt Durfee and

others, about the year 1882 (_Amer. Journ. Math._ vol. v.) by the

employment of a graphical method. The results obtained were not only

valuable in themselves, but also threw considerable light upon the

theory of algebraic series. So far it will be seen that researches had

for their object the discussion of the partition of numbers. Other

branches of combinatorial analysis were, from any general point of view,

absolutely neglected. In 1888 P. A. MacMahon investigated the general

problem of distribution, of which the partition of a number is a

particular case. He introduced the method of symmetric functions and the

method of differential operators, applying both methods to the two

important subdivisions, the theory of composition and the theory of

partition. He introduced the notion of the separation of a partition,

and extended all the results so as to include multipartite as well as

unipartite numbers. He showed how to introduce zero and negative

numbers, unipartite and multipartite, into the general theory; he

extended Sylvester's graphical method to three dimensions; and finally,

1898, he invented the "Partition Analysis" and applied it to the

solution of novel questions in arithmetic and algebra. An important

paper by G. B. Mathews, which reduces the problem of compound partition

to that of simple partition, should also be noticed. This is the problem

which was known to Euler and his contemporaries as "The Problem of the

Virgins," or "the Rule of Ceres"; it is only now, nearly 200 years

later, that it has been solved.

Fundamental problem.

The most important problem of combinatorial analysis is connected with

the distribution of objects into classes. A number n may be regarded as

enumerating n similar objects; it is then said to be unipartite. On the

other hand, if the objects be not all similar they cannot be effectively

enumerated by a single integer; we require a succession of integers. If

the objects be p in number of one kind, q of a second kind, r of a

third, &c., the enumeration is given by the succession pqr... which is

termed a multipartite number, and written,

______

pqr...,

where p + q + r + ... = n. If the order of magnitude of the numbers p,

q, r, ... is immaterial, it is usual to write them in descending order

of magnitude, and the succession may then be termed a partition of the

number n, and is written (pqr...). The succession of integers thus has a

twofold signification: (i.) as a multipartite number it may enumerate

objects of different kinds; (ii.) it may be viewed as a partitionment

into separate parts of a unipartite number. We may say either that the

objects are represented by the multipartite number

______

pqr...,

or that they are defined by the partition (pqr...) of the unipartite

number n. Similarly the classes into which they are distributed may be m

in number all similar; or they may be p1 of one kind, q1 of a second, r1

of a third, &c., where p1 + q1 + r1 + ... = m. We may thus denote the

classes either by the multipartite numbers

_________

p1q1r1...,

or by the partition (p1q1r1...) of the unipartite number m. The

distributions to be considered are such that any number of objects may

be in any one class subject to the restriction that no class is empty.

Two cases arise. If the order of the objects in a particular class is

immaterial, the class is termed a _parcel_; if the order is material,

the class is termed a _group_. The distribution into parcels is alone

considered here, and the main problem is the enumeration of the

distributions of objects defined by the partition (pqr...) of the number

n into parcels defined by the partition (p1q1r1...) of the number m.

(See "Symmetric Functions and the Theory of Distributions," _Proc.

London Mathematical Society_, vol. xix.) Three particular cases are of

great importance. Case I. is the "one-to-one distribution," in which the

number of parcels is equal to the number of objects, and one object is

distributed in each parcel. Case II. is that in which the parcels are

all different, being defined by the partition (1111...), conveniently

written (1^m); this is the theory of the compositions of unipartite and

multipartite numbers. Case III. is that in which the parcels are all

similar, being defined by the partition (m); this is the theory of the

partitions of unipartite and multipartite numbers. Previous to

discussing these in detail, it is necessary to describe the method of

symmetric functions which will be largely utilized.

The distribution function.

Let [alpha], [beta], [gamma], ... be the roots of the equation

x^n - a1x^(n-1) + a2x^(n-2) - ... = 0.

The symmetric function [Sigma][alpha]^p[beta]^q[gamma]^r..., where p

+ q + r + ... = n is, in the partition notation, written (pqr...). Let

A_[(pqr...), (p1q1r1...)]

denote the number of ways of distributing the n objects defined by the

partition (pqr...) into the m parcels defined by the partition

(p1q1r1...). The expression

[Sigma]A_[(pqr...), (p1q1r1...)].(pqr...),

where the numbers p1, q1, r1 ... are fixed and assumed to be in

descending order of magnitude, the summation being for every partition

(pqr...) of the number n, is defined to be the distribution function of

the objects defined by (pqr...) into the parcels defined by (p1q1r1...).

It gives a complete enumeration of n objects of whatever species into

parcels of the given species.

Case I.

1. _One-to-One Distribution. Parcels m in number (i.e. m = n)._--Let hs

be the homogeneous product-sum of degree s of the quantities [alpha],

[beta], [gamma], ... so that

(1 - [alpha]x. 1 - [beta]x. 1 - [gamma]x. ...)^-1 =

1 + h1x + h2x^2 + h3x^3 + ...

h1 = [Sigma][alpha] = (1)

h2 = [Sigma][alpha]^2 + [Sigma][alpha][beta] = (2) + (1^2)

h3 = [Sigma][alpha]^3 + [Sigma][alpha]^2[beta] +

[Sigma][alpha][beta][gamma] = (3) + (21) + (1^3).

Form the product h_(p1)h_(q1)h_(r1)...

Any term in h_(p1) may be regarded as derived from p1 objects distributed

into p1 similar parcels, one object in each parcel, since the order of

occurrence of the letters [alpha], [beta], [gamma], ... in any term is

immaterial. Moreover, every selection of p1 letters from the letters in

[alpha]^p[beta]^q[gamma]^r ... will occur in some term of h_(p1), every

further selection of q1 letters will occur in some term of h_(q1), and so

on. Therefore in the product h_(p1)h_(q1)h_(r1) ... the term

[alpha]^p[beta]^q[gamma]^r ..., and therefore also the symmetric function

(pqr ...), will occur as many times as it is possible to distribute

objects defined by (pqr ...) into parcels defined by (p1q1r1 ...) one

object in each parcel. Hence

[Sigma]A_[(pqr...), (p1q1r1...)].(pqr ...) = h_(p1)h_(q1)h_(r1)....

This theorem is of algebraic importance; for consider the simple

particular case of the distribution of objects (43) into parcels (52),

and represent objects and parcels by small and capital letters

respectively. One distribution is shown by the scheme

A A A A A B B

a a a a b b b

wherein an object denoted by a small letter is placed in a parcel

denoted by the capital letter immediately above it. We may interchange

small and capital letters and derive from it a distribution of objects

(52) into parcels (43); viz.:--

A A A A B B B

a a a a a b b.

The process is clearly of general application, and establishes a

one-to-one correspondence between the distribution of objects (pqr ...)

into parcels (p1q1r1 ...) and the distribution of objects (p1q1r1 ...)

into parcels (pqr ...). It is in fact, in Case I., an intuitive

observation that we may either consider an object placed in or attached

to a parcel, or a parcel placed in or attached to an object.

Analytically we have

_Theorem._--"The coefficient of symmetric function (pqr ...) in the

development of the product h_(p1)h_(q1)h_(r1) ... is equal to the

coefficient of symmetric function (p1q1r1 ...) in the development of the

product h_p.h_q.h_r...."

The problem of Case I. may be considered when the distributions are

subject to various restrictions. If the restriction be to the effect

that an aggregate of similar parcels is not to contain more than one

object of a kind, we have clearly to deal with the elementary symmetric

functions a1, a2, a3, ... or (1), (1^2), (1^3), ... in lieu of the

quantities h1, h2, h3, ... The distribution function has then the value

a_(p1)a_(q1)a_(r1)... or (1^p1) (1^q1) (1^r1) ..., and by interchange of

object and parcel we arrive at the well-known theorem of symmetry in

symmetric functions, which states that the coefficient of symmetric

function (pqr ...) in the development of the product ap1aq1ar1 ... in

a series of monomial symmetric functions, is equal to the coefficient of

the function (p1q1r1 ...) in the similar development of the product

a_p.a_q.a_r....

The general result of Case I. may be further analysed with important

consequences.

Write X1 = (1)x1,

X2 = (2)x2 + (1^2)x1^2,

X3 = (3)x3 + (21)x2x1 + (1^3){x1}^3

. . . . .

and generally

X_s = [Sigma]([lambda][mu][nu] ...)x_[lambda]x_[mu]x_[nu] ...

the summation being in regard to every partition of s. Consider the

result of the multiplication--

X_p1 X_q1 X_r1 ... =

[Sigma]P(x_s1)^[sigma]1 (x_s2)^[sigma]2 (x_s3)^[sigma]3 ...

To determine the nature of the symmetric function P a few definitions

are necessary.

_Definition I._--Of a number n take any partition

([lambda]1[lambda]2[lambda]3 ... [lambda]s) and separate it into

component partitions thus:--

([lambda]1[lambda]2) ([lambda]3[lambda]4[lambda]5) ([lambda]6) ...

in any manner. This may be termed a _separation_ of the partition, the

numbers occurring in the separation being identical with those which

occur in the partition. In the theory of symmetric functions the

separation denotes the product of symmetric functions--

[Sigma] [alpha]^[lambda]1 [beta]^[lambda]2 [Sigma][alpha]^[lambda]3

[beta]^[lambda]4 [gamma]^[lambda]5 [Sigma][alpha]^[lambda]6 ...

The portions ([lambda]1[lambda]2), ([lambda]3[lambda]4[lambda]5),

([lambda]6)... are termed _separates_, and if [lambda]1 + [lambda]2 =

p1, [lambda]3 + [lambda]4 + [lambda]5 = q1, [lambda]6 = r1... be in

descending order of magnitude, the usual arrangement, the separation is

said to have a _species_ denoted by the partition (p1q1r1...) of the

number n.

_Definition II._--If in any distribution of n objects into n parcels

(one object in each parcel), we write down a number [xi], whenever we

observe [xi] similar objects in similar parcels we will obtain a

succession of numbers [xi]1, [xi]2, [xi]3, ..., where ([xi]1, [xi]2,

[xi]3 ...) is some partition of n. The distribution is then said to have

a _specification_ denoted by the partition ([xi]1[xi]2[xi]3...).

Now it is clear that P consists of an aggregate of terms, each of which,

to a numerical factor _pres_, is a separation of the partition

( s1^{[sigma]1} s2^{[sigma]2} s3^{[sigma]3} ...)

of species (p1q1r1...). Further, P is the distribution function of

objects into parcels denoted by (p1q1r1...), subject to the restriction

that the distributions have each of them the specification denoted by

the partition

( s1^{[sigma]1} s2^{[sigma]2} s3^{[sigma]3} ...).

Employing a more general notation we may write

X_p1^[pi]1 X_p2^[pi]2 X_p3^[pi]3 ... =

[Sigma]P x_s1^[sigma]1 x_s2^[sigma]2 x_s3^[sigma]3 ...

and then P is the distribution function of objects into parcels

(p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...),

the distributions being such as to have the specification

(s1^[sigma]1 s2^[sigma]2 s3^[sigma]3 ...),

Multiplying out P so as to exhibit it as a sum of monomials, we get a

result--

X_p1^[pi]1 X_p2^[pi]2 X_p3^[pi]3 ... =

[Sigma][Sigma][theta] ([lambda]1^l1 [lambda]2^l2 [lambda]3^l3)

x_s1^[sigma]1 x_s2^[sigma]2 x_s3^[sigma]3 ...

indicating that for distributions of specification

(s1^[sigma]1 s2^[sigma]2 s3^[sigma]3 ...)

there are [theta] ways of distributing n objects denoted by

([lambda]1^l1 [lambda]2^l2 [lambda]3^l3 ...)

amongst n parcels denoted by

(p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...),

one object in each parcel. Now observe that as before we may interchange

parcel and object, and that this operation leaves the specification of

the distribution unchanged. Hence the number of distributions must be

the same, and if

X_p1^[pi]1 X_p2^[pi]2 X_p3^[pi]3 ... =

= ... + [theta]([lambda]1^l1 [lambda]2^l2 [lambda]3^l3)

x_s1^[sigma]1 x_s2^[sigma]2 x_s3^[sigma]3 ... + ...

then also

X_[lambda]1^l1 X_[lambda]2^l2 X_[lambda]3^l3 ... =

= ... + [theta](p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3)

x_s1^[sigma]1 x_s2^[sigma]2 x_s3^[sigma]3 ... + ...

This extensive theorem of algebraic reciprocity includes many known

theorems of symmetry in the theory of Symmetric Functions.

The whole of the theory has been extended to include symmetric functions

symbolized by partitions which contain as well zero and negative parts.

Case II.

2. _The Compositions of Multipartite Numbers. Parcels denoted by

(I^m)._--There are here no similarities between the parcels.

Let ([pi]1 [pi]2 [pi]3) be a partition of m.

(p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3) a partition of n.

Of the whole number of distributions of the n objects, there will be a

certain number such that n1 parcels each contain p1 objects, and in

general [pi]s parcels each contain ps objects, where s = 1, 2, 3, ...

Consider the product h_p1^[pi]1 h_p2^[pi]2 h_p3^[pi]3 ... which can be

permuted in m! / ([pi]1![pi]2![pi]3! ...) ways. For each of these ways

h_p1^[pi]1 h_p2^[pi]2 h_p3^[pi]3 ... will be a distribution function for

distributions of the specified type. Hence, regarding all the

permutations, the distribution function is

m!

------------------------ h_p1^[pi]1 h_p2^[pi]2 h_p3^[pi]3 ...

[pi]1! [pi]2! [pi]3! ...

and regarding, as well, all the partitions of n into exactly m parts,

the desired distribution function is

m!

[Sigma] ------------------------ h_p1^[pi]1 h_p2^[pi]2 h_p3^[pi]3 ...

[pi]1! [pi]2! [pi]3! ...

[ [Sigma]_[pi] = ([Sigma]_[pi])p = n ],

that is, it is the coefficient of x^n in (h1x + h2x^2 + h3x^3 + ... )^m.

The value of A_{(p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...), (1^m)} is the

coefficient of (p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...)x^n in the development of

the above expression, and is easily shown to have the value

/p1 + m - 1\^[pi]1 /p2 + m - 1\^[pi]2 /p3 + m - 1\^[pi]3

\ p1 / \ p2 / \ p3 / ...

- /m\ /p1 + m - 2\^[pi]1 /p2 + m - 2\^[pi]2 /p3 + m - 2\^[pi]3

\1/ \ p1 / \ p2 / \ p3 / ...

- /m\ /p1 + m - 3\^[pi]1 /p2 + m - 3\^[pi]2 /p3 + m - 3\^[pi]3

\1/ \ p1 / \ p2 / \ p3 / ...

- ... to m terms.

Observe that when p1 = p2 = p3 = ... = [pi]1 = [pi]1 = [pi]1 ... = 1

this expression reduces to the mth divided differences of 0^n. The

expression gives the compositions of the multipartite number

______________________________

p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...

into m parts. Summing the distribution function from m = 1 to w = [oo]

and putting x = 1, as we may without detriment, we find that the

totality of the compositions is given by

h1 + h2 + h3 + ...

---------------------- which may be given the form

1 - h1 - h2 - h3 + ...

a1 - a2 + a3 - ...

-------------------------.

1 - 2(a1 - a2 + a3 - ...)

Adding 1/2 we bring this to the still more convenient form

1

1/2 -------------------------.

1 - 2(a1 - a2 + a3 - ...)

Let F(p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3 ...) denote the total number of

compositions of the multipartite /{p1^[pi]1 p2^[pi]2 p3^[pi]3}....

Then 1/2{1/1 - 2[alpha]} = 1/2 + [Sigma]F(p)[alpha]^p, and thence

F(p) = 2^(p-1).

1

Again 1/2 --------------------------------------- =

1 - 2([alpha] + [beta] - [alpha][beta])

= 1/2 + [Sigma]F(p)[alpha]^p1 [beta]^p2,

and expanding the left-hand side we easily find

(p1 + p2)! (p1 + p2 - 1)!

F(p1p2) = 2^(p1+p2-1) ---------- - 2^(p1+p2-2) ---------------------

0! p1! p2! 1!(p1 - 1)! (p2 - 1)!

(p1 + p2 - 2)!

+ 2^(p1+p2-3) --------------------- - ....

2!(p1 - 2)! (p2 - 2)!

We have found that the number of compositions of the multipartite

/(p1p2p3 ... ps) is equal to the coefficient of symmetric function

(p1p2p3...ps) _or_ of the single term [alpha]1^p1 [alpha]2^p2

[alpha]3^p3 ... [alpha]s^ps in the development according to ascending

powers of the algebraic fraction

1

1/2 . ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

1 - 2([Sigma][a]1 - [Sigma][a]1 [a]2 + [Sigma][a]1 [a]2 [a]3) - ... + (-)^(s+1)[a]1 [a]2 [a]3...[a]s

This result can be thrown into another suggestive form, for it can be

proved that this portion of the expanded fraction

1

1/2 . -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,

{1 - t1(2[a]1 + [a]2 + ... + [a]3)} {1 - t2(2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... + [a]s)} ... {1 - t_s(2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... + 2[a]s)}

which is composed entirely of powers of

t1[alpha]1, t2[alpha]2, t3[alpha]3, ... t_s[alpha]_s

has the expression

1

1/2 . -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,

1 - 2([Sigma]t1[a]1 - [Sigma]t1t2[a]1[a]2 + [Sigma]t1t2[a]1[a]2[a]3 - ... + (-)^(s+1) t1t2...t_s[a]1[a]2...[a]_s)

and therefore the coefficient of [alpha]1^p1 [alpha]2^p2...[alpha]s^ps

in the latter fraction, when t1, t2, &c., are put equal to unity, is

equal to the coefficient of the same term in the product

1/2 (2[a]1 + [a]2 + ... + [a]s)^p1 (2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... +[a]s)^p2 ... (2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... + 2[a]s)^ps.

This result gives a direct connexion between the number of compositions

and the permutations of the letters in the product [alpha]1^p1

[alpha]2^p2...[alpha]s^ps. Selecting any permutation, suppose that the

letter a_r occurs q_r times in the last p_r + p_(r+1) + ... + p_s places

of the permutation; the coefficient in question may be represented by

1/2[Sigma] 2^(q1+q2+...+qs), the summation being for every permutation,

and since q1 = p1 this may be written

2p1^(-1)[Sigma] 2^(q2+q3+...+qs).

_Ex. Gr._--For the bipartite /22, p1 = p2 = 2, and we have the following

scheme:--

[a]1 [a]1 | [a]2 [a]2 q2 = 2

[a]1 [a]2 | [a]1 [a]2 = 1

[a]1 [a]2 | [a]2 [a]1 = 1

[a]2 [a]1 | [a]1 [a]2 = 1

[a]2 [a]1 | [a]2 [a]1 = 1

[a]2 [a]2 | [a]1 [a]1 = 0

Hence F(22) = 2(2^2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2^0) = 26.

We may regard the fraction

1

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,

1/2 . {1 - t1(2[a]1 + [a]2 + ... + [a]s)} {1 - t2(2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... + [a]s)} ... {1 - t_s(2[a]1 + 2[a]2 + ... + 2[a]s)}

as a redundant generating function, the enumeration of the compositions

being given by the coefficient of

(t1[alpha]1)^p1 (t2[alpha]2)^p2 ... (t_s[alpha]_s )^ps.

The transformation of the pure generating function into a factorized

redundant form supplies the key to the solution of a large number of

questions in the theory of ordinary permutations, as will be seen later.

The theory of permutations.

[The transformation of the last section involves a comprehensive theory

of Permutations, which it is convenient to discuss shortly here.

If X1, X2, X3, ... Xn be linear functions given by the matricular

relation

(X1, X2, X3, ... Xn) = (a11 a12 ... a1n)(x1, x2, ... xn)

|a21 a22 ... a2n|

| . . ... . |

| . . ... . |

|an1 an2 ... ann|

that portion of the algebraic fraction,

1

---------------------------------,

(1 - s1X1)(1 - s2X2)...(1 - snXn)

which is a function of the products s1x1, s2x2, s3x3, ... snxn only is

1

--------------------------------------------------------

|(1 - a11s1x1)(1 - a22s2x2)(1 - a33s3x3)(1 - ann.sn.xn)|

where the denominator is in a symbolic form and denotes on expansion

1 - [Sigma]|a11|s1x1 + [Sigma]|a11a22|s1s2x1x2 - ... + (-)^n|a11a22a33...ann|s1s2 ... sn.x1x2...xn,

where |a11|, |a11a22|, ... |a11a22,...ann| denote the several co-axial

minors of the determinant

|a11a22...ann|

of the matrix. (For the proof of this theorem see MacMahon, "A certain

Class of Generating Functions in the Theory of Numbers," _Phil. Trans.

R. S._ vol. clxxxv. A, 1894). It follows that the coefficient of

x1^[xi]1 x2^[xi]2 ... xn^[xi]n

in the product

(a11x1 + a12x2 + ... + a1n.xn )^[xi]^1 (a21x1 + a22x2 + ... +

+ a2n.xn)^[xi]^2...(an1x1 + an2x2 + ... + ann.xn)^[xi]n

is equal to the coefficient of the same term in the expansion

ascending-wise of the fraction

1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------.

1 - [Sigma]|a11|x1 + [Sigma]|a11a22|x1x2 - ... + (-)^n|a11a22...|x1x2...xn

If the elements of the determinant be all of them equal to unity, we

obtain the functions which enumerate the unrestricted permutations of

the letters in

x1^[xi]1 x2^[xi]2 ... xn^[xi]n,

viz. (x1 + x2 + ... - xn)^{[xi]1 + [xi]2 + ... + [xi]n}

1

and ------------------------.

1 - (x1 + x2 + ... + xn)

Suppose that we wish to find the generating function for the enumeration

of those permutations of the letters in x1^[xi]1 x2^[xi]2...x3^[xi]n

which are such that no letter xs is in a position originally occupied by

an x3 for all values of s. This is a generalization of the "Probleme des

rencontres" or of "derangements." We have merely to put

a11 = a22 = a33 = ... = ann = 0

and the remaining elements equal to unity. The generating product is

(x2 + x3 + ... + xn)^[xi]1 (x1 + x3 + ... + xn)^[xi]2 ...

(x1 + x2 + ... + x_n-1)^[xi]n,

and to obtain the condensed form we have to evaluate the co-axial minors

of the invertebrate determinant--

| 0 1 1 ... 1 |

| 1 0 1 ... 1 |

| 1 1 0 ... 1 |

| . . . ... . |

| 1 1 1 ... 0 |

The minors of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd ... nth orders have respectively the

values

0

-1

+2

...

(-)^(n-1)(n - 1),

therefore the generating function is

1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------;

1 - [Sigma]x1x2 - 2[Sigma]x1x2x3 - ... - s[Sigma]x1x2...x_s+1 - ... - (n - 1)x1x2...xn

or writing

(x - x1)(x - x2)...(x - xn) = x^n - a1x^(n-1) + a2x^(n-2) - ...,

this is

1

-------------------------------------

1 - a2 - 2a3 - 3a4 - ... - (n - 1)a_n

Again, consider the general problem of "derangements." We have to find

the number of permutations such that exactly _m_ of the letters are in

places they originally occupied. We have the particular redundant

product

(ax1 + x2 + ... + xn)^[xi]^1 (x1 + ax2 + ... + xn)^[xi]^2 ...

(x1 + x2 + ... + ax_n)^[xi]n,

in which the sought number is the coefficient of

a^m x1^[xi]^1 x2^[xi]^2...xn^[xi]n. The true generating function is

derived from the determinant

| a 1 1 1 . . . |

| 1 a 1 1 . . . |

| 1 1 a 1 . . . |

| 1 1 1 a . . . |

| . . . . |

| . . . . |

and has the form

1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.

1 - a[Sigma]x1 + (a - 1)(a + 1)[Sigma]x1x2 - ... + (-)^n(a - 1)^(n-1)(a + n - 1)x1x2... xn

It is clear that a large class of problems in permutations can be solved

in a similar manner, viz. by giving special values to the elements of

the determinant of the matrix. The redundant product leads uniquely to

the real generating function, but the latter has generally more than one

representation as a redundant product, in the cases in which it is

representable at all. For the existence of a redundant form, the

coefficients of x1, x2, ... x1x2 ... in the denominator of the real

generating function must satisfy 2^n - n^2 + n - 2 conditions, and

assuming this to be the case, a redundant form can be constructed which

involves n - 1 undetermined quantities. We are thus able to pass from

any particular redundant generating function to one equivalent to it,

but involving n - 1 undetermined quantities. Assuming these quantities

at pleasure we obtain a number of different algebraic products, each of

which may have its own meaning in arithmetic, and thus the number of

arithmetical correspondences obtainable is subject to no finite limit

(cf. MacMahon, _loc. cit._ pp. 125 et seq.)]

Case III.

3. _The Theory of Partitions. Parcels defined by (m)._--When an ordinary

unipartite number n is broken up into other numbers, and the order of

occurrence of the numbers is immaterial, the collection of numbers is

termed a partition of the number n. It is usual to arrange the numbers

comprised in the collection, termed the parts of the partition, in

descending order of magnitude, and to indicate repetitions of the same

part by the use of exponents. Thus (32111), a partition of 8, is written

(321^3). Euler's pioneering work in the subject rests on the observation

that the algebraic multiplication

x^a X x^b X x^c X ... = x^(a+b+c+...)

is equivalent to the arithmetical addition of the exponents a, b, c, ...

He showed that the number of ways of composing n with p integers drawn

from the series a, b, c, ..., repeated or not, is equal to the

coefficient of [zeta]^p.x^n in the ascending expansion of the fraction

1

------------------------------------------------,

1 - [zeta]x^a. 1 - [zeta]x^b. 1 - [zeta]x^c. ...

which he termed the generating function of the partitions in question.

If the partitions are to be composed of p, or fewer parts, it is merely

necessary to multiply this fraction by 1/(1 - [zeta]). Similarly, if the

parts are to be unrepeated, the generating function is the algebraic

product

(1 + [zeta]x^a)(1 + [zeta]x^b)(1 + [zeta]x^c)...;

if each part may occur at most twice,

(1 + [zeta]x^a + [zeta]^2x^2a)(1 + [zeta]x^b + [zeta]^2x^2b)

(1 + [zeta]x^c + [zeta]^2x^2c)...;

and generally if each part may occur at most k - 1 times it is

1 - [zeta]^k.x^ka 1 - [zeta]^k.x^kb 1 - [zeta]^k.x^kc

----------------- . ----------------- . ----------------- . ...

1 - [zeta]x^a 1 - [zeta]x^b 1 - [zeta]x^c

It is thus easy to form generating functions for the partitions of

numbers into parts subject to various restrictions. If there be no

restriction in regard to the numbers of the parts, the generating

function is

1

------------------------------

1 - x^a. 1 - x^b. 1 - x^c. ...

and the problems of finding the partitions of a number n, and of

determining their number, are the same as those of solving and

enumerating the solutions of the indeterminate equation in positive

integers

ax + by + cz + ... = n.

Euler considered also the question of enumerating the solutions of the

indeterminate simultaneous equation in positive integers

ax + by + cz + ... = n

a'x + b'y + c'z + ... = n'

a"x + b"y + c"z + ... = n"

which was called by him and those of his time the "Problem of the

Virgins." The enumeration is given by the coefficient of x^n.y^n'.z^n" ...

in the expansion of the fraction

1

----------------------------------------------------------------------

(1 - x^a.y^b.z^c...)(1 - x^a'.y^b'.z^c'...)(1 - x^a".y^b".z^c"...) ...

which enumerates the partitions of the multipartite number /nn'n"...

into the parts

/abc..., /a'b'c'..., /a"b"c"..., ...

Sylvester has determined an analytical expression for the coefficient of

x^n in the expansion of

1

------------------------------

(1 - x^a)(1 - x^b)...(1 - x^i)

To explain this we have two lemmas:--

_Lemma 1._--The coefficient of x^-1, i.e., after Cauchy, the residue in

the ascending expansion of (1 - e^x)^-i, is -1. For when i is unity, it

is obviously the case, and

(1 - e^x)^-i-1 = (1 - e^x)^-i + e^x(1 - e^x)^-i-1

d 1

= (1 - e^x)^-i + -- (1 - e^x)^-i.--.

dx i

d 1

Here the residue of -- (1 - e^x)^-i.-- is zero, and therefore the residue

dx i

of (1 - e^x)^-i is unchanged when i is increased by unity, and is

therefore always -1 for all values of i.

_Lemma 2._--The constant term in any proper algebraical fraction

developed in ascending powers of its variable is the same as the

residue, with changed sign, of the sum of the fractions obtained by

substituting in the given fraction, in lieu of the variable, its

exponential multiplied in succession by each of its values (zero

excepted, if there be such), which makes the given fraction infinite.

For write the proper algebraical fraction

c_{[lambda],[mu]} [gamma]_[lambda]

F(x) = [Sigma][Sigma]-------------------- + [Sigma]----------------.

(a_[mu] - x)[lambda] x^[lambda]

c_{[lambda],[mu]}

The constant term is [Sigma][Sigma]-----------------.

a_[mu]^[lambda]

Let a_[nu] be a value of x which makes the fraction infinite. The residue

of

c_{[lambda],[mu]} [gamma]_[lambda]

[Sigma][Sigma][Sigma]------------------------------ + [Sigma]-----------------------------

(a_[mu] - a_[nu].e^x)^[lambda] a_[nu]^[lambda].e^{[lambda]x}

is equal to the residue of

c_{[lambda],[mu]}

[Sigma][Sigma][Sigma]------------------------------,

(a_[mu] - a_[nu].e^x)^[lambda]

and when [nu] = [mu], the residue vanishes, so that we have to consider

c_{[lambda],[mu]}

[Sigma][Sigma]----------------------------------,

a_[mu]^[lambda].(1 - e^x)^[lambda]

and the residue of this is, by the first lemma,

c_{[lambda],[mu]}

- [Sigma][Sigma]-----------------,

a_[mu]^[lambda]

which proves the lemma.

1 f(x)

Take F(x) = --------------------------------- = ----, since the sought

x^n(1 - x^a)(1 - x^b)...(1 - x^l) x^n

number is its constant term.

Let [rho] be a root of unity which makes f(x) infinite when substituted

for x. The function of which we have to take the residue is

[Sigma][rho]^-n.e^nx.f([rho]e^-x)

[rho]^-n.e^nx

= [Sigma]------------------------------------------------------------.

(1 - [rho]^a.e^-ax)(1 - [rho]^b.e^-bx)...(1 - [rho]^l.e^-lx)

We may divide the calculation up into sections by considering separately

that portion of the summation which involves the primitive qth roots of

unity, q being a divisor of one of the numbers a, b, ... l. Thus the qth

_wave_ is

[rho]_q^-n.e^nx

[Sigma]------------------------------------------------------------------,

(1 - [rho]_q^a.e^-ax)(1 - [rho]_q^b.e^-bx)...(1 - [rho]_q^l.e^-lx)

which, putting 1/[rho]_q for [rho]_q and [nu] = 1/2(a + b + ... + l), may

be written

[rho]_q^[nu].e^[nu]x

[Sigma]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,

([rho]_q^1/2a.e^1/2ax - [rho]_q^-1/2a.e^-1/2ax)([rho]_q^1/2b.e^1/2bx - [rho]_q^-1/2b.e^-1/2bx)...([rho]_q^1/2l.e^1/2lx - [rho]_q^-1/2l.e^-1/2lx)

and the calculation in simple cases is practicable.

Thus Sylvester finds for the coefficient of x^n in

1

-----------------------

1 - x. 1 - x^2. 1 - x^3

[nu]^2 7 1 1

the expression ------ - -- - --(-)[nu] + --([rho]_3^[nu] + [rho]_3^-[nu]),

12 72 8 9

where [nu] = n + 3.

Sylvester's graphical method.

Sylvester, Franklin, Durfee, G. S. Ely and others have evolved a

constructive theory of partitions, the object of which is the

contemplation of the partitions themselves, and the evolution of their

properties from a study of their inherent characters. It is concerned

for the most part with the partition of a number into parts drawn from

the natural series of numbers 1, 2, 3.... Any partition, say (521) of

the number 8, is represented by nodes placed in order at the points of a

rectangular lattice,

o---o---o---o---o------

| | | | |

| | | | |

o---o---+---+---+------

| | | | |

| | | | |

o---+---+---+---+------

| | | | |

| | | | |

| | | | |

when the partition is given by the enumeration of the nodes by lines. If

we enumerate by columns we obtain another partition of 8, viz. (321^3),

which is termed the conjugate of the former. The fact or conjugacy was

first pointed out by Norman Macleod Ferrers. If the original partition

is one of a number n in i parts, of which the largest is j, the

conjugate is one into j parts, of which the largest is i, and we obtain

the theorem:--"The number of partitions of any number into [i parts]/[i

parts or fewer], and having the largest part [equal to j]/[equal or less

than j], remains the same when the numbers i and j are interchanged."

The study of this representation on a lattice (termed by Sylvester the

"graph") yields many theorems similar to that just given, and, moreover,

throws considerable light upon the expansion of algebraic series.

The theorem of reciprocity just established shows that the number of

partitions of n into; parts or fewer, is the same as the number of ways

of composing n with the integers 1, 2, 3, ... j. Hence we can

1

expand ------------------------------------------- in ascending powers of

1 - a. 1 - ax. 1 - ax^2. 1 - ax^3...ad inf.

a; for the coefficient of a^j.x^n in the expansion is the number of ways

of composing n with j or fewer parts, and this we have seen in the

coefficients of x^n in the ascending expansion of

1

------------------------.

1 - x. 1 - x^2...1 - x^j

Therefore

1 a a^2

--------------------------- = 1 + ----- + -------------- + ...

1 - a. 1 - ax. 1 - ax^2.... 1 - x 1 - x. 1 - x^2

a^j

+ ------------------------ + ....

1 - x. 1 - x^2...1 - x^j

The coefficient of a^j.x^n in the expansion of

1

-------------------------------------

1 - a. 1 - ax. 1 - ax^2. ... 1 - ax^i

denotes the number of ways of composing n with j or fewer parts, none of

which are greater than i. The expansion is known to be

1 - x^(j+1). 1 - x^(j+2). ... 1 - x^(j+i)

[Sigma]-----------------------------------------a^j.

1 - x. 1 - x^2. ... 1 - x^i

It has been established by the constructive method by F. Franklin

(_Amer. Jour. of Math._ v. 254), and shows that the generating function

for the partitions in question is

1 - x^(j+1). 1 - x^(j+2). ... 1 - x^(j+i)

-----------------------------------------,

1 - x. 1 - x^2. ... 1 - x^i

which, observe, is unaltered by interchange of i and j.

Franklin has also similarly established the identity of Euler

j=-[oo]

(1 - x)(1 - x^2)(1 - x^3)...ad inf. = [Sigma](-)jx^{1/2(3j^2+j)},

j=+[oo]

known as the "pentagonal number theorem," which on interpretation shows

that the number of ways of partitioning n into an even number of

unrepeated parts is equal to that into an uneven number, except when n

has the pentagonal form 1/2(3j^2 + j), j positive or negative, when the

difference between the numbers of the partitions is (-)^j.

+----------+

|. . . .| . . . . .

|. . . .| . .

|. . . .| .

|. . . .|

+----------+

. . .

. .

.

.

.

To illustrate an important dissection of the graph we will consider

those graphs which read the same by columns as by lines; these are

called self-conjugate. Such a graph may be obviously dissected into a

square, containing say [theta]^2 nodes, and into two graphs, one lateral

and one subjacent, the latter being the conjugate of the former. The

former graph is limited to contain not more than [theta] parts, but is

subject to no other condition. Hence the number of self-conjugate

partitions of n which are associated with a square of [theta]^2 nodes is

clearly equal to the number of partitions of 1/2(n = [theta]^2) into

[theta] or few parts, i.e. it is the coefficient of x^{1/2(n-[theta]^2)}

in

1

-------------------------------------------,

1 - x. 1 - x^2. 1 - x^3. ... 1 - x^[theta].

x^[theta]^2

or of x^n in ---------------------------------------------.

1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^2[theta]

and the whole generating function is

[theta]=[oo] x^[theta]^2

1 + [Sigma] ---------------------------------------------.

[theta]=1 1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^2[theta]

Now the graph is also composed of [theta] angles of nodes, each angle

containing an uneven number of nodes; hence the partition is

transformable into one containing [theta] unequal uneven numbers. In the

case depicted this partition is (17, 9, 5, 1). Hence the number of the

partitions based upon a square of [theta]^2 nodes is the coefficient of

a^[theta].x^n in the product (1 + ax)(1 + ax^3)(1 + ax^5)...(1 +

ax^{2s-1}), and thence the coefficient of a^[theta] in this product is

x^[theta]^2

---------------------------------------------, and we have the expansion

1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^2[theta]

(1 + ax)(1 + ax^3)(1 + ax^5)...ad inf.

x x^4 x^9

= 1 + ------- a + ---------------- a^2 + ----------------------- a^3 + ...

1 - x^2 1 - x^2. 1 - x^4 1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. - x^6

Again, if we restrict the part magnitude to i, the largest angle of

nodes contains at most 2i - 1 nodes, and based upon a square of

[theta]^2 nodes we have partitions enumerated by the coefficient of

a^[theta].x^n in the product (1 + ax)(1 + ax^3)(1 + ax^5)...(1 +

ax^{2i-1}); moreover the same number enumerates the partition of 1/2(n -

[theta]^2) into [theta] or fewer parts, of which the largest part is

equal to or less than i -[theta], and is thus given by the coefficient

of x^{1/2(n-[theta]^2)} in the expansion of

1 - x^{i-[t]+1}. 1 - x^{i-[t]+2}. 1 - x^{i-[t]+3}. ... 1 - x^i

--------------------------------------------------------------,

1 - x. 1 - x^2. 1 - x^3. ... 1 - x^[t]

([t] = [theta])

or of x^n in

1 - x^{2i-2[t]+2}. 1 - x^{2i-2[t]+4}. ... 1 - x^2i

-------------------------------------------------- x[t]^2;

1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^[t]

hence the expansion

(1 + ax)(1 + ax^3)(1 + ax^5)...(1 + ax^{2i-1})

[t]=i 1 - x^{2i-2[t]+2}. 1 - x^{2i-2[t]+4}. ... 1 + x^2i

= 1 + [Sigma] -------------------------------------------------- x^[t]^2.a^[t].

[t]=1 1 - x^2. 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^2[t]

Extension to three dimensions.

There is no difficulty in extending the graphical method to three

dimensions, and we have then a theory of a special kind of partition of

multipartite numbers. Of such kind is the partition

_________ _________ _________

(a1a2a3...), (b1b2b3...), (c1c2c3..., ...)

of the multipartite number

_______________________________________________________________

(a1 + b1 + c1 + ..., a2 + b2 + c2 + ..., a3 + b3 + c3 + ..., ...)

if a1 >= a2 >= a3 >= ...; b1 >= b2 >= b3 >= ..., ...

a3 >= b3 >= c3 >= ...,

for then the graphs of the parts /a1a2a3..., /b1b2b3..., ... are

superposable, and we have what we may term a _regular_ graph in three

dimensions. Thus the partition (/643, /632, /411) of the multipartite

/(16, 8, 6) leads to the graph

0+------------------------------------ x

|

| ((.)) ((.)) ((.)) ((.)) (.) (.)

|

| ((.)) (.) (.) .

|

| ((.)) (.) .

|

y

and every such graph is readable in six ways, the axis of z being

perpendicular to the plane of the paper.

_Ex. Gr._

___ ___ ___

Plane parallel to xy, direction Ox reads (643,632,411)

______ ______ ______

" " xy, " Oy " (333211,332111,311100)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

" " yz, " Oy " (333,331,321,211,110,110)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

" " yz, " Oz " (333,322,321,310,200,200)

______ ______ ______

" " zx, " Oz " (333322,322100,321000)

___ ___ ___

" " zx, " Ox " (664,431,321)

the partitions having reference to the multipartite numbers /16, 8, 6,

976422, /13, 11, 6, which are brought into relation through the medium

of the graph. The graph in question is more conveniently represented by

a numbered diagram, viz.--

3 3 3 3 2 2

3 2 2 1

3 2 1

and then we may evidently regard it as a unipartite partition on the

points of a lattice,

0 +-----+-----+-----+-----+------- x

| | | | |

| | | | |

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------

| | | | |

| | | | |

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------

| | | | |

| | | | |

+-----+-----+-----+-----+-------

| | | | |

y

the descending order of magnitude of part being maintained along _every_

line of route which proceeds from the origin in the positive directions

of the axes.

This brings in view the modern notion of a partition, which has

enormously enlarged the scope of the theory. We consider any number of

points _in plano_ or _in solido_ connected (or not) by lines in pairs in

any desired manner and fix upon any condition, such as is implied by the

symbols >=, >, =, <=, <>, as affecting any pair of points so connected.

Thus in ordinary unipartite partition we have to solve in integers such

a system as

[a]1 >= [a]2 >= [a]3 >= ... [a]n

[a]1 + [a]2 + [a]3 + ... + [a]n = n,

([a] = [alpha])

the points being in a straight line. In the simplest example of the

three-dimensional graph we have to solve the system

[a]1 >= [a]2

v = [a]1 + [a]2 + [a]3 + [a]4 = n,

= v

[a]3 >= [a]4

and a system for the general lattice constructed upon the same

principle. The system has been discussed by MacMahon, _Phil. Trans._

vol. clxxxvii. A, 1896, pp. 619-673, with the conclusion that if the

numbers of nodes along the axes of x, y, z be limited not to exceed the

numbers m, n, l respectively, then writing for brevity 1 - x^s = (s),

the generating function is given by the product of the factors

+----------------------------------------------x

|

| (l + 1) (l + 2) (l + m)

| ------- . ------- ... -------

| (1) (2) (m)

|

| (l + 2) (l + 3) (l + m + 1)

| ------- . ------- ... -----------

| (2) (3) (m + 1)

| . . ... .

| . . ... .

| . . ... .

| (l + n) (l + n + 1) (l + m + n - 1)

| ------- . ----------- ... ---------------

| (n) (n + 1) (m + n - 1)

y

one factor appearing at each point of the lattice.

In general, partition problems present themselves which depend upon the

solution of a number of simultaneous relations in integers of the form

[lambda]_1.[alpha]_1 + [lambda]_2.[alpha]_2 +

[lambda]_3.[alpha]_3 + ... >= 0,

the coefficients [lambda] being given positive or negative integers, and

in some cases the generating function has been determined in a form

which exhibits the fundamental solutions of the problems from which all

other solutions are derivable by addition. (See MacMahon, _Phil. Trans._

vol. cxcii. (1899), pp. 351-401; and _Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc._ vol.

xviii. (1899), pp. 12-34.)

Method of symmetric functions.

The number of distributions of n objects (p1p2p3 ...) into parcels (m)

is the coefficient of b^m(p1p2p3 ...)x^n in the development of the

fraction

1

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1 - b[alpha]x. 1 - b[beta]x. 1 - b[gamma]x ... )

X (1 - b[alpha]^2x^2. 1 - b[alpha][beta]x^2. 1 - b[beta]^2x^2 ... )

X (1 - b[alpha]^3x^3. 1 - b[alpha]^2[beta]x^3. 1 - b[alpha][beta][gamma]x^3 ...)

. . . . . .

and if we write the expansion of that portion which involves products of

the letters [alpha], [beta], [gamma], ... of degree r in the form

1 + h_r1.bx^r + h_r2.b^2x^2r + ...,

we may write the development

r=[oo]

[Pi] (1 + h_r1.bx^r + h_r2.b^2x^2r + ...),

r=1

and picking out the coefficient of b^m x^n we find

[Sigma] h_[tau]1.h_[tau]2.h_[tau]3 ...,

t1 t2 t3

where [Sigma][tau] = m, [Sigma][tau]t = n.

The quantities h are symmetric functions of the quantities [alpha],

[beta], [gamma], ... which in simple cases can be calculated without

difficulty, and then the distribution function can be formed.

_Ex. Gr._--Required the enumeration of the partitions of all

multipartite numbers (p1p2p2 ...) into exactly two parts. We find

h2^2 = h4 - h3h1 + (h2)^2

h3^2 = h6 - h5h1 + h4h2

h4^2 = h8 - h7h1 + h6h2 + h5h3 + (h4)^2,

and paying attention to the fact that in the expression of h_r2 the term

(h_r)^2 is absent when r is uneven, the law is clear. The generating

function is

h2x^2 + h2h1x^3 + (h4 + h2^2)x^4 + (h4h1 + h3h2)x^5 + (h6 + 2h4h2)x^6

+ (h6h1 + h6h2 + h4h3)x^7 + (h8 + 2h6h2 + h4^2)x8 + ...

Taking h4 + h2^2 = h4 + {(2) + (1^2)}^2

= 2(4) + 3(31) + 4(2^2) + 5(21^2) + 7(1^4),

the term 5(21^2) indicates that objects such as a, a, b, c can be

partitioned in five ways into two parts. These are a|a, b, c; b|a; a, c;

c|a, a, b; a, a|b, c; a, b|a, c. The function h_{r^s} has been studied.

(See MacMahon, _Proc. Lond. Math. Soc._ vol. xix.) Putting x equal to

unity, the function may be written (h2 + h4 + h6 + ...)(1 + h1 + h2 + h3

+ h4 + ...), a convenient formula.

Method of differential operators.

The method of differential operators, of wide application to problems of

combinatorial analysis, has for its leading idea the designing of a

function and of a differential operator, so that when the operator is

performed upon the function a number is reached which enumerates the

solutions of the given problem. Generally speaking, the problems

considered are such as are connected with lattices, or as it is possible

to connect with lattices.

To take the simplest possible example, consider the problem of finding

the number of permutations of n different letters. The function is

here x^n, and the operator (d/dx)^n = [delta]_x^n, yielding

[delta]_x^n.x^n = n! the number which enumerates the permutations. In

fact--

[delta]_x.x^n = [delta]_x. x. x. x. x. x. ...,

and differentiating we obtain a sum of n terms by striking out an x

from the product in all possible ways. Fixing upon any one of these

terms, say x. [x]. x. x. ..., we again operate with [delta]_x by

striking out an x in all possible ways, and one of the terms so

reached is x. [x]. x. [x]. x. .... Fixing upon this term, and again

operating and continuing the process, we finally arrive at one

solution of the problem, which (taking say n = 4) may be said to be in

correspondence with the operator diagram--

([x] = striken-out x)

or say

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ +-------+-------+-------+-------+

| | [d]_x | | | | | 1 | | |

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ +-------+-------+-------+-------+

| | | | [d]_x | | | | | 1 |

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ +-------+-------+-------+-------+

| | | [d]_x | | | | | 1 | |

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ +-------+-------+-------+-------+

| [d]_x | | | | | 1 | | | |

+-------+-------+-------+-------+ +-------+-------+-------+-------+

([d] = [delta])

the number in each row of cempartments denoting an operation of

[delta]_x. Hence the permutation problem is equivalent to that of

placing n units in the compartments of a square lattice of order n in

such manner that each row and each column contains a single unit.

Observe that the method not only enumerates, but also gives a process

by which each solution is actually formed. The same problem is that of

placing n rooks upon a chess-board of n^2 compartments, so that no rook

can be captured by any other rook.

Regarding these elementary remarks as introductory, we proceed to give

some typical examples of the method. Take a lattice of m columns and n

rows, and consider the problem of placing units in the compartments in

such wise that the sth column shall contain [lambda]_s units (s = 1,

2, 3, ... m), and the tth row p1 units (t = l, 2, 3, ... n).

Writing

1 + a1x + a2x^2 + ... + ... = (1 + a1x)(1 + a2x)(1 + a3x) ...

1

and D_p = --([d]_[a]1 + [a]1[d]_[a]2 + [a]2[d]_[a]3 + ...)^p,

p!

([d] = [delta], [a] = [alpha])

the multiplication being symbolic, so that D_p is an operator of order

p, the function is

a_[lambda]1.a_[lambda]2.a_[lambda]3...a_[lambda]m,

and the operator D_p1.D_p2.D_p3...D_pn. The number

D_p1.D_p2...D_pn.a_[lambda]1.a_[lambda]2.a_[lambda]3...a_[lambda]m

enumerates the solutions. For the mode of operation of D_p upon a

product reference must be made to the section on "Differential

Operators" in the article ALGEBRAIC FORMS. Writing

a_[l]1.a_[l]2...a_[l]m =

... + [Delta][Sigma][a]1^p1.[a]2^p2...[a]n^pn + ...,

or, in partition notation,

(1^[l]1)(1^[l]2)...(1^[l]m) = ... + A(p1p2...pn) ... +

D_p1.D_p2...D_pn.(1^[l]1)(1^[l]2)...(1^[l]m) = A,

([l] = [lambda])

and the law by which the operation is performed upon the product shows

that the solutions of the given problem are enumerated by the number

A, and that the process of operation actually represents each

solution.

_Ex. Gr._--Take [lambda]1 = 3, [lambda]2 = 2, [lambda]4 = 1,

p1 = 2, p2 = 2, p3 = 1, p4 = 1,

D2^2D1^2.a3a2a1 = 8,

and the process yields the eight diagrams:--

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | | 1 | 1 |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | | | | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 1 | | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| | | 1 | | 1 | | | | 1 | | | | 1 | | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | 1 | | | 1 | 1 | | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 | | 1 |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| 1 | | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

| | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | |

+---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+ +---+---+---+

viz. every solution of the problem. Observe that transposition of the

diagrams furnishes a proof of the simplest of the laws of symmetry in

the theory of symmetric functions.

For the next example we have a similar problem, but no restriction is

placed upon the magnitude of the numbers which may appear in the

compartments. The function is now

h_[lambda]1.h_[lambda]2...h_[lambda]m, h_[lambda]m being the

homogeneous product sum of the quantities a, of order [lambda]. The

operator is as before

D_p1.D_p2...D_pn,

and the solutions are enumerated by

D_p1.D_p2...D_pn.h_[lambda]1.h_[lambda]2...h_[lambda]m.

Putting as before [lambda]1 = 2, [lambda]2 = 2, [lambda]1 = 1, p1 = 2,

P2 = 2, p3 = 1, p4 = 1, the reader will have no difficulty in

constructing the diagrams of the eighteen solutions.

The next and last example of a multitude that might be given shows the

extraordinary power of the method by solving the famous problem of the

"Latin Square," which for hundreds of years had proved beyond the

powers of mathematicians. The problem consists in placing n letters a,

b, c, ... n in the compartments of a square lattice of n^2

compartments, no compartment being empty, so that no letter occurs

twice either in the same row or in the same column. The function is

here

{[Sigma][a]1^(2^n-1).[a]2^(2^n-2)...([a]_n-1)^2.[a]n}^n,

and the operator D_n^{2^(n-1)}, the enumeration being given by

D_n^{2^(n-1)}.{[Sigma][a]1^(2^n-1).[a]2^(2^n-2)...([a]_n-1)^2.[a]n}^n,

([a] = [alpha])

See _Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc._ vol. xvi. pt. iv. pp. 262-290.

AUTHORITIES.--P. A. MacMahon, "Combinatory Analysis: A Review of the

Present State of Knowledge," _Proc. Lond. Math. Soc._ vol. xxviii.

(London, 1897). Here will be found a bibliography of the Theory of

Partitions. Whitworth, _Choice and Chance_; Edouard Lucas, _Theorie

des nombres_ (Paris, 1891); Arthur Cayley, _Collected Mathematical

Papers_ (Cambridge, 1898), ii. 419; iii. 36, 37; iv. 166-170; v.

62-65, 617; vii. 575; ix. 480-483; x. 16, 38, 611; xi. 61, 62,

357-364, 589-591; xii. 217-219, 273-274; xiii. 47, 93-113, 269;

Sylvester, _Amer. Jour, of Math._ v. 119 251; MacMahon, _Proc. Lond.

Math. Soc._ xix. 228 et seq.; _Phil. Trans._ clxxxiv. 835-901; clxxxv.

111-160; clxxxvii. 619-673; cxcii. 351-401; _Trans. Camb. Phil. Soc._

xvi. 262-290. (P. A. M.)

COMBUSTION (from the Lat. _comburere_, to burn up), in chemistry, the

process of burning or, more scientifically, the oxidation of a

substance, generally with the production of flame and the evolution of

heat. The term is more customarily given to productions of flame such as

we have in the burning of oils, gas, fuel, &c., but it is conveniently

extended to other cases of oxidation, such as are met with when metals

are heated for a long time in air or oxygen. The term "spontaneous

combustion" is used when a substance smoulders or inflames apparently

without the intervention of any external heat or light; in such cases,

as, for example, in heaps of cotton-waste soaked in oil, the oxidation

has proceeded slowly, but steadily, for some time, until the heat

evolved has raised the mass to the temperature of ignition.

The explanation of the phenomena of combustion was attempted at very

early times, and the early theories were generally bound up in the

explanation of the nature of fire or flame. The idea that some

extraneous substance is essential to the process is of ancient date;

Clement of Alexandria (c. 3rd century A.D.) held that some "air" was

necessary, and the same view was accepted during the middle ages, when

it had been also found that the products of combustion weighed more than

the original combustible, a fact which pointed to the conclusion that

some substance had combined with the combustible during the process.

This theory was supported by the French physician Jean Ray, who showed

also that in the cases of tin and lead there was a limit to the increase

in weight. Robert Boyle, who made many researches on the origin and

nature of fire, regarded the increase as due to the fixation of the

particles of fire. Ideas identical with the modern ones were expressed

by John Mayow in his _Tractatus quinque medico-physici_ (1674), but his

death in 1679 undoubtedly accounts for the neglect of his suggestions by

his contemporaries. Mayow perceived the similarity of the processes of

respiration and combustion, and showed that one constituent of the

atmosphere, which he termed _spiritus nitro-aereus_, was essential to

combustion and life, and that the second constituent, which he termed

_spiritus nitri acidi_, inhibited combustion and life. At the beginning

of the 18th century a new theory of combustion was promulgated by Georg

Ernst Stahl. This theory regarded combustibility as due to a principle

named phlogiston (from the Gr. [Greek: phlogistos], burnt), which was

present in all combustible bodies in an amount proportional to their

degree of combustibility; for instance, coal was regarded as practically

pure phlogiston. On this theory, all substances which could be burnt

were composed of phlogiston and some other substance, and the operation

of burning was simply equivalent to the liberation of the phlogiston.

The Stahlian theory, originally a theory of combustion, came to be a

general theory of chemical reactions, since it provided simple

explanations of the ordinary chemical processes (when regarded

qualitatively) and permitted generalizations which largely stimulated

its acceptance. Its inherent defect--that the products of combustion

were invariably heavier than the original substance instead of less as

the theory demanded--was ignored, and until late in the 18th century it

dominated chemical thought. Its overthrow was effected by Lavoisier, who

showed that combustion was simply an oxidation, the oxygen of the

atmosphere (which was isolated at about this time by K. W. Scheele and

J. Priestley) combining with the substance burnt.

COMEDY, the general term applied to a type of drama the chief object of

which, according to modern notions, is to amuse. It is contrasted on the

one hand with tragedy and on the other with farce, burlesque, &c. As

compared with tragedy it is distinguished by having a happy ending (this

being considered for a long time the essential difference), by quaint

situations, and by lightness of dialogue and character-drawing. As

compared with farce it abstains from crude and boisterous jesting, and

is marked by some subtlety of dialogue and plot. It is, however,

difficult to draw a hard and fast line of demarcation, there being a

distinct tendency to combine the characteristics of farce with those of

true comedy. This is perhaps more especially the case in the so-called

"musical comedy," which became popular in Great Britain and America in

the later 19th century, where true comedy is frequently subservient to

broad farce and spectacular effects.

The word "comedy" is derived from the Gr. [Greek: komoidia], which is a

compound either of [Greek: komos] (revel) and [Greek: aoidos] (singer;

[Greek: aeidein], [Greek: aidein], to sing), or of [Greek: kome]

(village) and [Greek: aoidos]: it is possible that [Greek: komos] itself

is derived from [Greek: kome], and originally meant a village revel. The

word comes into modern usage through the Lat. _comoedia_ and Ital.

_commedia_. It has passed through various shades of meaning. In the

middle ages it meant simply a story with a happy ending. Thus some of

Chaucer's Tales are called comedies, and in this sense Dante used the

term in the title of his poem, _La Commedia_ (cf. his _Epistola_ X., in

which he speaks of the comic style as "loquutio vulgaris, in qua et

mulierculae communicant"; again "comoedia vero remisse et humiliter";

"differt a tragoedia per hoc, quod t. in principio est admirabilis et

quieta, in fine sive exitu est foetida et horribilis"). Subsequently the

term is applied to mystery plays with a happy ending. The modern usage

combines this sense with that in which Renaissance scholars applied it

to the ancient comedies.

The adjective "comic" (Gr. [Greek: komikos]), which strictly means that

which relates to comedy, is in modern usage generally confined to the

sense of "laughter-provoking": it is distinguished from "humorous" or

"witty" inasmuch as it is applied to an incident or remark which

provokes spontaneous laughter without a special mental effort. The

phenomena connected with laughter and that which provokes it, the comic,

have been carefully investigated by psychologists, in contrast with

other phenomena connected with the emotions. It is very generally agreed

that the predominating characteristics are incongruity or contrast in

the object, and shock or emotional seizure on the part of the subject.

It has also been held that the feeling of superiority is an essential,

if not the essential, factor: thus Hobbes speaks of laughter as a

"sudden glory." Physiological explanations have been given by Kant,

Spencer and Darwin. Modern investigators have paid much attention to the

origin both of laughter and of smiling, babies being watched from

infancy and the date of their first smile being carefully recorded. For

an admirable analysis and account of the theories see James Sully, _On

Laughter_ (1902), who deals generally with the development of the "play

instinct" and its emotional expression.

See DRAMA; also HUMOUR; CARICATURE; PLAY, &c.

COMENIUS (or KOMENSKY), JOHANN AMOS (1592-1671), a famous writer on

education, and the last bishop of the old church of the Moravian and

Bohemian Brethren, was born at Comna, or, according to another account,

at Niwnitz, in Moravia, of poor parents belonging to the sect of the

Moravian Brethren. Having studied at Herborn and Heidelberg, and

travelled in Holland and England, he became rector of a school at

Prerau, and after that pastor and rector of a school at Fulnek. In 1621

the Spanish invasion and persecution of the Protestants robbed him of

all he possessed, and drove him into Poland. Soon after he was made

bishop of the church of the Brethren. He supported himself by teaching

Latin at Lissa, and it was here that he published his _Pansophiae

prodromus_ (1630), a work on education, and his _Janua linguarum

reserata_ (1631), the latter of which gained for him a widespread

reputation, being produced in twelve European languages, and also in

Arabic, Persian and Turkish. He subsequently published several other

works of a similar kind, as the _Eruditionis scholasticae janua_ and the

_Janua linguarum trilinguis_. His method of teaching languages, which he

seems to have been the first to adopt, consisted in giving, in parallel

columns, sentences conveying useful information, in the vernacular and

the languages intended to be taught (i.e. in Comenius's works, Latin and

sometimes Greek). In some of his books, as the _Orbis sensualium pictus_

(1658), pictures are added; this work is, indeed, the first children's

picture-book. In 1638 Comenius was requested by the government of Sweden

to draw up a scheme for the management of the schools of that country;

and a few years after he was invited to join the commission that the

English parliament then intended to appoint, in order to reform the

system of education. He visited England in 1641, but the disturbed state

of politics prevented the appointment of the commission, and Comenius

passed over to Sweden in August 1642. The great Swedish minister,

Oxenstjerna, obtained for him a pension, and a commission to furnish a

plan for regulating the Swedish schools according to his own method.

Devoting himself to the elaboration of his scheme, Comenius settled

first at Elbing, and then at Lissa; but, at the burning of the latter

city by the Poles, he lost nearly all his manuscripts, and he finally

removed to Amsterdam, where he died in 1671.

As an educationist, Comenius holds a prominent place in history. He was

disgusted at the pedantic teaching of his own day, and he insisted that

the teaching of words and things must go together. Languages should be

taught, like the mother tongue, by conversation on ordinary topics;

pictures, object lessons, should be used; teaching should go hand in

hand with a happy life. In his course he included singing, economy,

politics, world-history, geography, and the arts and handicrafts. He was

one of the first to advocate teaching science in schools.

As a theologian, Comenius was greatly influenced by Boehme. In his

_Synopsis physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae_ he gives a physical

theory of his own, said to be taken from the book of Genesis. He was

also famous for his prophecies and the support he gave to visionaries.

In his _Lux in tenebris_ he published the visions of Kotterus, Dabricius

and Christina Poniatovia. Attempting to interpret the book of

Revelation, he promised the millennium in 1672, and guaranteed

miraculous assistance to those who would undertake the destruction of

the Pope and the house of Austria, even venturing to prophesy that

Cromwell, Gustavus Adolphus, and Rakoczy, prince of Transylvania, would

perform the task. He also wrote to Louis XIV., informing him that the

empire of the world should be his reward if he would overthrow the

enemies of God.

Comenius also wrote against the Socinians, and published three

historical works--_Ratio disciplinae ordinisque in unitate fratrum

Bohemorum_, which was republished with remarks by Buddaeus, _Historia

persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae_ (1648), and _Martyrologium

Bohemicum_. See Raumer's _Geschichte der Padogogik_, and Carpzov's

_Religionsuntersuchung der bohmischen und mahrischen Bruder_.

COMET (Gr. [Greek: kometes], long-haired), in astronomy, one of a class

of seemingly nebulous bodies, moving under the influence of the sun's

attraction in very eccentric orbits. A comet is visible only in a small

arc of its orbit near perihelion, differing but slightly from the arc

of a parabola. An obvious but not sharp classification of comets is into

bright comets visible to the naked eye, and telescopic comets which can

be seen only with a telescope. The telescopic class is much the more

numerous of the two, only from 20 to 30 bright comets usually appearing

in any one century, while several telescopic comets, frequently 6 or 8,

are generally observed in the course of a year.

A bright comet consists of (1) a star-like nucleus; (2) a nebulous haze,

called the _coma_, surrounding this nucleus, the latter fading into the

haze by insensible gradations; (3) a tail or luminous stream flowing

from the coma in a direction opposite to that of the sun. The nuclei and

comae of different comets exhibit few peculiarities to the unaided

vision except in respect to brightness; but the tails of comets differ

widely, both in brightness and in extent. They range from a barely

visible brush or feather of light to a phenomenon extending over a

considerable arc of the heavens, which, comparatively bright near the

head of the comet, becomes gradually fainter and more diffuse towards

its end, fading out by gradations so insensible that a precise length

cannot be assigned to it. When a telescopic comet is first discovered

the nucleus is frequently invisible, the object presenting the

appearance of a faint nebulous haze, scarcely distinguishable in aspect

from a nebula. When the nucleus appears it may at first be only a

comparatively faint condensation, and may or may not develop into a

point of light as the comet approaches the sun. A tail also is generally

not seen at great distances from the sun, but gradually develops as the

comet approaches perihelion, to fade away again as the comet recedes

from the sun.

A few comets are known to revolve in orbits with a regular period,

while, in the case of others, no evidence is afforded by observation

that the orbit deviates from a parabola. Were the orbit a parabola or

hyperbola the comet would never return (see ORBIT). Periodicity may be

recognized in two ways: observations during the apparition may show that

the motion is in an elliptic and not in a parabolic orbit; or a comet

may have been observed at more than one return. In the latter case the

comet is recognized as distinctly periodic, and therefore a member of

the solar system. The shortest periods range between 3 and 10 years. The

majority of comets which have been observed are shown by observation to

be periodic; the period is usually very long, being sometimes measured

by centuries, but generally by thousands of years. It is conceivable

that a comet might revolve in a hyperbolic orbit. Although there are

several of these bodies observations on which indicate such an orbit,

the deviation from the parabolic form has not in any case been so well

marked as to be fully established. Circumstances lead to the

classification of newly appearing comets as _expected_ and _unexpected_.

An expected comet is a periodic one of which the return is looked for at

a determinate time and in a certain region of the heavens. When this is

not the case the comet is an unexpected one.

_Physical Constitution of Comets._--The subject of the physical

constitution of these bodies is one as to the details of which much

uncertainty still exists. The considerations on which conclusions in

this field rest are very various, and can best be set forth by beginning

with what we may consider to be the best established facts.

We must regard it as well established that comets are not, like planets

and satellites, permanent in mass, but are continuously losing minute

portions of the matter which belongs to them, through a progressive

dissipation--at least when they are in the neighbourhood of the sun.

When near perihelion the matter of a comet is seen to be undergoing a

process in the nature of evaporation, successive envelopes of vapour

rising from the nucleus to form the coma, and then gradually repelled

from the sun to form the tail. If this process went on indefinitely

every comet would, in the course of ages, be entirely dissipated. This

result has actually happened in the case of some known comets, the best

established example of which is that of Biela, in which the process of

disintegration was clearly followed. As the amount of matter lost by a

comet at any one return cannot be estimated, and may be very small, it

is impossible to set any limit to the period during which its life may

continue. It is still an unsettled question whether, in every case, the

evaporation will ultimately cease, leaving a residuum as permanent as

any other mass of matter.

The next question in logical order is one of great difficulty. It is

whether the nucleus of a comet is an opaque solid body, a cluster of

such bodies, or a mass of particles of extreme tenuity. Some light is

thrown on this and other questions by the spectroscope. This instrument

shows in the spectrum of nearly every comet three bright bands,

recognized as those of hydrocarbons. The obvious conclusion is that the

light forming these bands is not reflected sunlight, but light radiated

by the gaseous hydrocarbons. Since a gas at so great a distance from the

sun cannot be heated to incandescence, the question arises how

incandescence is excited. The generalizations of recent years growing

out of the phenomena of radioactivity make it highly probable that the

source is to be found in some form of electrical excitation, produced by

electrons or other corpuscles thrown out by the sun. The resemblance of

the cometary spectrum to the spectrum of hydrocarbons in the Geissler

tube lends great plausibility to this view. It is remarkable that the

great comet of 1882 also showed the bright lines of sodium with such

intensity that they were observed in daylight by R. Copeland and W. O.

Lohse. In addition to these gaseous spectra, all but the fainter comets

show a continuous spectrum, crossed by the Fraunhofer lines, which is

doubtless due to reflected sunlight. It happens that, since the

spectroscope has been perfected, no comet of great brilliancy has been

favourably situated for observation. Until the opportunity is offered,

the conclusions to be derived from spectroscopic observation cannot be

further extended.

PLATE I.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--COMET 1892, I. (SWIFT), 1892, APRIL 26.

By permission of Lick Observatory (E. E. Barnard)]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--COMET C, 1908, NOV. 16d. 13h. 10m.

By permission of Yerkes Observatory (E. E. Barnard).]

PLATE II.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--HALLEY'S COMET, 1910, APRIL 27.

By permission of Helwan Observatory, Egypt.]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--HALLEY'S COMET, 1910, MAY 4.

By permission of Yerkes Observatory (E. E. Barnard).]

In the telescope the nucleus of a bright comet appears as an opaque

mass, one or more seconds in diameter, the absolute dimensions comparing

with those of the satellites of the planets, sometimes, indeed, equal to

our moon. But the actual results of micrometric measures are found to

differ very widely. In the case of Donati's comet of 1858 the nucleus

seemed to grow smaller as perihelion was approached. This is evidently

due to the fact that the coma immediately around the nucleus was so

bright as apparently to form a part of it at considerable distances from

the sun. G. P. Bond estimated the diameter of the actual nucleus at 500

m. That the nucleus is a body of appreciable mass seems to be made

probable by the fact that, except for the central attraction of such a

body, a comet would speedily be dissipated by the different attractions

of the sun on different parts of the mass, which would result in each

particle pursuing an orbit of its own. It follows that there must be a

mass sufficient to hold the parts of the comet, if not absolutely

together, at least in each other's immediate neighbourhood. How great a

central mass may be required for this is a subject not yet investigated.

It might be supposed that the amount of matter must be sufficient to

make the nucleus quite opaque. But two considerations based on

observations militate against this view. One is that an opaque body,

reflecting much sunlight, would show a brighter continuous spectrum than

has yet been found in any comet. Another and yet more remarkable

observation is on record which goes far to prove not only the tenuity,

but the transparency of a cometary nucleus. The great comet of 1882 made

a transit over the sun on the 17th of September, an occurrence unique in

the history of astronomy. But the fact of the transit escaped attention

except at the observatory of the Cape of Good Hope. Here the comet was

watched by W. H. Finlay and by W. L. Elkin as it approached the sun, and

was kept in sight until it came almost or quite in contact with the

sun's disk, when it disappeared. It should, if opaque, have appeared a

few minutes later, projected on the sun's disk; but not a trace of it

could be seen. The sun was approaching Table Mountain at the critical

moment, and its limb was undulating badly, making the detection of a

minute point difficult. The possibility of a very small opaque nucleus

is therefore still left open; yet the remarkable conclusion still holds,

that, immediately around a possible central nucleus, the matter of the

head of the comet was so rare as not to intercept any appreciable

fraction of the sun's light. This result seems also to show that, with

the possible exception of a very small central mass, what seems to

telescopic vision as a nucleus is really only the central portion of the

coma, which, as the distance from the centre increases, becomes less and

less dense by imperceptible gradations.

Another fact tending towards this same conclusion is that after this

comet passed perihelion it showed several nuclei following each other.

Evidently the powerful attraction of the sun had separated the parts of

the apparent nucleus, which were following each other in nearly the same

orbit. As they could not have been completely brought together again, we

may suppose that in such cases the smaller nuclei were permanently

separated from the main body. In addition to this, the remarkable

similarity of the orbit of this comet to that of several others

indicates a group of bodies moving in nearly the same orbit. The other

members of the group were the great comets of 1843, 1880 and 1887. The

latter, though so bright as to be conspicuous to the naked eye, showed

no nucleus whatever. The closely related orbits of the four bodies are

also remarkable for approaching nearer the sun at perihelion than does

the orbit of any other known body. All of these comets pass through the

matter of the sun's corona with a velocity of more than 100 m. per

second without suffering any retardation. As it is beyond all reasonable

probability that several independent bodies should have moved in orbits

so nearly the same, the conclusion is that the comets were originally

portions of one mass, which gradually separated in the course of ages by

the powerful attraction of the sun as the collection successively passed

the perihelion. It may be remarked that observations on the comet of

1843 seemed to show a slight ellipticity of the orbit, corresponding to

a period of several centuries; but the deviation of all the orbits from

a parabola is too slight to be established by observations. The periods

of the comets are therefore unknown except that they must be counted by

centuries and possibly by thousands of years.

Another fact which increases the complexity of the question is the

well-established connexion of comets with meteoric showers. The shower

of November 13-15, now known as the Leonids, which recurred for several

centuries at intervals of about one-third of a century, are undoubtedly

due to a stream of particles left behind by a comet observed in 1866.

The same is true of Biela's comet, the disintegrated particles of which

give rise to the Andromedids, and probably true also of the Perseids, or

August meteors, the orbits of which have a great similarity to a comet

seen in 1862. The general and well-established conclusion seems to be

that, in addition to the visible features of a comet, every such body is

followed in its orbit by a swarm of meteoric particles which must have

been gradually detached and separated from it. (See METEOR.)

The source of the repulsive force by which the matter forming the tail

of a comet is driven away from the sun is another question that has not

yet been decisively answered. Two causes have been suggested, of which

one has only recently been brought to light. This is the repulsion of

the sun's rays, a form of action the probability of which was shown by

J. Clerk Maxwell in 1870, and which was experimentally established about

thirty years later. The intensity of this action on a particle is

proportional to the surface presented by the particle to the rays, and

therefore to the square of its diameter, while its mass, and therefore

its gravitation to the sun, are proportional to the cube of the

diameter. It follows that if the size and mass of a particle in space

are below a certain limit, the repulsion of the rays will exceed the

attraction of the sun, and the particle will be driven off into space.

But, in order that this repulsive force may act, the particles, however

minute they may be, must be opaque. Moreover, theory shows that there is

a lower as well as an upper limit to their magnitude, and that it is

only between certain definable limits of magnitude that the force acts.

Conceiving the particle to be of the density of water, and considering

its diameter as a diminishing variable, theory shows that the repulsion

will balance gravity when the diameter has reached 0.0015 of a

millimetre. As the diameter is reduced below this limit the ratio of

the repulsive to the attractive force increases, but soon reaches a

maximum, after which it diminishes down to a diameter of 0.00007 mm.,

when the two actions are again balanced. Below this limit the light

speedily ceases to act. It follows that a purely gaseous body, such as

would emit a characteristic bright line spectrum, would not be subject

to the repulsion. We must therefore conclude that both the solid and

gaseous forms of matter are here at play, and this view is consonant

with the fact that the comet leaves behind it particles of meteoric

matter.

Another possible cause is electrical repulsion. The probability of this

cause is suggested by recent discoveries in radioactivity and by the

fact that the sun undoubtedly sends forth electrical emanations which

may ionize the gaseous molecules rising from the nucleus, and lead to

their repulsion from the sun, thus resulting in the phenomena of the

tail. But well-established laws are not yet sufficiently developed to

lead to definite conclusions on this point, and the question whether

both causes are combined, and, if not, to which one the phenomena in

question are mainly due, must be left to the future.

A curious circumstance, which may be explained by a duplex character of

the matter forming a cometary tail, is the great difference between the

visual and photographic aspect of these bodies. The soft, delicate,

feathery-like form which the comet with its tail presents to the eye is

wanting in a photograph, which shows principally a round head with an

irregularly formed tail much like the knotted stalk of a plant. It

follows that the light emitted by the central axis of the tail greatly

exceeds in actinic power the diffuse light around it. A careful

comparison of the form and intensity of the photographic and visual

tails may throw much light on the question of the constitution of these

bodies, but no good opportunity of making the comparison has been

afforded since the art of celestial photography has been brought to its

present state of perfection.

The main conclusion to which the preceding facts and considerations

point is that the matter of a comet is partly solid and partly gaseous.

The gaseous form is shown conclusively by the spectroscope, but in view

of the extreme delicacy of the indications with this instrument no

quantitative estimate of the gas can be made. As there is no central

mass sufficient to hold together a continuous atmosphere of elastic gas

of any sort, it seems probable that the gaseous molecules are only those

rising from the coma, possibly by ordinary evaporation, but more

probably by the action of the ultra-violet and other rays of the sun

giving rise to an ionization of disconnected gaseous molecules. The

matter cannot be wholly gaseous because in this case there could be no

central force sufficient to keep the parts of the comet together.

The facts also point to the conclusion that the solid matter of a comet

is formed of a swarm or cloud of small disconnected masses, probably

having much resemblance to the meteoric masses which are known to be

flying through the solar system and possibly of the same general kind as

these. The question whether there is any central solid of considerable

mass is still undecided; it can only be said that if so, it is probably

small relative to cosmic masses in general--more likely less than

greater than 100 m. in diameter. The light of the comet therefore

proceeds from two sources: one the incandescence of gases, the other the

sunlight reflected from the solid parts. No estimate can be formed of

the ratio between these two kinds of light until a bright comet shall be

spectroscopically observed during an entire apparition.

_Origin and Orbits of Comets._--The great difference which we have

pointed out between comets and the permanent bodies of the solar system

naturally suggested the idea that these bodies do not belong to that

system at all, but are nebulous masses, scattered through the stellar

spaces, and brought one by one into the sphere of the sun's attraction.

The results of this view are easily shown to be incompatible with the

observed facts. The sun, carrying the whole solar system with it, is

moving through space with a speed of about 10 m. per second. If it

approached a comet nearly at rest the result would be a relative motion

of this amount which, as the comet came nearer, would be constantly

increased, and would result in the comet describing relative to the sun

a markedly hyperbolic orbit, deviating too widely from a parabola to

leave any doubt, even in the most extreme cases. Moreover, a large

majority of comets would then have their aphelia in the direction of the

sun's motion, and therefore their perihelia in the opposite direction.

Neither of these results corresponds to the fact. The conclusion is that

if we regard a comet as a body not belonging to the solar system, it is

at least a body which before its approach to the sun had the same motion

through the stellar spaces that the sun has. As this unity of motion

must have been maintained from the beginning, we may regard comets as

belonging to the solar system in the sense of not being visitors from

distant regions of space.

The acceptance of this seemingly inevitable conclusion leads to another:

that no comet yet known moves in a really hyperbolic orbit, but that the

limit of eccentricity must be regarded as 1, or that of the parabola. It

is true that seeming evidence of hyperbolic eccentricity is sometimes

afforded by observations and regarded by some astronomers as sufficient.

The objections to the reality of the hyperbolic orbit are two: (1) A

comet moving in a decidedly hyperbolic orbit must have come from so

great a distance within a finite time, say a few millions of years, as

to have no relation to the sun, and must after its approach to the sun

return into space, never again to visit our system. In this case the

motion of the sun through space renders it almost infinitely improbable

that the orbit would have been so nearly a parabola as all such orbits

are actually found to be. (2) The apparent deviation from a very

elongated ellipse has never been in any case greater than might have

been the result of errors of observation on bodies of this class.

This being granted, a luminous view of the causes which lead to the

observed orbits of comets is readily gained by imagining these bodies to

be formed of nebulous masses, which originally accompanied the sun in

its journey through space, but at distances, in most cases, vastly

greater than that of the farthest planet. Such a mass, when drawn

towards the sun, would move round it in a nearly parabolic orbit,

similar to the actual orbits of the great majority of comets. The period

might be measured by thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of

thousands of years, according to the distances of the comet in the

beginning; but instead of bodies extraneous to the system, we should

have bodies properly belonging to the system and making revolutions

around the sun.

Were it not for the effect of planetary attraction long periods like

these would be the general rule, though not necessarily universal. But

at every return to perihelion the motion of a comet will be to some

extent either accelerated or retarded by the action of Jupiter or any

other planet in the neighbourhood of which it may pass. Commonly the

action will be so slight as to have little influence on the orbit and

the time of revolution. But should the comet chance to pass the orbit of

Jupiter just in front of the planet, its motion would be retarded and

the orbit would be changed into one of shorter period. Should it pass

behind the planet, its motion would be accelerated and its period

lengthened. In such cases the orbit might be changed to a hyperbola, and

then the comet would never return. It follows that there is a tendency

towards a gradual but constant diminution in the total number of comets.

If we call [Delta]e the amount by which the eccentricity of a cometary

orbit is less than unity, [Delta]e will be an extremely minute fraction

in the case of the original orbits. If we call [+-][delta] the change which

the eccentricity 1 - [Delta]e undergoes by the action of the planets

during the passage of the comet through our system, it will leave the

system with the eccentricity 1 - [Delta]e [+-] [delta]. The possibilities

are even whether [delta] shall be positive or negative. If negative, the

eccentricity will be diminished and the period shortened. If positive,

and greater than [Delta]e, the eccentricity 1 - [Delta]e + [delta] will

be greater than 1, and then the comet will be thrown into a hyperbolic

orbit and become for ever a wanderer through the stellar spaces.

The nearer a comet passes to a planet, especially to Jupiter, the

greatest planet, the greater [delta] may be. If [delta] is a

considerable negative fraction, the eccentricity will be so reduced that

the comet will after the approach be one of short period. It follows

that, however long the period of a comet may be, there is a possibility

of its becoming one of short period if it approaches Jupiter. There have

been several cases of this during the past two centuries, the most

recent being that of Brooks's comet, 1889, V. Soon after its discovery

this body was found to have a period of only about seven years. The

question why it had not been observed at previous returns was settled

after the orbit had been determined by computing its motion in the past.

It was thus found that in October 1886 the comet had passed in the

immediate neighbourhood of Jupiter, the action of which had been such as

to change its orbit from one of long period to the short observed

period. A similar case was that of Lexel's comet, seen in 1770.

Originally moving in an unknown orbit, it encountered the planet

Jupiter, made two revolutions round the sun, in the second of which it

was observed, then again encountered the planet, to be thrown out of its

orbit into one which did not admit of determination. The comet was never

again found.

A general conclusion which seems to follow from these conditions, and is

justified by observations, so far as the latter go, is that comets are

not to be regarded as permanent bodies like the planets, but that the

conglomerations of matter which compose them are undergoing a process of

gradual dissipation in space. This process is especially rapid in the

case of the fainter periodic comets. It was first strikingly brought out

in the case of Biela's comet. This object was discovered in 1772, was

observed to be periodic after several revolutions had been made, and was

observed with a fair degree of regularity at different returns until

1852. At the previous apparition it was found to have separated into two

masses, and in 1852 these masses were so widely separated that they

might be considered as forming two comets. Notwithstanding careful

search at times and places when the comet was due, no trace of it has

since been seen. An examination of the table of periodic comets given at

the end of this article will show that the same thing is probably true

of several other comets, especially Brorsen's and Tempel's, which have

each made several revolutions since last observed, and have been sought

for in vain.

In view of the seemingly inevitable dissipation of comets in the course

of ages, and of the actually observed changes of their orbits by the

attraction of Jupiter, the question arises whether the orbits of all

comets of short period may not have been determined by the attraction of

the planets, especially of Jupiter. In this case the orbit would, for a

period of several centuries, have continued to nearly intersect that of

the planet. We find, as a matter of fact, that several periodic comets

either pass near Jupiter or have their aphelia in the neighbourhood of

the orbit of Jupiter. The approach, however, is not sufficiently close

to have led to the change unless in former times the proximity of the

orbits was much greater than it is now. As the orbits of all the bodies

of the solar system are subject to a slow secular change of their form

and position, this may only show that it must have been thousands of

years since the comet became one of short period. The two cases of most

difficulty are those of Halley's and Encke's comets. The orbit of the

former is so elongated and so inclined to the general plane of the

planetary orbits that its secular variation must be very slow indeed.

But it does not pass near the orbit of any planet except Venus; and even

here the proximity is far from being sufficient to have produced an

appreciable change in the period. The orbit of Encke's comet is entirely

within the orbit of Jupiter, and it also cannot have passed near enough

to a planet for thousands of years to have had its orbit changed by the

action in question. It therefore seems difficult to regard these two

comets as other than permanent members of the solar system.

_Special Periodic Comets._--One of the most remarkable periodic comets

with which we are acquainted is that known to astronomers as Halley's.

Having perceived that the elements of the comet of 1682 were nearly the

same as those of two comets which had respectively appeared in 1531 and

1607, Edmund Halley concluded that all the three orbits belonged to the

same comet, of which the periodic time was about 76 years. After a rough

estimate of the perturbations it must sustain from the attraction of the

planets, he predicted its return for 1757,--a bold prediction at that

time, but justified by the event, for the comet again made its

appearance as was expected, though it did not pass through its

perihelion till the month of March 1759, the attraction of Jupiter and

Saturn having caused, as was computed by Clairault previously to its

return, a retardation of 618 days. This comet had been observed in 1066,

and the accounts which have been preserved represent it as having then

appeared to be four times the size of Venus, and to have shone with a

light equal to a fourth of that of the moon. History is silent

respecting it from that time till the year 1456, when it passed very

near to the earth: its tail then extended over 60 deg. of the heavens,

and had the form of a sabre. It returned to its perihelion in 1835, and

was well observed in almost every observatory. But its brightness was

far from comparing with the glorious accounts of its former apparitions.

That this should have been due to the process of dissipation does not

seem possible in so short a period; we must therefore consider either

that the earlier accounts are greatly exaggerated, or that the

brightness of the comet is subject to changes from some unknown cause.

Previous appearances of Halley's comet have been calculated by J. R.

Hind, and more recently by P. H. Cowell and A. C. D. Crommelin of

Greenwich, the latter having carried the comet back to 87 B.C. with

certainty, and to 240 B.C. with fair probability. It was detected by Max

Wolf at Heidelberg on plates exposed on Sept. 11, 1909, and subsequently

on a Greenwich plate of Sept. 9.

The known comet of shortest period bears the name of J. F. Encke, the

astronomer who first investigated its orbit and showed its periodicity.

It was originally discovered in 1789, but its periodicity was not

recognized until 1818, after it had been observed at several returns.

This comet has given rise to a longer series of investigations than any

other, owing to Encke's result that the orbit was becoming smaller, and

the revolutions therefore accelerated, by some unknown cause, of which

the most plausible was a resisting medium surrounding the sun. As this

comet is almost the only one that passes within the orbit of Mercury, it

is quite possible that it alone would show the effect of such a medium.

Recent investigations of this subject have been made at the Pulkova

Observatory, first by F. E. von Asten and later by J. O. Backlund who,

in 1909, was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society

for his researches in this field. During some revolutions there was

evidence of a slight acceleration of the return, and during others there

was not.

The following is a list (compiled in 1909) of comets which are well

established as periodic, through having been observed at one or more

returns. In addition to what has already been said of several comets in

this list the following remarks may be made. Tuttle's comet was first

seen by P. F. A. Mechain in 1790, but was not recognized as periodic

until found by Tuttle in 1858, when the resemblance of the two orbits

led to the conclusion of the identity of the bodies, the period of which

was soon made evident by continued observations. The comets of Pons and

Olbers are remarkable for having an almost equal period. But their

orbits are otherwise totally different, so that there does not seem to

be any connexion between them. Brorsen's comet seems also to be

completely dissipated, not having been seen since 1879.

_List of Periodic Comets observed at more than one Return._

+------------+-----------------+-----------------+-------+-----------+-----------+

|Designation.| 1st Perih. | Last Perih. | Period|Least Dist.| Gr. Dist. |

| | Passage. | Passage obs. | Years.|Ast. Units.|Ast. Units.|

+------------+-----------------+-----------------+-------+-----------+-----------+

|Halley | 1456 June 8.2 | 1835 Nov. 15.9 | 75.9 | 0.58 | 35.42 |

|Biela | 1772 Feb. 16.7 | 1852 Sept. 23.4 | 6.67 | 0.98 | 6.18 |

|Encke | 1786 Jan. 30.9 | 1905 Jan. 11.4 | 3.29 | 0.34 | 4.08 |

|Tuttle | 1790 Jan. 30.9 | 1899 May 4.5 | 13.78 | 1.03 | 10.53 |

|Poris | 1812 Sept. 15.3 | 1884 Jan. 25.7 | 72.28 | 0.78 | 33.70 |

|Olbers | 1815 April 26.0 | 1887 Oct. 8.5 | 73.32 | 1.21 | 33.99 |

|Winnecke | 1819 July 18.9 | 1898 Mar. 20.4 | 5.67 | 0.77 | 5.55 |

|Faye | 1843 Oct. 17.1 | 1896 Mar. 19.3 | 7.50 | 1.69 | 5.93 |

|De Vico | 1844 Sept. 2.5 | 1894 Oct. 12.2 | 5.66 | 1.19 | 5.01 |

|Brorsen | 1846 Feb. 11.1 | 1879 Mar. 30.5 | 5.52 | 0.65 | 5.63 |

|D'Arrest | 1851 July 8.7 | 1897 May 21.7 | 6.56 | 1.17 | 5.71 |

|Tempel I. | 1867 May 23.9 | 1879 May 7.0 | 5.84 | 1.56 | 4.82 |

|Tempel-Swift| 1869 Nov. 18.8 | 1891 Nov. 15.0 | 5.51 | 1.06 | 5.16 |

|Tempel II. | 1873 June 25.2 | 1904 Nov. 10.5 | 5.28 | 1.34 | 4.66 |

|Wolf | 1884 Nov. 17.8 | 1898 July 4.6 | 6.80 | 1.59 | 5.57 |

|Finlay | 1886 Nov. 22.4 | 1893 July 12.2 | 6.64 | 0.99 | 6.17 |

|Brooks | 1889 Sept. 30.3 | 1903 Dec. 6.5 | 7.10 | 1.95 | 5.44 |

|Holmes | 1892 June 13.2 | 1899 April 28.1 | 6.89 | 2.14 | 4.50 |

+------------+-----------------+-----------------+-------+-----------+-----------+

There are also a number of cases in which a comet has been observed

through one apparition, and found to be apparently periodic, but which

was not seen to return at the end of its supposed period. In some of

these cases it seems likely that the comet passed near the planet

Jupiter and thus had its orbit entirely changed. It is possible that in

other cases the apparent periodicity is due to the unavoidable errors of

observation to which, owing to their diffused outline, the nuclei of

comets are liable. (S. N.)

COMET-SEEKER, a small telescope (q.v.) adapted especially to searching

for comets: commonly of short focal length and large aperture, in order

to secure the greatest brilliancy of light.

COMILLA, or KUMILLA, a town of British India, headquarters of Tippera

district in Eastern Bengal and Assam, situated on the river Gumti, with

a station on the Assam-Bengal railway, 96 m. from the coast terminus at

Chittagong. Pop. (1901) 19,169. The town has many large tanks and an

English church, built in 1875.

COMINES, or COMMINES (Flem. _Komen_), a town of western Flanders, 13 m.

N.N.W. of Lille by rail. It is divided by the river Lys, leaving one

part on French (department of Nord), the other on Belgian territory

(province of West Flanders). Pop. of the French town 6359 (1906); of the

Belgian town, 6453 (1904). The former has a belfry of the 14th century,

restored in the 17th and 19th centuries, and remains of a chateau.

Comines carries on the spinning of flax, wool and cotton.

COMITIA, the name applied, always in technical and generally in popular

phraseology, to the most formal types of gathering of the sovereign

people in ancient Rome. It is the plural of _comitium_, the old

"meeting-place" (Lat. _cum_, together, _ire_, to go) on the north-west

of the Forum. The Romans had three words for describing gatherings of

the people. These were _concilium_, _comitia_ and _contio_. Of these

concilium had the most general significance. It could be applied to any

kind of meeting and is often used to describe assemblies in foreign

states. It was, therefore, a word that might be employed to denote an

organized gathering of a portion of the Roman people such as the plebs,

and in this sense is contrasted with _comitia_, which when used strictly

should signify an assembly of the whole people. Thus the Roman

draughtsman who wishes to express the idea "magistrates of any kind as

president of assemblies" writes "Magistratus queiquomque comitia

conciliumve habebit" (_Lex Latina tabulae Bantinae_, l. 5), and

formalism required that a magistrate who summoned only a portion of the

people to meet him should, in his summons, use the word _concilium_.

This view is expressed by Laelius Felix, a lawyer probably of the age of

Hadrian, when he writes "Is qui non universum populum, sed partem

aliquam adesse jubet, non comitia, sed concilium edicere debet"

(Gellius, _Noctes Atticae_, xv. 27). But popular phraseology did not

conform to this canon, and _comitia_, which gained in current Latin the

sense of "elections" was sometimes used of the assemblies of the plebs

(see the instances in Botsford, distinction between _Comitia_ and

_Concilium_, p. 23). The distinction between _comitia_ and _contio_ was

more clearly marked. Both were formal assemblies convened by a

magistrate; but while, in the case of the _comitia_, the magistrate's

purpose was to ask a question of the people and to elicit their binding

response, his object in summoning a _contio_ was merely to bring the

people together either for their instruction or for a declaration of his

will as expressed in an edict ("contionem habere est verba facere ad

populum sine ulla rogatione," Gell. op. cit. xiii. 6). The word comitia

merely means "meetings."

The earliest _comitia_ was one organized on the basis of parishes

(_curiae_) and known in later times as the _comitia curiata_. The

_curia_ voted as a single unit and thus furnished the type for that

system of group-voting which runs through all the later organization of

the popular assemblies. This _comitia_ must originally have been

composed exclusively of patricians (q.v.); but there is reason to

believe that, at an early period of the Republic, it had, in imitation

of the centuriate organization, come to include plebeians (see CURIA).

The organization which gave rise to the _comitia centuriata_ was the

result of the earliest steps in the political emancipation of the plebs.

Three stages in this process may be conjectured. In the first place the

plebeians gained full rights of ownership and transfer, and could thus

become freeholders of the land which they occupied and of the

appurtenances of this land (_res mancipi_). This legal capacity rendered

them liable to military service as heavy-armed fighting men, and as such

they were enrolled in the military units called _centuriae_. When the

enrolment was completed the whole host (_exercitus_) was the best

organized and most representative gathering that Rome could show. It

therefore either usurped, or became gradually invested with voting

powers, and gained a range of power which for two centuries (508-287

B.C.) made it the dominant assembly in the state. But its aristocratic

organization, based as this was on property qualifications which gave

the greatest voting power to the richest men, prevented it from being a

fitting channel for the expression of plebeian claims. Hence the plebs

adopted a new political organization of their own. The tribunate called

into existence a purely plebeian assembly, firstly, for the election of

plebeian magistrates; secondly, for jurisdiction in cases where these

magistrates had been injured; thirdly, for presenting petitions on

behalf of the plebs through the consuls to the _comitia centuriata_.

This right of petitioning developed into a power of legislation. The

stages of the process (marked by the Valerio-Horatian laws of 449 B.C.,

the Publilian law of 339 B.C., and the Hortensian law of 287 B.C.) are

unknown; but it is probable that the two first of the laws progressively

weakened the discretionary power of senate and consuls in admitting such

petitions; and that the Hortensian law fully recognized the right of

resolutions of the plebs (_plebiscita_) to bind the whole community. The

plebeian assembly, which had perhaps originally met by _curiae_, was

organized on the basis of the territorial tribes in 471 B.C. This change

suggested a renewed organization of the whole people for comitial

purposes. The _comitia tributa populi_ was the result. This assembly

seems to have been already in existence at the epoch of the Twelve

Tables in 451 B.C., its electoral activity is perhaps attested in 447

B.C., and it appears as a legislative body in 357 B.C.

In spite of the formal differences of these four assemblies and the real

distinction springing from the fact that patricians were not members of

the plebeian bodies, the view which is appropriate to the developed

Roman constitution is that the people expressed its will equally through

all, although the mode of expression varied with the channel. This will

was in theory unlimited. It was restricted only by the conservatism of

the Roman, by the condition that the initiative must always be taken by

a magistrate, by the _de facto_ authority of the senate, and by the

magisterial veto which the senate often had at its command (see SENATE).

There were no limitations on the legislative powers of the _comitia_

except such as they chose to respect or which they themselves created

and might repeal. They never during the Republican period lost the right

of criminal jurisdiction, in spite of the fact that so many spheres of

this jurisdiction had been assigned in perpetuity to standing

commissions (_quaestiones perpetuae_). This power of judging exercised

by the assemblies had in the main developed from the use of the right of

appeal (_provocatio_) against the judgments of the magistrates. But it

is probable that, in the developed procedure, where it was known that

the judgment pronounced might legally give rise to the appeal, the

magistrate pronounced no sentence, but brought the case at once before

the people. The case was then heard in four separate _contiones_. After

these hearings the _comitia_ gave its verdict. Finally, the people

elected to every magistracy with the exception of the occasional offices

of Dictator and Interrex. The distribution of these functions amongst

the various _comitia_, and the differences in their organization, were

as follows:--

The _comitia curiata_ had in the later Republic become a merely formal

assembly. Its main function was that of passing the _lex curiata_ which

was necessary for the ratification both of the _imperium_ of the higher

magistracies of the people, and of the _potestas_ of those of lower

rank. This assembly also met, under the name of the _comitia calata_ and

under the presidency of the pontifex maximus, for certain religious

acts. These were the inauguration of the rex sacrorum and the flamens,

and that abjuration of hereditary worship (_detestatio sacrorum_) which

was made by a man who passed from his clan (_gens_) either by an act of

adrogation (see ROMAN LAW and ADOPTION) or by transition from the

patrician to the plebeian order. For the purpose of passing the _lex

curiata_, and probably for its other purposes as well, this _comitia_

was in Cicero's day represented by but thirty lictors (Cic. _de Lege

Agraria_, ii. 12, 31).

The _comitia centuriata_ could be summoned and presided over only by the

magistrates with _imperium_. The consuls were its usual presidents for

elections and for legislation, but the praetors summoned it for purposes

of jurisdiction. It elected the magistrates with _imperium_ and the

censors, and alone had the power of declaring war. According to the

principle laid down in the Twelve Tables (Cicero, _de Legibus_, iii. 4.

11) capital cases were reserved for this assembly. It was not frequently

employed as a legislative body after the two assemblies of the tribes,

which were easier to summon and organize, had been recognized as

possessing sovereign rights. The internal structure of the _comitia

centuriata_ underwent a great change during the Republic--a change which

has been conjecturally attributed to the censorship of Flaminius in 220

B.C. (Mommsen, _Staatsrecht_, iii. p. 270). In the early scheme, at a

time when a pecuniary valuation had replaced land and its appurtenances

(_res mancipi_) as the basis of qualification, five divisions

(_classes_) were recognized whose property was assessed respectively at

100,000, 75,000, 50,000, 25,000 and 11,000 (or 12,500) asses. The first

class contained 80 centuries; the second, third and fourth 20 each; the

fifth 30. Added to these were the 18 centuries of knights (see EQUITES).

The combined vote of the first class and the knights was thus

represented by 98 centuries; that of the whole of the other _classes_

(including 4 or 5 centuries of professional corporations connected with

the army, such as the _fabri_ and 1 century of _proletarii_, i.e. of all

persons below the minimum census) was represented by 95 or 96 centuries.

Thus the upper classes in the community possessed more than half the

votes in the assembly. The newer scheme aimed at a greater equality of

voting power; but it has been differently interpreted. The

interpretation most usually accepted, which was first suggested by

Pantagathus, a 17th-century scholar, is based on the view that the five

_classes_ were distributed over the tribes in such a manner that there

were 2 centuries of each class in a single tribe. As the number of the

tribes was 35, the total number of centuries would be 350. To these we

must add 18 centuries of knights, 4 of _fabri_, &c., and 1 of

_proletarii_. Here the first class and the knights command but 88 votes

out of a total of 373. Mommsen's interpretation (_Staatsrecht_, iii. p.

275) was different. He allowed the 70 votes for the 70 centuries of the

first class, but thought that the 280 centuries of the other classes

were so combined as to form only 100 votes. The total votes in the

comitia would thus be 70 + 100 + 5 (_fabri_, &c.) + 18 (knights), i.e.

193, as in the earlier arrangement. In 88 B.C. a return was made to the

original and more aristocratic system by a law passed by the consuls

Sulla and Pompeius. At least this seems to be the meaning of Appian

(_Bellum Civile_, i. 59) when he says [Greek: esegounto ... tas

cheirotonias me kata phylas alla kata lochous ... gignesthai]. But this

change was not permanent as the more liberal system prevails in the

Ciceronian period.

The _comitia tributa_ was in the later Republic the usual organ for laws

passed by the whole people. Its presidents were the magistrates of the

people, usually the consuls and praetors, and, for purposes of

jurisdiction, the curule aediles. It elected these aediles and other

lower magistrates of the people. Its jurisdiction was limited to

monetary penalties.

The _concilium plebis_, although voting, like this last assembly, by

tribes, could be summoned and presided over only by plebeian

magistrates, and never included the patricians. Its utterances

(_plebiscita_) had the full force of law; it elected the tribunes of the

plebs and the plebeian aediles, and it pronounced judgment on the

penalties which they proposed. The right of this assembly to exercise

capital jurisdiction was questioned; but it possessed the undisputed

right of pronouncing outlawry (_aquae et ignis interdictio_) against any

one already in exile (Livy xxv. 4, and xxvi. 3).

When the tenure of the religious colleges--formerly filled up by

co-optation--was submitted to popular election, a change effected by a

_lex Domitia_ of 104 B.C., a new type of _comitia_ was devised for this

purpose. The electoral body was composed of 17 tribes selected by lot

from the whole body of 35.

There was a body of rules governing the _comitia_ which were concerned

with the time and place of meeting, the forms of promulgation and the

methods of voting. Valid meetings might be held on any of the 194

"comitial" days of the year which were not market or festal days

(_nundinae, feriae_). The _comitia curiata_ and the two assemblies of

the tribes met within the walls, the former usually in the Comitium, the

latter in the Forum or on the Area Capitolii; but the elections at these

assemblies were in the later Republic held in the Campus Martius outside

the walls. The _comitia centuriata_ was by law compelled to meet outside

the city and its gathering place was usually the Campus. Promulgation

was required for the space of 3 _nundinae_ (i.e. 24 days) before a

matter was submitted to the people. The voting was preceded by a

_contio_ at which a limited debate was permitted by the magistrate. In

the assemblies of the _curiae_ and the tribes the voting of the groups

took place simultaneously, in that of the centuries in a fixed order. In

elections as well as in legislative acts an absolute majority was

required, and hence the candidate who gained a mere relative majority

was not returned.

The _comitia_ survived the Republic. The last known act of comitial

legislation belongs to the reign of Nerva (A.D. 96-98). After the

essential elements in the election of magistrates had passed to the

senate in A.D. 14, the formal announcement of the successful candidates

(_renuntiatio_) still continued to be made to the popular assemblies.

Early in the 3rd century Dio Cassius still saw the _comitia centuriata_

meeting with all its old solemnities (Dio Cassius lviii. 20).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Mommsen, _Romisches Staatsrecht_, iii. p. 300 foll.

(3rd ed., Leipzig, 1887), and _Romische Forschungen_, Bd. i. (Berlin,

1879); Soltau, _Entstehung und Zusammensetzung der altromischen

Volksversammlungen_, and _Die Gultigkeit der Plebiscite_ (Berlin,

1884); Huschke, _Die Verfassung des Konigs Servius Tullius als

Grundlage zu einer romischen Verfassungsgeschichte_ (Heidelberg,

1838); Borgeaud, _Le Plebiscite dans l'antiquite. Grece et Rome_

(Geneva, 1838); Greenidge, _Roman Public Life_, p. 65 foll., 102, 238

foll. and App. i. (1901); G. W. Botsford, _Roman Assemblies_ (1909).

(A. H. J. G.)

COMITY (from the Lat. _comitas_, courtesy, from _cemis_, friendly,

courteous), friendly or courteous behaviour; a term particularly used in

international law, in the phrase "comity of nations," for the courtesy

of nations towards each other. This has been held by some authorities to

be the basis for the recognition by courts of law of the judgments and

rules of law of foreign tribunals (see INTERNATIONAL LAW, PRIVATE).

"Comity of nations" is sometimes wrongly used, from a confusion with the

Latin _comes_, a companion, for the whole body or company of nations

practising such international courtesy.

COMMA (Gr. [Greek: komma], a thing stamped or cut off, from [Greek:

koptein], to strike), originally, in Greek rhetoric, a short clause,

something less than the "colon"; hence a mark (,), in punctuation, to

show the smallest break in the construction of a sentence. The mark is

also used to separate numerals, mathematical symbols and the like.

Inverted commas, or "quotation-marks," i.e. pairs of commas, the first

inverted, and the last upright, are placed at the beginning and end of a

sentence or word quoted, or of a word used in a technical or

conventional sense; single commas are similarly used for quotations

within quotations. The word is also applied to comma-shaped objects,

such as the "comma-bacillus," the causal agent in cholera.

COMMANDEER (from the South African Dutch _kommanderen_, to command),

properly, to compel the performance of military duty in the field,

especially of the military service of the Boer republics (see COMMANDO);

also to seize property for military purposes; hence used of any

peremptory seizure for other than military purposes.

COMMANDER, in the British navy, the title of the second grade of

captains. He commands a small vessel, or is second in command of a large

one. A staff commander is entrusted with the navigation of a large ship,

and ranks above a navigating lieutenant. Since 1838 the officer next in

rank to a captain in the U.S. navy has been called commander.

COMMANDERY (through the Fr. _commanderie_, from med. Lat. _commendaria_,

a trust or charge), a division of the landed property in Europe of the

Knights Hospitallers (see St John of Jerusalem). The property of the

order was divided into "priorates," subdivided into "bailiwicks," which

in turn were divided into "commanderies"; these were placed in charge of

a "commendator" or commander. The word is also applied to the emoluments

granted to a commander of a military order of knights.

COMMANDO, a Portuguese word meaning "command," adopted by the Boers in

South Africa through whom it has come into English use, for military and

semi-military expeditions against the natives. More particularly a

"commando" was the administrative and tactical unit of the forces of the

former Boer republics, "commandeered" under the law of the constitutions

which made military service obligatory on all males between the ages of

sixteen and sixty. Each "commando" was formed from the burghers of

military age of an electoral district.

COMMEMORATION, a general term for celebrating some past event. It is

also the name for the annual act, or _Encaenia_, the ceremonial closing

of the academic year at Oxford University. It consists of a Latin

oration in commemoration of benefactors and founders; of the recitation

of prize compositions in prose and verse, and the conferring of honorary

degrees upon English or foreign celebrities. The ceremony, which is

usually on the third Wednesday after Trinity Sunday, is held in the

Sheldonian Theatre, in Broad St., Oxford. "Commencement" is the term for

the equivalent ceremony at Cambridge, and this is also used in the case

of American universities.

COMMENDATION (from the Lat. _commendare_, to entrust to the charge of,

or to procure a favour for), approval, especially when expressed to one

person on behalf of another, a recommendation. The word is used in a

liturgical sense for an office commending the souls of the dying and

dead to the mercies of God. In feudal law the term is applied to the

practice of a freeman placing himself under the protection of a lord

(see FEUDALISM), and in ecclesiastical law to the granting of benefices

_in commendam_. A benefice was held _in commendam_ when granted either

temporarily until a vacancy was filled up, or to a layman, or, in case

of a monastery or abbey, to a secular cleric to enjoy the revenues and

privileges for life (see ABBOT), or to a bishop to hold together with

his see. An act of 1836 prohibited the holding of benefices _in

commendam_ in England.

COMMENTARII (Lat. = Gr. [Greek: hypomnemata]), notes to assist the

memory, memoranda. This original idea of the word gave rise to a variety

of meanings: notes and abstracts of speeches for the assistance of

orators; family memorials, the origin of many of the legends introduced

into early Roman history from a desire to glorify a particular family;

diaries of events occurring in their own circle kept by private

individuals,--the day-book, drawn up for Trimalchio in Petronius

(_Satyricon_, 53) by his _actuarius_ (a slave to whom the duty was

specially assigned) is quoted as an example; memoirs of events in which

they had taken part drawn up by public men,--such were the

"Commentaries" of Caesar on the Gallic and Civil wars, and of Cicero on

his consulship. Different departments of the imperial administration and

certain high functionaries kept records, which were under the charge of

an official known as a _commentariis_ (cf. _a secretis_, _ab

epistulis_). Municipal authorities also kept a register of their

official acts.

The _Commentarii Principis_ were the register of the official acts of

the emperor. They contained the decisions, favourable or unfavourable,

in regard to certain citizens; accusations brought before him or ordered

by him; lists of persons in receipt of special privileges. These must be

distinguished from the _commentarii diurni_, a daily court-journal. At a

later period records called _ephemerides_ were kept by order of the

emperor; these were much used by the Scriptores Historiae Augustae (see

AUGUSTAN HISTORY). The _Commentarii Senatus_, only once mentioned

(Tacitus, _Annals_, xv. 74) are probably identical with the Acta Senatus

(q.v.). There were also Commentarii of the priestly colleges: (a)

_Pontificum_, collections of their decrees and responses for future

reference, to be distinguished from their _Annales_, which were

historical records, and from their _Acta_, minutes of their meetings;

(b) _Augurum_, similar collections of augural decrees and responses; (c)

_Decemvirorum_; (d) _Fratrum Arvalium_. Like the priests, the

magistrates also had similar notes, partly written by themselves, and

partly records of which they formed the subject. But practically nothing

is known of these _Commentarii Magistratuum_. Mention should also be

made of the _Commentarii Regum_, containing decrees concerning the

functions and privileges of the kings, and forming a record of the acts

of the king in his capacity of priest. They were drawn up in historical

times like the so-called _leges regiae_ (_jus Papirianum_), supposed to

contain the decrees and decisions of the Roman kings.

See the exhaustive article by A. von Premerstein in Pauly-Wissowa,

_Realencyclopadie_ (1901); Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Lit._

(Eng. trans.), pp. 72, 77-79; and the concise account by H. Thedenat

in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionnaire des antiquites_.

COMMENTRY, a town of central France, in the department of Allier, 42 m.

S.W. of Moulins by the Orleans railway. Pop. (1906) 7581. Commentry

gives its name to a coalfield over 5000 acres in extent, and has

important foundries and forges.

COMMERCE (Lat. _commercium_, from _cum_, together, and _merx_,

merchandise), in its general acceptation, the international traffic in

goods, or what constitutes the foreign trade of all countries as

distinct from their domestic trade.

In tracing the history of such dealings we may go back to the early

records found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Such a transaction as that of

Abraham, for example, weighing down "four hundred shekels of silver,

_current with the merchant_," for the field of Ephron, is suggestive of

a group of facts and ideas indicating an advanced condition of

commercial intercourse,--property in land, sale of land, arts of mining

and purifying metals, the use of silver of recognized purity as a common

medium of exchange, and merchandise an established profession, or

division of labour. That other passage in which we read of Joseph being

sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver to "a company of

Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and

balm and myrrh to Egypt," extends our vision still farther, and shows us

the populous and fertile Egypt in commercial relationship with Chaldaea,

and Arabians, foreign to both, as intermediaries in their traffic,

generations before the Hebrew commonwealth was founded.

The first foreign merchants of whom we read, carrying goods and bags of

silver from one distant region to another, were the southern Arabs,

reputed descendants of Ishmael and Esau. The first notable navigators

and maritime carriers of goods were the Phoenicians. In the commerce of

the ante-Christian ages the Jews do not appear to have performed any

conspicuous part. Both the agricultural and the theocratic constitution

of their society were unfavourable to a vigorous prosecution of foreign

trade. In such traffic as they had with other nations they were served

on their eastern borders by Arabian merchants, and on the west and south

by the Phoenician shippers. The abundance of gold, silver and other

precious commodities gathered from distant parts, of which we read in

the days of greatest Hebrew prosperity, has more the character of spoils

of war and tributes of dependent states than the conquest by free

exchange of their domestic produce and manufacture. It was not until the

Jews were scattered by foreign invasions, and finally cast into the

world by the destruction of Jerusalem, that they began to develop those

commercial qualities for which they have since been famous.

Primary conditions of commerce.

There are three conditions as essential to extensive international

traffic as diversity of natural resources, division of labour,

accumulation of stock, or any other primal element--(1) means of

transport, (2) freedom of labour and exchange, and (3) security; and in

all these conditions the ancient world was signally deficient.

The great rivers, which became the first seats of population and empire,

must have been of much utility as channels of transport, and hence the

course of human power of which they are the geographical delineation,

and probably the idolatry with which they were sometimes honoured. Nor

were the ancient rulers insensible of the importance of opening roads

through their dominions, and establishing post and lines of

communication, which, though primarily for official and military

purposes, must have been useful to traffickers and to the general

population. But the free navigable area of great rivers is limited, and

when diversion of traffic had to be made to roads and tracks through

deserts, there remained the slow and costly carriage of beasts of

burden, by which only articles of small bulk and the rarest value could

be conveyed with any hope of profit. Corn, though of the first

necessity, could only be thus transported in famines, when beyond price

to those who were in want, and under this extreme pressure could only be

drawn from within a narrow sphere, and in quantity sufficient to the

sustenance of but a small number of people. The routes of ancient

commerce were thus interrupted and cut asunder by barriers of transport,

and the farther they were extended became the more impassable to any

considerable quantity or weight of commodities. As long as navigation

was confined to rivers and the shores of inland gulfs and seas, the

oceans were a _terra incognita_, contributing nothing to the facility or

security of transport from one part of the world to another, and leaving

even one populous part of Asia as unapproachable from another as if they

had been in different hemispheres. The various routes of trade from

Europe and north-western Asia to India, which have been often referred

to, are to be regarded more as speculations of future development than

as realities of ancient history. It is not improbable that the ancient

traffic of the Red Sea may have been extended along the shores of the

Arabian Sea to some parts of Hindustan, but that vessels braved the

Indian Ocean and passed round Cape Comorin into the Bay of Bengal, 2000

or even 1000 years before mariners had learned to double the Cape of

Good Hope, is scarcely to be believed. The route by the Euxine and the

Caspian Sea has probably never in any age reached India. That by the

Euphrates and the Persian Gulf is shorter, and was besides the more

likely from passing through tracts of country which in the most remote

times were seats of great population. There may have been many merchants

who traded on all these various routes, but that commodities were passed

in bulk over great distances is inconceivable. It may be doubted whether

in the ante-Christian ages there was any heavy transport over even 500

m., save for warlike or other purposes, which engaged the public

resources of imperial states, and in which the idea of commerce, as now

understood, is in a great measure lost.

The advantage which absolute power gave to ancient nations in their

warlike enterprises, and in the execution of public works of more or

less utility, or of mere ostentation and monumental magnificence, was

dearly purchased by the sacrifice of individual freedom, the right to

labour, produce and exchange under the steady operation of natural

economic principles, which more than any other cause vitalizes the

individual and social energies, and multiplies the commercial resource

of communities. Commerce in all periods and countries has obtained a

certain freedom and hospitality from the fact that the foreign merchant

has something desirable to offer; but the action of trading is

reciprocal, and requires multitudes of producers and merchants, as free

agents, on both sides, searching out by patient experiment wants more

advantageously supplied by exchange than by direct production, before it

can attain either permanence or magnitude, or can become a vital element

of national life. The ancient polities offered much resistance to this

development, and in their absolute power over the liberty, industry and

property of the masses of their subjects raised barriers to the

extension of commerce scarcely less formidable than the want of means of

communication itself. The conditions of security under which foreign

trade can alone flourish equally exceeded the resources of ancient

civilization. Such roads as exist must be protected from robbers, the

rivers and seas from pirates; goods must have safe passage and safe

storage, must be held in a manner sacred in the territories through

which they pass, be insured against accidents, be respected even in the

madness of hostilities; the laws of nations must give a guarantee on

which traders can proceed in their operations with reasonable

confidence; and the governments, while protecting the commerce of their

subjects with foreigners as if it were their own enterprise, must in

their fiscal policy, and in all their acts, be endued with the highest

spirit of commercial honour. Every great breach of this security stops

the continuous circulation, which is the life of traffic and of the

industries to which it ministers. But in the ancient records we see

commerce exposed to great risks, subject to constant pillage, hunted

down in peace and utterly extinguished in war. Hence it became necessary

that foreign trade should itself be an armed force in the world; and

though the states of purely commercial origin soon fell into the same

arts and wiles as the powers to which they were opposed, yet their

history exhibits clearly enough the necessity out of which they arose.

Once organized, it was inevitable that they should meet intrigue with

intrigue, and force with force. The political empires, while but

imperfectly developing industry and traffic within their own

territories, had little sympathy with any means of prosperity from

without. Their sole policy was either to absorb under their own spirit

and conditions of rule, or to destroy, whatever was rich or great beyond

their borders. Nothing is more marked in the past history of the world

than this struggle of commerce to establish conditions of security and

means of communication with distant parts. When almost driven from the

land, it often found both on the sea; and often, when its success had

become brilliant and renowned, it perished under the assault of stronger

powers, only to rise again in new centres and to find new channels of

intercourse.

Carthage.

Roman conquests.

Palmyra.

While Rome was giving laws and order to the half-civilized tribes of

Italy, Carthage, operating on a different base, and by other methods,

was opening trade with less accessible parts of Europe. The strength of

Rome was in her legions, that of Carthage in her ships; and her ships

could cover ground where the legions were powerless. Her mariners had

passed the mythical straits into the Atlantic, and established the port

of Cadiz. Within the Mediterranean itself they founded Carthagena and

Barcelona on the same Iberian peninsula, and ahead of the Roman legions

had depots and traders on the shores of Gaul. After the destruction of

Tyre, Carthage became the greatest power in the Mediterranean, and

inherited the trade of her Phoenician ancestors with Egypt, Greece and

Asia Minor, as well as her own settlements in Sicily and on the European

coasts. An antagonism between the great naval and the great military

power, whose interests crossed each other at so many points, was sure to

occur; and in the three Punic wars Carthage measured her strength with

that of Rome both on sea and on land with no unequal success. But a

commercial state impelled into a series of great wars has departed from

its own proper base; and in the year 146 B.C. Carthage was so totally

destroyed by the Romans that of the great city, more than 20 m. in

circumference, and containing at one period near a million of

inhabitants, only a few thousands were found within its ruined walls. In

the same year Corinth, one of the greatest of the Greek capitals and

seaports, was captured, plundered of vast wealth and given to the flames

by a Roman consul. Athens and her magnificent harbour of the Piraeus

fell into the same hands 60 years later. It may be presumed that trade

went on under the Roman conquests in some degree as before; but these

were grave events to occur within a brief period, and the spirit of the

seat of trade in every case having been broken, and its means and

resources more or less plundered and dissipated--in some cases, as in

that of Carthage, irreparably--the most necessary commerce could only

proceed with feeble and languid interest under the military, consular

and proconsular licence of Rome at that period. Tyre, the great seaport

of Palestine, having been destroyed by Alexander the Great, Palmyra, the

great inland centre of Syrian trade, was visited with a still more

complete annihilation by the Roman Emperor Aurelian within little more

than half a century after the capture and spoliation of Athens. The

walls were razed to their foundations; the population--men, women,

children and the rustics round the city--were all either massacred or

dispersed; and the queen Zenobia was carried captive to Rome. Palmyra

had for centuries, as a centre of commercial intercourse and transit,

been of great service to her neighbours, east and west. In the wars of

the Romans and Parthians she was respected by both as an asylum of

common interests which it would have been simple barbarity to invade or

injure; and when the Parthians were subdued, and Palmyra became a Roman

_annexe_, she continued to flourish as before. Her relations with Rome

were more than friendly; they became enthusiastic and heroic; and her

citizens having inflicted signal chastisement on the king of Persia for

the imprisonment of the emperor Valerian, the admiration of this conduct

at Rome was so great that their spirited leader Odaenathus, the husband

of Zenobia, was proclaimed Augustus, and became co-emperor with

Gallienus. It is obvious that the destruction of Palmyra must not only

have doomed Palestine, already bereft of her seaports, to greater

poverty and commercial isolation than had been known in long preceding

ages, but have also rendered it more difficult to Rome herself to hold

or turn to any profitable account her conquests in Asia; and, being an

example of the policy of Rome to the seats of trade over nearly the

whole ancient world, it may be said to contain in graphic characters a

presage of what came to be the actual event--the collapse and fall of

the Roman empire itself.

Venice.

The repeated invasions of Italy by the Goths and Huns gave rise to a

seat of trade in the Adriatic, which was to sustain during more than a

thousand years a history of unusual splendour. The Veneti cultivated

fertile lands on the Po, and built several towns, of which Padua was the

chief. They appear from the earliest note of them in history to have

been both an agricultural and trading people; and they offered a rich

prey to the barbarian hordes when these broke through every barrier into

the plains of Italy. Thirty years before Attila razed the neighbouring

city of Aquileia, the consuls and senate of Padua, oppressed and

terrified by the prior ravages of Alaric, passed a decree for erecting

Rialto, the largest of the numerous islets at the mouth of the Po, into

a chief town and port, not more as a convenience to the islanders than

as a security for themselves and their goods. But every fresh incursion,

every new act of spoliation by the dreaded enemies, increased the flight

of the rich and the industrious to the islands, and thus gradually arose

the second Venice, whose glory was so greatly to exceed that of the

first. Approachable from the mainland only by boats, through river

passes easily defended by practised sailors against barbarians who had

never plied an oar, the Venetian refugees could look in peace on the

desolation which swept over Italy; their warehouses, their markets,

their treasures were safe from plunder; and stretching their hands over

the sea, they found in it fish and salt, and in the rich possessions of

trade and territory which it opened to them more than compensation for

the fat lands and inland towns which had long been their home. The

Venetians traded with Constantinople, Greece, Syria and Egypt. They

became lords of the Morea, and of Candia, Cyprus and other islands of

the Levant. The trade of Venice with India, though spoken of, was

probably never great. But the crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries

against the Saracens in Palestine extended her repute more widely east

and west, and increased both her naval and her commercial resources. It

is enough, indeed, to account for the grandeur of Venice that in course

of centuries, from the security of her position, the growth and energy

of her population, and the regularity of her government at a period when

these sources of prosperity were rare, she became the great emporium of

the Mediterranean--all that Carthage, Corinth and Athens had been in a

former age on a scene the most remarkable in the world for its fertility

and facilities of traffic,--and that as Italy and other parts of the

Western empire became again more settled her commerce found always a

wider range. The bridge built from the largest of the islands to the

opposite bank became the "Rialto," or famous exchange of Venice, whose

transactions reached farther, and assumed a more consolidated form, than

had been known before. There it was where the first public bank was

organized; that bills of exchange were first negotiated, and funded debt

became transferable; that finance became a science and book-keeping an

art. Nor must the effect of the example of Venice on other cities of

Italy be left out of account. Genoa, following her steps, rose into

great prosperity and power at the foot of the Maritime Alps, and became

her rival, and finally her enemy. Naples, Gaeta, Florence, many other

towns of Italy, and Rome herself, long after her fall, were encouraged

to struggle for the preservation of their municipal freedom, and to

foster trade, arts and navigation, by the brilliant success set before

them on the Adriatic; but Venice, from the early start she had made, and

her command of the sea, had the commercial pre-eminence.

The middle ages.

The state of things which arose on the collapse of the Roman empire

presents two concurrent facts, deeply affecting the course of trade--(1)

the ancient seats of industry and civilization were undergoing constant

decay, while (2) the energetic races of Europe were rising into more

civilized forms and manifold vigour and copiousness of life. The fall of

the Eastern division of the empire prolonged the effect of the fall of

the Western empire; and the advance of the Saracens over Asia Minor,

Syria, Greece, Egypt, over Cyprus and other possessions of Venice in the

Mediterranean, over the richest provinces of Spain, and finally across

the Hellespont into the Danubian provinces of Europe, was a new

irruption of barbarians from another point of the compass, and revived

the calamities and disorders inflicted by the successive invasions of

Goths, Huns and other Northern tribes. For more than ten centuries the

naked power of the sword was vivid and terrible as flashes of lightning

over all the seats of commerce, whether of ancient or more modern

origin. The feudal system of Europe, in organizing the open country

under military leaders and defenders subordinated in possession and

service under a legal system to each other and to the sovereign power,

must have been well adapted to the necessity of the times in which it

spread so rapidly; but it would be impossible to say that the feudal

system was favourable to trade, or the extension of trade. The

commercial spirit in the feudal, as in preceding ages, had to find for

itself places of security, and it could only find them in towns, armed

with powers of self-regulation and defence, and prepared, like the

feudal barons themselves, to resist violence from whatever quarter it

might come. Rome, in her best days, had founded the municipal system,

and when this system was more than ever necessary as the bulwark of arts

and manufactures, its extension became an essential element of the whole

European civilization. Towns formed themselves into leagues for mutual

protection, and out of leagues not infrequently arose commercial

republics. The Hanseatic League, founded as early as 1241, gave the

first note of an increasing traffic between countries on the Baltic and

in northern Germany, which a century or two before were sunk in isolated

barbarism. From Lubeck and Hamburg, commanding the navigation of the

Elbe, it gradually spread over 85 towns, including Amsterdam, Cologne

and Frankfort in the south, and Danzig, Konigsberg and Riga in the

north. The last trace of this league, long of much service in protecting

trade, and as a means of political mediation, passed away in the

erection of the German empire (1870), but only from the same cause that

had brought about its gradual dissolution--the formation of powerful

and legal governments--which, while leaving to the free cities their

municipal rights, were well capable of protecting their mercantile

interests. The towns of Holland found lasting strength and security from

other causes. Their foundations were laid as literally in the sea as

those of Venice had been. They were not easily attacked whether by sea

or land, and if attacked had formidable means of defence. The Zuyder

Zee, which had been opened to the German Ocean in 1282, carried into the

docks and canals of Amsterdam the traffic of the ports of the Baltic, of

the English Channel and of the south of Europe, and what the seas did

for Amsterdam from without the Rhine and the Maese did for Dort and

Rotterdam from the interior. By the Union of Utrecht in 1579 Holland

became an independent republic, and for long after, as it had been for

some time before, was the greatest centre of maritime traffic in Europe.

The rise of the Dutch power in a low country, exposed to the most

destructive inundations, difficult to cultivate or even to inhabit,

affords a striking illustration of those conditions which in all times

have been found specially favourable to commercial development, and

which are not indistinctly reflected in the mercantile history of

England, preserved by its insular position from hostile invasions, and

capable by its fleets and arms to protect its goods on the seas and the

rights of its subjects in foreign lands.

The progress of trade and productive arts in the middle ages, though not

rising to much international exchange, was very considerable both in

quality and extent. The republics of Italy, which had no claim to rival

Venice or Genoa in maritime power or traffic, developed a degree of art,

opulence and refinement commanding the admiration of modern times; and

if any historian of trans-Alpine Europe, when Venice had already

attained some greatness, could have seen it five hundred years

afterwards, the many strong towns of France, Germany and the Low

Countries, the great number of their artizans, the products of their

looms and anvils, and their various cunning workmanship, might have

added many a brilliant page to his annals. Two centuries before England

had discovered any manufacturing quality, or knew even how to utilize

her most valuable raw materials, and was importing goods from the

continent for the production of which she was soon to be found to have

special resources, the Flemings were selling their woollen and linen

fabrics, and the French their wines, silks and laces in all the richer

parts of the British Islands. The middle ages placed the barbarous

populations of Europe under a severe discipline, trained them in the

most varied branches of industry, and developed an amount of handicraft

and ingenuity which became a solid basis for the future. But trade was

too walled in, too much clad in armour, and too incessantly disturbed by

wars and tumults, and violations of common right and interest, to exert

its full influence over the general society, or even to realize its most

direct advantages. It wanted especially the freedom and mobility

essential to much international increase, and these it was now to

receive from a series of the most pregnant events.

Opening of a new era.

The mariner's compass had become familiar in the European ports about

the beginning of the 14th century, and the seamen of Italy, Portugal,

France, Holland and England entered upon a more enlightened and

adventurous course of navigation. The Canary Islands were sighted by a

French vessel in 1330, and colonized in 1418 by the Portuguese, who two

years later landed on Madeira. In 1431 the Azores were discovered by a

shipmaster of Bruges. The Atlantic was being gradually explored. In

1486, Diaz, a Portuguese, steering his course almost unwittingly along

the coast of Africa, came upon the land's-end of that continent; and

eleven years afterwards Vasco da Gama, of the same nation, not only

doubled the Cape of Good Hope, but reached India. About the same period

Portuguese travellers penetrated to India by the old time-honoured way

of Suez; and a land which tradition and imagination had invested with

almost fabulous wealth and splendour was becoming more real to the

European world at the moment when the expedition of Vasco da Gama had

made an oceanic route to its shores distinctly visible. One can hardly

now realize the impression made by these discoveries in an age when the

minds of men were awakening out of a long sleep, when the printing press

was disseminating the ancient classical and sacred literature, and when

geography and astronomy were subjects of eager study in the seats both

of traffic and of learning. But their practical effect was seen in

swiftly-succeeding events. Before the end of the century Columbus had

thrice crossed the Atlantic, touched at San Salvador, discovered

Jamaica, Porto Rico and the Isthmus of Darien, and had seen the waters

of the Orinoco in South America. Meanwhile Cabot, sent out by England,

had discovered Newfoundland, planted the English flag on Labrador, Nova

Scotia and Virginia, and made known the existence of an expanse of land

now known as Canada. This tide of discovery by navigators flowed on

without intermission. But the opening of a maritime route to India and

the discovery of America, surprising as these events must have been at

the time, were slow in producing the results of which they were a sure

prognostic. The Portuguese established in Cochin the first European

factory in India a few years after Vasco da Gama's expedition, and other

maritime nations of Europe traced a similar course. But it was not till

1600 that the English East India Company was established, and the

opening of the first factory of the Company in India must be dated some

ten or eleven years later. So also it was one thing to discover the two

Americas, and another, in any real sense, to possess or colonize them,

or to bring their productions into the general traffic and use of the

world. Spain, following the stroke of the valiant oar of Columbus, found

in Mexico and Peru remarkable remains of an ancient though feeble

civilization, and a wealth of gold and silver mines, which to Europeans

of that period was fascinating from the rarity of the precious metals in

their own realms, and consequently gave to the Spanish colonizations and

conquests in South America an extraordinary but unsolid prosperity. The

value of the precious metals in Europe was found to fall as soon as they

began to be more widely distributed, a process in itself at that period

of no small tediousness; and it was discovered further, after a century

or two, that the production of gold and silver is limited like the

production of other commodities for which they exchange, and only

increased in quantity at a heavier cost, that is only reduced again by

greater art and science in the process of production. Many difficulties,

in short, had to be overcome, many wars to be waged, and many deplorable

errors to be committed, in turning the new advantages to account. But

given a maritime route to India and the discovery of a new world of

continent and islands in the richest tropical and sub-tropical

latitudes, it could not be difficult to foresee that the course of trade

was to be wholly changed as well as vastly extended.

Maritime route to India.

The substantial advantage of the oceanic passage to India by the Cape of

Good Hope, as seen at the time, was to enable European trade with the

East to escape from the Moors, Algerines and Turks who now swarmed round

the shores of the Mediterranean, and waged a predatory war on ships and

cargoes which would have been a formidable obstacle even if traffic,

after running this danger, had not to be further lost, or filtered into

the smallest proportions, in the sands of the Isthmus, and among the

Arabs who commanded the navigation of the Red and Arabian Seas. Venice

had already begun to decline in her wars with the Turks, and could

inadequately protect her own trade in the Mediterranean. Armed vessels

sent out in strength from the Western ports often fared badly at the

hands of the pirates. European trade with India can scarcely be said,

indeed, to have yet come into existence. The maritime route was round

about, and it lay on the hitherto almost untrodden ocean, but the ocean

was a safer element than inland seas and deserts infested by the

lawlessness and ferocity of hostile tribes of men. In short, the

maritime route enabled European traders to see India for themselves, to

examine what were its products and its wants, and by what means a

profitable exchange on both sides could be established; and on this

basis of knowledge, ships could leave the ports of their owners in

Europe with a reasonable hope, via the Cape, of reaching the places to

which they were destined without transhipment or other intermediary

obstacle. This is the explanation to be given of the joy with which the

Cape of Good Hope route was received, as well as the immense influence

it exerted on the future course and extension of trade, and of the no

less apparent satisfaction with which it was to some extent discarded in

favour of the ancient line, via the Mediterranean, Isthmus of Suez and

the Red Sea.

Discovery of America.

The maritime route to India was the discovery to the European nations of

a "new world" quite as much as the discovery of North and South America

and their central isthmus and islands. The one was the far, populous

Eastern world, heard of from time immemorial, but with which there had

been no patent lines of communication. The other was a vast and

comparatively unpeopled solitude, yet full of material resources, and

capable in a high degree of European colonization. America offered less

resistance to the action of Europe than India, China and Japan; but on

the other hand this new populous Eastern world held out much attraction

to trade. These two great terrestrial discoveries were contemporaneous;

and it would be difficult to name any conjuncture of material events

bearing with such importance on the history of the world. The Atlantic

Ocean was the medium of both; and the waves of the Atlantic beat into

all the bays and tidal rivers of western Europe. The centre of

commercial activity was thus physically changed; and the formative power

of trade over human affairs was seen in the subsequent phenomena--the

rise of great seaports on the Atlantic seaboard, and the ceaseless

activity of geographical exploration, manufactures, shipping and

emigration, of which they became the outlets.

Increase of trading settlements and colonies.

The Portuguese are entitled to the first place in utilizing the new

sources of wealth and commerce. They obtained Macao as a settlement from

the Chinese as early as 1537, and their trading operations followed

close on the discoveries of their navigators on the coast of Africa, in

India and in the Indian Archipelago. Spain spread her dominion over

Central and South America, and forced the labour of the subject natives

into the gold and silver mines, which seemed in that age the chief prize

of her conquests. France introduced her trade in both the East and West

Indies, and was the first to colonize Canada and the Lower Mississippi.

The Dutch founded New York in 1621; and England, which in boldness of

naval and commercial enterprize had attained high rank in the reign of

Elizabeth, established the thirteen colonies which became the United

States, and otherwise had a full share in all the operations which were

transforming the state of the world. The original disposition of affairs

was destined to be much changed by the fortune of war; and success in

foreign trade and colonization, indeed, called into play other qualities

besides those of naval and military prowess. The products of so many new

countries--tissues, dyes, metals, articles of food, chemical

substances--greatly extended the range of European manufacture. But in

addition to the mercantile faculty of discovering how they were to be

exchanged and wrought into a profitable trade, their use in arts and

manufactures required skill, invention and aptitude for manufacturing

labour, and those again, in many cases, were found to depend on abundant

possession of natural materials, such as coal and iron. In old and

populous countries, like India and China, modern manufacture had to meet

and contend with ancient manufacture, and had at once to learn from and

improve economically on the established models, before an opening could

be made for its extension. In many parts of the New World there were

vast tracts of country, without population or with native races too wild

and savage to be reclaimed to habits of industry, whose resources could

only be developed by the introduction of colonies of Europeans; and

innumerable experiments disclosed great variety of qualification among

the European nations for the adventure, hardship and perseverance of

colonial life. There were countries which, whatever their fertility of

soil or favour of climate, produced nothing for which a market could be

found; and products such as the sugar-cane and the seed of the cotton

plant had to be carried from regions where they were indigenous to other

regions where they might be successfully cultivated, and the art of

planting had to pass through an ordeal of risk and speculation. There

were also countries where no European could labour; and the ominous

work of transporting African negroes as slaves into the colonies--begun

by Spain in the first decade of the 16th century, followed up by

Portugal, and introduced by England in 1562 into the West Indies, at a

later period into New England and the Southern States, and finally

domiciled by royal privilege of trade in the Thames and three or more

outports of the kingdom,--after being done on an elaborate scale, and

made the basis of an immense superstructure of labour, property and

mercantile interest over nearly three centuries, had, under a more just

and ennobling view of humanity, to be as elaborately undone at a future

time.

These are some of the difficulties that had to be encountered in

utilizing the great maritime and geographical conquests of the new

epoch. But one cannot leave out of view the obstacles, arising from

other sources, to what might be expected to be the regular and easy

course of affairs. Commerce, though an undying and prevailing interest

of civilized countries, is but one of the forces acting on the policy of

states, and has often to yield the pace to other elements of national

life. It were needless to say what injury the great but vain and

purposeless wars of Louis XIV. of France inflicted in that country, or

how largely the fruitful and heroic energies of England were absorbed in

the civil wars between Charles and the Parliament, to what poverty

Scotland was reduced, or in what distraction and savagery Ireland was

kept by the same course of events. The grandeur of Spain in the

preceding century was due partly to the claim of her kings to be Holy

Roman emperors, in which imperial capacity they entailed intolerable

mischief on the Low Countries and on the commercial civilization of

Europe, and partly to their command of the gold and silver mines of

Mexico and Peru, in an eager lust of whose produce they brought cruel

calamities on a newly-discovered continent where there were many traces

of antique life, the records of which perished in their hands or under

their feet. These ephemeral causes of greatness removed, the hollowness

of the situation was exposed; and Spain, though rich in her own natural

resources, was found to be actually poor--poor in number of people, poor

in roads, in industrial art, and in all the primary conditions of

interior development. An examination of the foreign trade of Europe two

centuries after the opening of the maritime route to India and the

discovery of America would probably give more reason to be surprised at

the smallness than the magnitude of the use that had been made of these

events.

19th century.

By the beginning of the 19th century the world had been well explored.

Colonies had been planted on every coast; great nations had sprung up in

vast solitudes or in countries inhabited only by savage or decadent

races of men; the most haughty and exclusive of ancient nations had

opened their ports to foreign merchantmen; and all parts of the world

been brought into habitual commercial intercourse. The seas, subdued by

the progress of navigation to the service of man, had begun to yield

their own riches in great abundance and the whale, seal, herring, cod

and other fisheries, prosecuted with ample capital and hardy seamanship,

had become the source of no small traffic in themselves. The lists of

imports and exports and of the places from which they flowed to and from

the centres of trade, as they swelled in bulk from time to time, show

how busily and steadily the threads of commerce had been weaving

together the labour and interests of mankind, and extending a security

and bounty of existence unknown in former ages. The 19th century

witnessed an extension of the commercial relations of mankind of which

there was no parallel in previous history. The heavy debts and taxes,

and the currency complications in which the close of the Napoleonic wars

left the European nations, as well as the fall of prices which was the

necessary effect of the sudden closure of a vast war expenditure and

absorption of labour, had a crippling effect for many years on trading

energies. Yet even under such circumstances commerce is usually found,

on its well-established modern basis, to make steady progress from one

series of years to another. The powers of production had been greatly

increased by a brilliant development of mechanical arts and inventions.

The United States had grown into a commercial nation of the first rank.

The European colonies and settlements were being extended, and

assiduously cultivated, and were opening larger and more varied markets

for manufactures. In 1819 the first steamboat crossed the Atlantic from

New York to Liverpool, and a similar adventure was accomplished from

England to India in 1825--events in themselves the harbingers of a new

era in trade. China, after many efforts, was opened under treaty to an

intercourse with foreign nations which was soon to attain surprising

dimensions. These various causes supported the activity of commerce in

the first four decades; but the great movement which made the 19th

century so remarkable was chiefly disclosed in practical results from

about 1840. The outstanding characteristics of the 19th century were the

many remarkable inventions which so widened the field of commerce by the

discovery of new and improved methods of production, the highly

organized division of labour which tended to the same end, and, above

all, the powerful forces of steam navigation, railways and telegraphs.

Commerce has thus acquired a security and extension, in all its most

essential conditions, of which it was void in any previous age. It can

hardly ever again exhibit that wandering course from route to route, and

from one solitary centre to another, which is so characteristic of its

ancient history, because it is established in every quarter of the

globe, and all the seas and ways are open to it on terms fair and equal

to every nation. Wherever there is population, industry, resource, art

and skill, there will be international trade. Commerce will have many

centres, and one may relatively rise or relatively fall; but such decay

and ruin as have smitten many once proud seats of wealth into dust

cannot again occur without such cataclysms of war, violence and disorder

as the growing civilization and reason of mankind, and the power of law,

right and common interest forbid us to anticipate. But the present

magnitude of commerce devolves serious work on all who are engaged in

it. If in the older times it was thought that a foreign merchant

required to be not only a good man of business, but even a statesman, it

is evident that all the higher faculties of the mercantile profession

must still more be called into request when imports and exports are

reckoned by hundreds instead of fives or tens of millions, when the

markets are so much larger and more numerous, the competition so much

more keen and varied, the problems to be solved in every course of

transaction so much more complex, the whole range of affairs to be

overseen so immensely widened. It is not a company of merchants, having

a monopoly, and doing whatever they please, whether right or wrong, that

now hold the commerce of the world in their hands, but large communities

of free merchants in all parts of the world, affiliated to manufacturers

and producers equally free, each under strong temptation to do what may

be wrong in the pursuit of his own interest, and the only security of

doing right being to follow steady lights of information and economic

science common to all. Easy transport of goods by land and sea, prompt

intelligence from every point of the compass, general prevalence of

mercantile law and safety, have all been accomplished; and the world is

opened to trade. But intellectual grasp of principles and details, and

the moral integrity which is the root of all commercial success, are

severely tested in this vaster sphere.

See TRADE ORGANIZATION; ECONOMICS; COMMERCIAL TREATIES, and the

sections under the headings of countries.

COMMERCE, the name of a card-game. Any number can play with an ordinary

pack. There are several variations of the game, but the following is a

common one. Each player receives three cards, and three more are turned

up as a "pool." The first player may exchange one or two of his cards

for one or two of the exposed cards, putting his own, face upwards, in

their place. His object is to "make his hand" (see below), but if he

changes all three cards at once he cannot change again. The next player

can do likewise, and so on. Usually there are as many rounds as there

are players, and a fresh card is added to the pool at the beginning of

each. If a player passes once he cannot exchange afterwards. When the

rounds are finished the hands are shown, the holder of the best either

receiving a stake from all the others, or, supposing each has started

with three "lives," taking one life from the lowest. The hands, in order

of merit, are: (i.) _Tricon_--three similar cards, three aces ranking

above three kings, and so on. (ii.) _Sequence_--three cards of the same

suit in consecutive order; the highest sequence is the best. (iii.)

_Flush_--three cards of the same suit, the highest "point" wins, i.e.

the highest number of pips, ace counting eleven and court-cards ten.

(iv.) _Pair_--two similar cards, the highest pair winning. (v.)

_Point_--the largest number of pips winning, as in "flush," but there is

no restriction as to suit. Sometimes "pair" and "point" are not

recognized. A popular variation of Commerce is _Pounce Commerce_. In

this, if a player has already three similar cards, e.g. three nines, and

the fourth nine comes into the pool, he says "Pounce!" and takes it,

thus obtaining a hand of four, which is higher than any hand of three:

whenever a pounce occurs, a new card is turned up from the pack.

COMMERCIAL COURT, in England, a court presided over by a single judge of

the king's bench division, for the trial, as expeditiously as may be, of

commercial cases. By the Rules of the Supreme Court, Order xviii. a

(made in November 1893), a plaintiff was allowed to dispense with

pleadings altogether, provided that the indorsement of his writ of

summons contained a statement sufficient to give notice of his claim, or

of the relief or remedy required in the action, and stating that the

plaintiff intended to proceed to trial without pleadings. The judge

might, on the application of the defendant, order a statement of claim

to be delivered, or the action to proceed to trial without pleadings,

and if necessary particulars of the claim or defence to be delivered.

Out of this order grew the commercial court. It is not a distinct court

or division or branch of the High Court, and is not regulated by any

special rules of court made by the rule committee. It originated in a

notice issued by the judges of the queen's bench division, in February

1895 (see W.N., 2nd of March 1895), the provisions contained in which

represent only "a practice agreed on by the judges, who have the right

to deal by convention among themselves with this mode of disposing of

the business in their courts" (per Lord Esher in _Barry_ v. _Peruvian

Corporation_, 1896, 1 Q. B. p. 209). A separate list of causes of a

commercial character is made and assigned to a particular judge, charged

with commercial business, to whom all applications before the trial are

made. The 8th paragraph is as follows:--

Such judge may at any time after appearance and without pleadings make

such order as he thinks fit for the speedy determination, in

accordance with existing rules, of the questions really in controversy

between the parties.

Practitioners before Sir George Jessel, at the rolls, in the years 1873

to 1880, will be reminded of his mode of ascertaining the point in

controversy and bringing it to a speedy determination. Obviously the

scheme is only applicable to cases in which there is some single issue

of law or fact, or the case depends on the construction of some contract

or other instrument or section of an act of parliament, and such issue

or question is either agreed upon by the parties or at once

ascertainable by the judge. The success of the scheme also depends

largely on the personal qualities of the judge to whom the list is

assigned. Under the able guidance of Mr (afterwards Lord) Justice Mathew

(d. 1908), the commercial court became very successful in bringing cases

to a speedy and satisfactory determination without any technicality or

unnecessary expense.

COMMERCIAL LAW, a term used rather indefinitely to include those main

rules and principles which, with more or less minor differences,

characterize the commercial transactions and customs of most European

countries. It includes within its compass such titles as principal and

agent; carriage by land and sea; merchant shipping; guarantee; marine,

fire, life and accident insurance; bills of exchange, partnership, &c.

COMMERCIAL TREATIES. A commercial treaty is a contract between states

relative to trade. It is a bilateral act whereby definite arrangements

are entered into by each contracting party towards the other--not mere

concessions. As regards technical distinctions, an "agreement," an

"exchange of notes," or a "convention" properly applies to one specific

subject; whereas a "treaty" usually comprises several matters, whether

commercial or political.

In ancient times foreign intercourse, trade and navigation were in many

instances regulated by international arrangements. The text is extant of

treaties of commerce and navigation concluded between Carthage and Rome

in 509 and 348 B.C. Aristotle mentions that nations were connected by

commercial treaties; and other classical writers advert to these

engagements. Under the Roman empire the matters thus dealt with became

regulated by law, or by usages sometimes styled laws. When the

territories of the empire were contracted, and the imperial authority

was weakened, some kind of international agreements again became

necessary. At Constantinople in the 10th century treaties cited by

Gibbon protected "the person, effects and privileges of the Russian

merchant"; and, in western Europe, intercourse, trade and navigation

were carried on, at first tacitly by usage derived from Roman times, or

under verbal permission given to merchants by the ruler to whose court

they resorted. Afterwards, security in these transactions was afforded

by means of formal documents, such as royal letters, charters, laws and

other instruments possessing the force of government measures. Instances

affecting English commercial relations are the letter of Charlemagne in

796, the Brabant Charter of 1305, and the Russian ukase of 1569.

Medieval treaties of truce or peace often contained a clause permitting

in general terms the renewal of personal and commercial communication as

it subsisted before the war. This custom is still followed. But these

medieval arrangements were precarious: they were often of temporary

duration, and were usually only effective during the lifetime of the

contracting sovereigns.

Passing over trade agreements affecting the Eastern empire, the modern

commercial treaty system came into existence in the 12th century. Genoa,

Pisa and Venice were then well-organized communities, and were in keen

rivalry. Whenever their position in a foreign country was strong, a

trading centre was established, and few or no specific engagements were

made on their part. But in serious competition or difficulty another

course was adopted: a formal agreement was concluded for the better

security of their commerce and navigation. The arrangements of 1140

between Venice and Sicily; the Genoese conventions of 1149 with

Valencia, of 1161 with Morocco, and of 1181 with the Balearic Islands;

the Pisan conventions of 1173 with Sultan Saladin, and of 1184 with the

Balearic Islands, were the earliest Western commercial treaties. Such

definite arrangements, although still of a personal character, were soon

perceived to be preferable to general provisions in a treaty of truce or

peace. They afforded also greater security than privileges enjoyed under

usage; or under grants of various kinds, whether local or royal. The

policy thus inaugurated was adopted gradually throughout Europe. The

first treaties relative to the trade of the Netherlands were between

Brabant and Holland in 1203, Holland and Utrecht in 1204, and Brabant

and Cologne in 1251. Early northern commercial treaties are those

between Riga and Smolensk 1229, and between Lubeck and Sweden 1269. The

first commercial relations between the Hanse Towns and foreign countries

were arrangements made by gilds of merchants, not by public authorities

as a governing body. For a long period the treaty system did not

entirely supersede conditions of intercourse between nations dependent

on permission.

The earliest English commercial treaty is that with Norway in 1217. It

provides "ut mercatores et homines qui sunt de potestate vestra libere

et sine impedimento terram nostram adire possint, et homines et

mercatores nostri similiter vestram." These stipulations are in due

treaty form. The next early English treaties are:--with Flanders, 1274

and 1314; Portugal, 1308, 1352 and 1386; Baltic Cities, 1319 and 1388;

Biscay and Castile, 1351; Burgundy, 1417 and 1496; France, 1471, 1497

and 1510; Florence, 1490. The commercial treaty policy in England was

carried out systematically under Henry IV. and Henry VII. It was

continued under James I. to extend to Scotland English trading

privileges. The results attained in the 17th century were--regularity in

treaty arrangements; their durable instead of personal nature; the

conversion of permissive into perfect rights; questions as to contraband

and neutral trade stated in definite terms. Treaties were at first

limited to exclusive and distinct engagements between the contracting

states; each treaty differing more or less in its terms from other

similar compacts. Afterwards by extending to a third nation privileges

granted to particular countries, the _most favoured nation article_

began to be framed, as a unilateral engagement by a particular state.

The Turkish capitulations afford the earliest instances; and the treaty

of 1641 between the Netherlands and Portugal contains the first European

formula. Cromwell continued the commercial treaty policy partly in order

to obtain a formal recognition of the commonwealth from foreign powers.

His treaty of 1654 with Sweden contains the first reciprocal "most

favoured nation clause":--Article IV. provides that the people, subjects

and inhabitants of either confederate "shall have and possess in the

countries, lands, dominions and kingdoms of the other as full and ample

privileges, and as many exemptions, immunities and liberties, as any

foreigner doth or shall possess in the dominions and kingdoms of the

said confederate." The government of the Restoration replaced and

enlarged the Protectorate arrangements by fresh agreements. The general

policy of the commonwealth was maintained, with further provisions on

behalf of colonial trade. In the new treaty of 1661 with Sweden the

privileges secured were those which "any foreigner whatsoever doth or

shall enjoy in the said dominions and kingdoms on both sides."

In contemporary treaties France obtained from Spain (1659) that French

subjects should enjoy the same liberties as had been granted to the

English; and England obtained from Denmark (1661) that the English

should not pay more or greater customs than the people of the United

Provinces and other foreigners, the Swedes only excepted. The colonial

and navigation policy of the 17th century, and the proceedings of Louis

XIV., provoked animosities and retaliatory tariffs. During the War of

the Spanish Succession the Methuen Treaty of 1703 was concluded.

Portugal removed prohibitions against the importation of British

woollens; Great Britain engaged that Portuguese wines should pay

one-third less duty than the rate levied on French wines. At the peace

of Utrecht in 1713 political and commercial treaties were concluded.

England agreed to remove prohibitions on the importation of French

goods, and to grant most favoured nation treatment in relation to goods

and merchandise of the like nature from any other country in Europe; the

French general tariff of the 18th of September 1664, was to be again put

in force for English trade. The English provision was at variance with

the Methuen Treaty. A violent controversy arose as to the relative

importance in 1713 of Anglo-Portuguese or Anglo-French trade. In the end

the House of Commons, by a majority of 9, rejected the bill to give

effect to the commercial treaty of 1713; and trade with France remained

on an unsatisfactory footing until 1786. The other commercial treaties

of Utrecht were very complete in their provisions, equal to those of the

present time; and contained most favoured nation articles--England

secured in 1715 reduction of duties on woollens imported into the

Austrian Netherlands; and trading privileges in Spanish America.

Moderate import duties for woollens were obtained in Russia by the

commercial treaty of 1766. In the meanwhile the Bourbon family compact

of the 15th of August 1761 assured national treatment for the subjects

of France, Spain and the Two Sicilies, and for their trade in the

European territories of the other two states; and most favoured nation

treatment as regards any special terms granted to any foreign country.

The first commercial treaties concluded by the United States with

European countries contained most favoured nation clauses: this policy

has been continued by the United States, but the wording of the clause

has often varied.

In 1786 France began to effect tariff reform by means of commercial

treaties. The first was with Great Britain, and it terminated the

long-continued tariff warfare. But the wars of the French Revolution

swept away these reforms, and brought about a renewal of hostile

tariffs. Prohibitions and differential duties were renewed, and

prevailed on the continent until the sixth decade of the 19th century.

In 1860 a government existed in France sufficiently strong and liberal

to revert to the policy of 1786. The bases of the Anglo-French treaty of

1860, beyond its most favoured nation provisions, were in France a

general transition from prohibition or high customs duties to a moderate

tariff; in the United Kingdom abandonment of all protective imposts, and

reduction of duties maintained for fiscal purposes to the lowest rates

compatible with these exigencies. Other European countries were obliged

to obtain for their trade the benefit of the conventional tariff thus

established in France, as an alternative to the high rates inscribed in

the general tariff. A series of commercial treaties was accordingly

concluded by different European states between 1861 and 1866, which

effected further reductions of customs duties in the several countries

that came within this treaty system. In 1871 the Republican government

sought to terminate the treaties of the empire. The British negotiators

nevertheless obtained the relinquishment of the attempt to levy

protective duties under the guise of compensation for imposts on raw

materials; the duration of the treaty of 1860 was prolonged; and

stipulations better worded than those before in force were agreed to for

shipping and most favoured nation treatment. In 1882, however, France

terminated her existing European tariff treaties. Belgium and some other

countries concluded fresh treaties, less liberal than those of the

system of 1860, yet much better than anterior arrangements. Great

Britain did not formally accept these higher duties; the treaty of the

28th of February 1882, with France, which secured most favoured nation

treatment in other matters, provided that customs duties should be

"henceforth regulated by the internal legislation of each of the two

states." In 1892 France also fell out of international tariff

arrangements; and adopted the system of double columns of customs

duties--one, of lower rates, to be applied to the goods of all nations

receiving most favoured treatment; and the other, of higher rates, for

countries not on this footing. Germany then took up the treaty tariff

policy; and between 1891 and 1894 concluded several commercial treaties.

International trade in Europe in 1909 was regulated by a series of

tariffs which came into operation, mainly on the initiative of Germany

in 1906. Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Rumania,

Russia, Servia and Switzerland, were parties to them. Their object and

effect was protectionist. The British policy then became one of

obtaining modifications to remedy disadvantages to British trade, as was

done in the case of Bulgaria and Rumania. An important series of

commercial arrangements had been concluded between 1884 and 1900

respecting the territories and spheres of interest of European powers in

western, central and eastern Africa. In these regions exclusive

privileges were not claimed; most favoured nation treatment was

recognized, and there was a disposition to extend national treatment to

all Europeans and their trade.

The Turkish _Capitulations_ (q.v.) are grants made by successive sultans

to Christian nations, conferring rights and privileges in favour of

their subjects resident or trading in the Ottoman dominions, following

the policy towards European states of the Eastern empire. In the first

instance capitulations were granted separately to each Christian state,

beginning with the Genoese in 1453, which entered into pacific relations

with Turkey. Afterwards new capitulations were obtained which summed up

in one document earlier concessions, and added to them in general terms

whatever had been conceded to one or more other states; a stipulation

which became a most favoured nation article. The English capitulations

date from 1569, and then secured the same treatment as the Venetians,

French, Poles and the subjects of the emperor of Germany; they were

revised in 1675, and as then settled were confirmed by treaties of

subsequent date "now and for ever." Capitulations signify that which is

arranged under distinct "headings"; the Turkish phrase is "ahid nameh,"

whereas a treaty is "mouahede"--the latter does, and the former does

not, signify a reciprocal engagement. Thus, although the Turkish

capitulations are not in themselves treaties, yet by subsequent

confirmation they have acquired the force of commercial treaties of

perpetual duration as regards substance and principles, while details,

such as rates of customs duties, may, by mutual consent, be varied from

time to time.

The _most favoured nation_ article already referred to concedes to the

state in the treaty with which it is concluded whatever advantages in

the matters comprised within its stipulations have been allowed to any

foreign or third state. It does not in itself directly confer any

particular rights, but sums up the whole of the rights in the matters

therein mentioned which have been or may be granted to foreign

countries. The value of the privileges under this article accordingly

varies with the conditions as to these rights in each state which

concedes this treatment.

The article is drafted in different form:

(1) That contracting states A. and B. agree to extend to each other

whatever rights and privileges they concede to countries C. and D., or

to C. and D. and any other country. The object in this instance is to

ensure specifically to B. and A. whatever advantages C. and D. may

possess. A recent instance is Article XI. of the treaty of May 10,

1871, between France and Germany, which binds them respectively to

extend to each other whatever advantages they grant to Austria,

Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia and Switzerland.

(2) The present general formula: A. and B. agree to extend to each

other whatever advantages they concede to any third country; and

engage that no other or higher duties shall be levied on the

importation into A. and B. respectively of goods the produce or

manufacture of B. and A. than are levied on the like goods the produce

or manufacture of any third country the most favoured in this respect.

There is a similar clause in regard to exportation.

(3) The conditional or reciprocity formula, often used in the 18th and

in the early part of the 19th century, namely, that whenever A. and B.

make special concessions in return for corresponding concessions, B.

and A. respectively are either excluded from participation therein, or

must make some additional equivalent concession in order to

participate in those advantages.

It may further be observed that the word "like" relates to the goods

themselves, to their material or quality, not to conditions of

manufacture, mode of conveyance or anything beyond the fact of their

precise description; small local facilities allowed to traffic between

conterminous land districts are not at variance with this article.

A recent complete and concise English formula is that of Article 2 of

the treaty of commerce and navigation of the 31st of October 1905,

with Rumania. "The contracting parties agree that, in all matters

relating to commerce, navigation and industry, any privilege, favour

or immunity which either contracting party has actually granted, or

may hereafter grant, to the subjects or citizens of any other foreign

state, shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to the

subjects of the other; it being their intention that the commerce,

navigation and industry of each country shall be placed, in all

respects, on the footing of the most favoured nation."

_Colonies._--The application of commercial treaties to colonies depends

upon the wording of each treaty. The earlier colonial policy of European

states was to subordinate colonial interests to those of the mother

country, to reserve colonial trade for the mother country, and to

abstain from engagements contrary to these general rules. France,

Portugal and Spain have adhered in principle to this policy. Germany and

Holland have been more liberal. The self-government enjoyed by the

larger British colonies has led since 1886 to the insertion of an

article in British commercial and other treaties whereby the assent of

each of these colonies, and likewise of India, is reserved before they

apply to each of these possessions. And further, the fact that certain

other British colonies are now within the sphere of commercial

intercourse controlled by the United States, has since 1891 induced the

British government to enter into special agreements on behalf of

colonies for whose products the United States is now the chief market.

As regards the most favoured nation article, it is to be remembered that

the mother country and colonies are not distinct--not foreign or

third--countries with respect to each other. The most favoured nation

article, therefore, does not preclude special arrangements between the

mother country and colonies, nor between colonies.

_Termination._--Commercial treaties are usually concluded for a term of

years, and either lapse at the end of this period, or are terminable

then, or subsequently, if either state gives the required notice. When a

portion of a country establishes its independence, for example the

several American republics, according to present usage foreign trade is

placed on a uniform most favoured nation footing, and fresh treaties

are entered into to regulate the commercial relations of the new

communities. In the case of former Turkish provinces, the capitulations

remain in force in principle until they are replaced by new engagements.

If one state is absorbed into another, for instance Texas into the

United States, or when territory passes by conquest, for instance Alsace

to Germany, the commercial treaties of the new supreme government take

effect. In administered territories, as Cyprus and formerly Bosnia, and

in protected territories, it depends on the policy of the administering

power how far the previous fiscal system shall remain in force. When the

separate Italian states were united into the kingdom of Italy in 1861,

the commercial engagements of Sardinia superseded those of the other

states, but fresh treaties were concluded by the new kingdom to place

international relations on a regular footing. When the German empire was

established under the king of Prussia in 1871, the commercial

engagements of any state which were at variance with a Zollverein treaty

were superseded by that treaty.

_Scope._--The scope of commercial treaties is well expressed by Calvo in

his work on international law. They provide for the importation,

exportation, transit, transhipment and bonding of merchandise; customs

tariffs; navigation charges; quarantine; the admission of vessels to

roadsteads, ports and docks; coasting trade; the admission of consuls

and their rights; fisheries; they determine the local position of the

subjects of each state in the other country in regard to residence,

property, payment of taxes or exemptions, and military service;

nationality; and a most favoured nation clause. They usually contain a

termination, and sometimes a colonial article. Some of the matters

enumerated by Calvo--consular privileges, fisheries and nationality--are

now frequently dealt with by separate conventions. Contraband and

neutral trade are not included as frequently as they were in the 18th

century.

The preceding statement shows that commercial treaties afford to

foreigners, personally, legal rights, and relief from technical

disabilities: they afford security to trade and navigation, and regulate

other matters comprised in their provisions. In Europe the general

principles established by the series of treaties 1860-1866 hold good,

namely, the substitution of uniform rates of customs duties for

prohibitions or differential rates. The disadvantages urged are that

these treaties involve government interference and bargaining, whereas

each state should act independently as its interests require, that they

are opposed to free trade, and restrict the fiscal freedom of the

legislature. It may be observed that these objections imply some

confusion of ideas. All contracts may be designated bargains, and some

of the details of commercial treaties in Calvo's enumeration enter

directly into the functions of government; moreover, countries cannot

remain isolated. If two countries agree by simultaneous action to adopt

fixed rates of duty, this agreement is favourable to commerce, and it is

not apparent how it is contrary, even to free trade principles.

Moreover, security in business transactions, a very important

consideration, is provided.

Our conclusions are--

(1) that under the varying jurisprudence of nations commercial treaties

are adopted by common consent;

(2) that their provisions depend upon the general and fiscal policy of

each state;

(3) that tariff arrangements, if judiciously settled, benefit trade;

(4) that commercial treaties are now entered into by all states; and

that they are necessary under present conditions of commercial

intercourse between nations. (C. M. K.*)

See the British parliamentary _Return_ (Cd. 4080) of all commercial

treaties between various countries in force on Jan. 1, 1908.

COMMERCY, a town of north-eastern France, capital of an arrondissement

in the department of Meuse, on the left bank of the Meuse, 26 m. E. of

Bar-le-Duc by rail. Pop. (1906) 5622. Commercy possesses a chateau of

the 17th century, now used as cavalry barracks, a Benedictine convent

occupied by a training-college for primary teachers, and a communal

college for boys. A statue of Dom Calmet, the historian, born in the

vicinity, stands in one of the squares. The industries include

iron-working and the manufacture of nails, boots and shoes, embroidery

and hosiery. The town has trade in cattle, grain and wood, and is well

known for its cakes (_madeleines_). Commercy dates back to the 9th

century, and at that time its lords were dependent on the bishop of

Metz. In 1544 it was besieged by Charles V. in person. For some time the

lordship was in the hands of Francois Paul de Gondi, cardinal de Retz,

who lived in the town for a number of years, and there composed his

memoirs. From him it was purchased by Charles IV., duke of Lorraine. In

1744 it became the residence of Stanislas, king of Poland, who spent a

great deal of care on the embellishment of the town, castle and

neighbourhood.

COMMERS (from Lat. _commercium_), the German term for the German

students' social gatherings held annually on occasions such as the

breaking-up of term and the anniversary of the university's founding. A

Commers consists of speeches and songs and the drinking of unlimited

quantities of beer. The arrangements are governed by officials

(_Chargierte_) elected by the students from among themselves. Strict

rules as to drinking exist, and the chairman after each speech calls for

what is called a salamander (_ad exercitium Salamandris bibite,

tergite_). All rise and having emptied their glasses hammer three times

on the table with them. On the death of a student, his memory is

honoured with a salamander, the glasses being broken to atoms at the

close.

COMMINES, PHILIPPE DE (c. 1445-c. 1511), French historian, called the

father of modern history, was born at the castle of Renescure, near

Hazebrouck in Flanders, a little earlier than 1447. He lost both father

and mother in his earliest years. In 1463 his godfather, Philip V., duke

of Burgundy, summoned him to his court, and soon after transferred him

to the household of his son, afterwards known as Charles the Bold. He

speedily acquired considerable influence over Charles, and in 1468 was

appointed chamberlain and councillor; consequently when in the same year

Louis XI. was entrapped at Peronne, Commines was able both to soften the

passion of Charles and to give useful advice to the king, whose life he

did much to save. Three years later he was charged with an embassy to

Louis, who gained him over to himself by many brilliant promises, and in

1472 he left Burgundy for the court of France. He was at once made

chamberlain and councillor; a pension of 6000 livres was bestowed on

him; he received the principality of Talmont, the confiscated property

of the Amboise family, over which the family of La Tremoille claimed to

have rights. The king arranged his marriage with Helene de Chambes, who

brought him the fine lordship of Argenton, and Commines took the name

d'Argenton from then (27th of January 1473). He was employed to carry

out the intrigues of Louis in Burgundy, and spent several months as

envoy in Italy. On his return he was received with the utmost favour,

and in 1479 obtained a decree confirming him in possession of his

principality.

On the death of Louis in 1483 a suit was commenced against Commines by

the family of La Tremoille, and he was cast in heavy damages. He plotted

against the regent, Anne of Beaujeu, and joined the party of the duke of

Orleans, afterwards Louis XII. Having attempted to carry off the king,

Charles VIII., and so free him from the tutelage of his sister, he was

arrested, and put in one of his old master's iron cages at Loches. In

1489 he was banished to one of his own estates for ten years, and made

to give bail to the amount of 10,000 crowns of gold for his good

behaviour. Recalled to the council in 1492, he strenuously opposed the

Italian expedition of Charles VIII., in which, however, he took part,

notably as representing the king in the negotiations which resulted in

the treaty of Vercelli. During the rest of his life, notwithstanding the

accession of Louis XII., whom he had served as duke of Orleans, he held

no position of importance; and his last days were disturbed by lawsuits.

He died at Argenton on the 18th of October, probably in 1511. His wife

Helene de Chambes survived him till 1532; their tomb is now in the

Louvre.

The _Memoirs_, to which Commines owes his reputation as a statesman and

man of letters, were written during his latter years. The graphic style

of his narrative and above all the keenness of his insight into the

motives of his contemporaries, an insight undimmed by undue regard for

principles of right and wrong, make this work one of the great classics

of history. His portrait of Louis XI. remains unique, in that to such a

writer was given such a subject. Scott in _Quentin Durward_ gives an

interesting picture of Commines, from whom he largely draws.

Sainte-Beuve, after speaking of Commines as being in date the first

truly modern writer, and comparing him with Montaigne, says that his

history remains the definitive history of his time, and that from it all

political history took its rise. None of this applause is undeserved,

for the pages of Commines abound with excellences. He analyses motives

and pictures manners; he delineates men and describes events; his

reflections are pregnant with suggestiveness, his conclusions strong

with the logic of facts.

The _Memoirs_ divided themselves into two parts, the first from the

reign of Louis XI., 1464-1483, the second on the Italian expedition and

the negotiations at Venice leading to the Vercelli treaty, 1494-1495.

The first part was written between 1489 and 1491, while Commines was at

the chateau of Dreux, the second from 1495 to 1498. Seven MSS. are

known, derived from a single holograph, and as this was undoubtedly

badly written, the copies were inaccurate; the best is that which

belonged to Anne de Polignac, niece of Commines, and it is the only one

containing books vii. and viii.

The best edition of Commines is the one edited by B. de Mandrot and

published at Paris in 1901-1903. For this edition the author used a

manuscript hitherto unknown and more complete than the others, and in

his introduction he gives an account of the life of Commines.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The _Memoirs_ remained in MS. till 1524, when part of

them were printed by Galliot du Pre, the remainder first seeing light

in 1525. Subsequent editions were put forth by Denys Sauvage in 1552,

by Denys Godefroy in 1649, and by Lenglet Dufresnoy in 1747. Those of

Mademoiselle Dupont (1841-1848) and of M. de Chantelauze (1881) have

many merits, but the best was given by Bernard de Mandrot: _Memoirs de

Philippe de Commynes_, from the MS. of Anne de Polignac (1901).

Various translations of Commines into English have appeared, from that

of T. Danett in 1596 to that, based on the Dupont edition, which was

printed in Bohn's series in 1855. (C. B.*)

COMMISSARIAT, the department of an army charged with the provision of

supplies, both food and forage, for the troops. The supply of military

stores such as ammunition is not included in the duties of a

commissariat. In almost every army the duties of transport and supply

are performed by the same corps of departmental troops.

COMMISSARY (from Med. Lat. _commissarius_, one to whom a charge or trust

is committed), generally, a representative; e.g., the emperor's

representative who presided in his absence over the imperial diet; and

especially, an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special

circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop (q.v.); in the Church of

England this jurisdiction is exercised in a Consistory Court (q.v.),

except in Canterbury, where the court of the diocesan as opposed to the

metropolitan jurisdiction of the archbishop is called a commissary

court, and the judge is the commissary general of the city and diocese

of Canterbury. When a see is vacant the jurisdiction is exercised by a

"special commissary" of the metropolitan. Commissary is also a general

military term for an official charged with the duties of supply,

transport and finance of an army. In the 17th and 18th centuries the

_commissaire des guerres_, or _Kriegskommissar_ was an important

official in continental armies, by whose agency the troops, in their

relation to the civil inhabitants, were placed upon semi-political

control. In French military law, _commissaires du gouvernement_

represent the ministry of war on military tribunals, and more or less

correspond to the British judge-advocate (see COURT-MARTIAL).

COMMISSION (from Lat. _commissio_, _committere_), the action of

committing or entrusting any charge or duty to a person, and the charge

or trust thus committed, and so particularly an authority, or the

document embodying such authority, given to some person to act in a

particular capacity. The term is thus applied to the written authority

to command troops, which the sovereign or president, as the ultimate

commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, grants to persons

selected as officers, or to the similar authority issued to certain

qualified persons to act as justices of the peace. For the various

commissions of assize see ASSIZE. The word is also used of the order

issued to a naval officer to take the command of a ship of war, and when

manned, armed and fully equipped for active service she is said to be

"put in commission."

In the law of evidence (q.v.) the presence of witnesses may, for certain

necessary causes, be dispensed with by the order of the court, and the

evidence be taken by a commissioner. Such evidence in England is said to

be "on commission" (see R.S.C. Order XXXVII.). Such causes may be

illness, the intention of the witness to leave the country before the

trial, residence out of the country or the like. Where the witness is

out of the jurisdiction of the court, and his place of residence is a

foreign country where objection is taken to the execution of a

commission, or is a British colony or India, "letters of request" for

the examination of the witness are issued, addressed to the head of the

tribunal in the foreign country, or to the secretary of state for the

colonies or for India.

Where the functions of an office are transferred from an individual to a

body of persons, the body exercising these delegated functions is

generally known as a commission and the members as commissioners; thus

the office of lord high admiral of Great Britain is administered by a

permanent board, the lords of the admiralty. Such a delegation may be

also temporary, as where the authority under the great seal to give the

royal assent to legislation is issued to lords commissioners. Similarly

bodies of persons or single individuals may be specially charged with

carrying out particular duties; these may be permanent, such as the

Charity Commission or the Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commission,

or may be temporary, such as various international bodies of inquiry,

like the commission which met in Paris in 1905 to inquire into the North

Sea incident (see DOGGER BANK), or such as the various commissions of

inquiry, royal, statutory or departmental, of which an account is given

below.

A commission may be granted by one person to another to act as his

agent, and particularly in business; thus the term is applied to that

method of business in which goods are entrusted to an agent for sale,

the remuneration being a percentage on the sales. This percentage is

known as the "commission," and hence the word is extended to all

remuneration which is based on a percentage on the value of the work

done. The right of an agent to remuneration in the form of a

"commission" is always founded upon an express or implied contract

between himself and his principal. Such a contract may be implied from

custom or usage, from the conduct of the principal or from the

circumstances of the particular case. Such commissions are only payable

on transactions directly resulting from agency and may be payable though

the principal acquires no benefit. In order to claim remuneration an

agent must be legally qualified to act in the capacity in which he

claims remuneration. He cannot recover in respect of unlawful or

wagering transactions, or in cases of misconduct or breach of duty.

_Secret Commissions._--The giving of a commission, in the sense of a

bribe or unlawful payment to an agent or employe in order to influence

him in relation to his principal's or employer's affairs, has grown to

considerable proportions in modern times; it has been rightly regarded

as a gross breach of trust upon the part of employes and agents,

inasmuch as it leads them to look to their own interests rather than to

those of their employers. In order to suppress this bribing of employes

the English legislature in 1906 passed the Prevention of Corruption Act,

which enacts that if an agent corruptly accepts or obtains for himself

or for any other person any gift or consideration as an inducement or

reward for doing or forbearing to do any act or business, or for showing

or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to

his principal's affairs, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall

be liable on conviction or indictment to imprisonment with or without

hard labour for a term not exceeding two years, or to a fine not

exceeding L500, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment not

exceeding four months with or without hard labour or to a fine not

exceeding L50, or both. The act also applies the same punishment to any

person who corruptly gives or offers any gift or consideration to an

agent. Also if a person knowingly gives an agent, or if an agent

knowingly uses, any receipt, account or document with intent to mislead

the principal, they are guilty of a misdemeanour and liable to the

punishment already mentioned. For the purposes of the act

"consideration" includes valuable consideration of any kind, and "agent"

includes any person employed by or acting for another. No prosecution

can be instituted without the consent of the attorney-general, and every

information must be upon oath.

Legislation to the same effect has been adopted in Australia. A federal

act was passed in 1905 dealing with secret commissions, and in the same

year both Victoria and Western Australia passed drastic measures to

prevent the giving or receiving corruptly of commissions. The Victorian

act applies to trustees, executors, administrators and liquidators as

well as to agents. Both the Victorian and the Western Australian acts

enact that gifts to the parent, wife, child, partner or employer of an

agent are to be deemed gifts to the agent unless the contrary is proved;

also that the custom of any trade or calling is not in itself a defence

to a prosecution.

_Commissions of Inquiry_, i.e. commissions for the purpose of eliciting

information as to the operation of laws, or investigating particular

matters, social, educational, &c., are distinguished, according to the

terms of their appointment, as _royal_, _statutory_ and _departmental_.

A royal commission in England is appointed by the crown, and the

commissions usually issue from the office of the executive government

which they specially concern. The objects of the inquiry are carefully

defined in the warrant constituting the commission, which is termed the

"reference." The commissioners give their services gratuitously, but

where they involve any great degree of professional skill compensation

is allowed for time and labour. The expenses incurred are provided out

of money annually voted for the purpose. Unless expressly empowered by

act of parliament, a commission cannot compel the production of

documents or the giving of evidence, nor can it administer an oath. A

commission may hold its sittings in any part of the United Kingdom, or

may institute and conduct experiments for the purpose of testing the

utility of invention, &c. When the inquiry or any particular portion of

it is concluded, a report is presented to the crown through the home

department. All the commissioners, if unanimous, sign the report, but

those who are unable to agree with the majority can record their

dissent, and express their individual opinions, either in paragraphs

appended to the report or in separately signed memoranda.

Statutory commissions are created by acts of parliament, and, with the

exception that they are liable to have their proceedings questioned in

parliament, have absolute powers within the limits of their prescribed

functions and subject to the provisions of the act defining the same.

Departmental commissions or committees are appointed either by a

treasury minute or by the authority of a secretary of state, for the

purpose of instituting inquiries into matters of official concern or

examining into proposed changes in administrative arrangements. They are

generally composed of two or more permanent officials of the department

concerned in the investigation, along with a subordinate member of the

administration. Reports of such committees are usually regarded as

confidential documents.

A full account of the procedure in royal commissions will be found in

A. Todd's _Parliamentary Government in England_, vol. ii.

COMMISSIONAIRE, the designation of an attendant, messenger or

subordinate employe in hotels on the continent of Europe, whose chief

duty is to attend at railway stations, secure customers, take charge of

their luggage, carry out the necessary formalities with respect to it

and have it sent on to the hotel. They are also employed in Paris as

street messengers, light porters, &c. The Corps of Commissionaires, in

England, is an association of pensioned soldiers of trustworthy

character, founded in 1859 by Captain Sir Edward Walter, K.C.B.

(1823-1904). It was first started in a very small way, with the

intention of providing occupation for none but wounded soldiers. The

nucleus of the corps consisted of eight men, each of whom had lost a

limb. The demand, however, for neat, uniformed, trusty men, to perform

certain light duties, encouraged the founder to extend his idea, and the

corps developed into a large self-supporting organization. In 1906 there

were over 3000 members of the corps, more than 2000 of whom served in

London. Out-stations were established in various large towns of the

kingdom, and the corps extended its operations also to the colonies.

COMMISSIONER, in general an officer appointed to carry out some

particular work, or to discharge the duty of a particular office; one

who is a member of a commission (q.v.). In this sense the word is

applied to members of a permanently constituted department of the

administration, as civil service commissioners, commissioners of income

tax, commissioners in lunacy, &c. It is also the title given to the

heads of or important officials in various governmental departments, as

commissioner of customs. In some British possessions in Africa and the

Pacific the head of the government is styled high commissioner. In India

a commissioner is the chief administrative official of a division which

includes several districts. The office does not exist in Madras, where

the same duties are discharged by a board of revenue, but is found in

most of the other provinces. The commissioner comes midway between the

local government and the district officer. In the regulation provinces

the district officer is called a collector (q.v.), and in the

non-regulation provinces a deputy-commissioner. In the former he must

always be a member of the covenanted civil service, but in the latter he

may be a military officer.

A chief commissioner is a high Indian official, governing a province

inferior in status to a lieutenant-governorship, but in direct

subordination to the governor-general in council. The provinces which

have chief commissioners are the Central Provinces and Berar, the

North-West Frontier Province and Coorg. The agent to the

governor-general of Baluchistan is also chief commissioner of British

Baluchistan, the agent to the governor-general of Rajputana is also

chief commissioner of the British district of Ajmere-Merwara, and there

is a chief commissioner of the Andaman and Nicobar islands. Several

provinces, such as the Punjab, Oudh, Burma and Assam, were administered

by chief commissioners before they were raised to the status of

lieutenant-governorships (see LIEUTENANT).

A commissioner for oaths in England is a solicitor appointed by the lord

chancellor to administer oaths to persons making affidavits for the

purpose of any cause or matter. The Commissioner for Oaths Act 1889

(with an amending act 1891), amending and consolidating various other

acts, regulates the appointment and powers of such commissioners. In

most large towns the minimum qualification for appointment is six years'

continuous practice, and the application must be supported by two

barristers, two solicitors and at least six neighbours of the applicant.

The charge made by commissioners for every oath, declaration,

affirmation or attestation upon honour is one shilling and sixpence; for

marking each exhibit (a document or other thing sworn to in an affidavit

and shown to a deponent when being sworn), one shilling.

COMMITMENT, in English law, a precept or warrant _in writing_, made and

issued by a court or judicial officer (including, in cases of treason,

the privy council or a secretary of state), directing the conveyance of

a person named or sufficiently described therein to a prison or other

legal place of custody, and his detention therein for a time specified,

or until the person to be detained has done a certain act specified in

the warrant, e.g. paid a fine imposed upon him on conviction. Its

character will be more easily grasped by reference to a form now in use

under statutory authority:--

In the county of A, Petty Sessional Division of B.

To each and all of the constables of the county of A and the governor

of His Majesty's Prison at C.

E. F. hereinafter called the defendant has this day been convicted

before the court of summary jurisdiction sitting at D.

(Here the conviction and adjudication is stated.)

You the said constables are hereby commanded to convey the defendant

to the said prison, and there deliver him to the governor thereof

together with this warrant: and you the governor of the said prison to

receive the defendant into your custody and keep him to hard labour

for the space of three calendar months.

Dated Signature and seal of a justice of the peace.

A commitment as now understood differs from "committal," which is the

decision of a court to send a person to prison, and not the document

containing the directions to executive and ministerial officers of the

law which are consequent on the decision. An interval must necessarily

elapse between the decision to commit and the making out of the warrant

of commitment, during which interval the detention in custody of the

person committed is undoubtedly legal. A commitment differs also from a

warrant of arrest (_mandat d'amener_), in that it is not made until

after the person to be detained has actually appeared, or has been

summoned, before the court which orders committal, to answer to some

charge.

If not always, at any rate since 1679, a warrant of commitment has been

necessary to justify officers of the law in conveying a prisoner to gaol

and a gaoler in receiving and detaining him there. It is ordinarily

essential to a valid commitment that it should contain a specific

statement of the particular cause of the detention ordered. To this the

chief, if not the only exception, is in the case of commitments by order

of either House of Parliament (May, _Parl. Pr._, 11th ed., 63, 70, 90).

Commitments by justices of the peace must be under their hands and

seals. Commitments by a court of record if formally drawn up are under

the seal of the court.

Every person in custody is entitled, under the Habeas Corpus Act 1679,

to receive within six hours of demand from the officer in whose custody

he is, a copy of any warrant of commitment under which he is detained,

and may challenge its legality by application for a writ of habeas

corpus.

So far as concerns the acts of justices and tribunals of limited

jurisdiction, the stringency of the rules as to commitments is an

important aid to the liberty of the subject.

In the case of superior courts no statutory forms of commitment exist,

and the same formalities are not so strictly enforced. Committal of a

person present in court for contempt of the court is enforced by his

immediate arrest by the tipstaff as soon as committal is ordered, and he

may be detained in prison on a memorandum of the clerk or registrar of

the court while a formal order is being drawn up. And in the case of

persons sentenced at assizes and quarter sessions the only written

authority for enforcement is a calendar of the prisoners tried, on which

the sentences are entered up, signed by the presiding judge.

Commitments are usually made by courts of criminal jurisdiction in

respect of offences against the criminal law, but are also occasionally

made as a punishment for disobedience to the orders made in a civil

court, e.g. where a judgment debtor having means to pay refuses to

satisfy the judgment debt, or in cases where the person committed has

been guilty of a direct contempt of the court.

The expenses of executing a warrant of commitment, so far as not paid by

the prisoner, are defrayed out of the parliamentary grants for the

maintenance of prisons.

COMMITTEE (from _committe_, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of _commettre_,

Lat. _committere_, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent _comite_ is

derived from the Eng.), a person or body of persons to whom something is

"committed" or entrusted. The term is used of a person or persons to

whom the charge of the body ("committee of the person") or of the

property and business affairs ("committee of the estate") of a lunatic

is committed by the court (see INSANITY). In this sense the English

usage is to pronounce the word _commi-ttee_. The more common meaning of

"committee" (pronounced _committ-y_) is that of a body of persons

elected or appointed to consider and deal with certain matters of

business, specially or generally referred to it.

COMMODIANUS, a Christian Latin poet, who flourished about A.D. 250. The

only ancient writers who mention him are Gennadius, presbyter of

Massilia (end of 5th century), in his _De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis_,

and Pope Gelasius in _De libris recipiendis et non recipiendis_, in

which his works are classed as _Apocryphi_, probably on account of

certain heterodox statements contained in them. Commodianus is supposed

to have been an African. As he himself tells us, he was originally a

heathen, but was converted to Christianity when advanced in years, and

felt called upon to instruct the ignorant in the truth. He was the

author of two extant Latin poems, _Instructiones_ and _Carmen

apologeticum_ (first published in 1852 by J. B. Pitra in the

_Spicilegium Solesmense_, from a MS. in the Middlehill collection, now

at Cheltenham, supposed to have been brought from the monastery of

Bobbio). The _Instructiones_ consist of 80 poems, each of which is an

acrostic (with the exception of 60, where the initial letters are in

alphabetical order). The initials of 80, read backwards, give

Commodianus Mendicus Christi. The _Apologeticum_, undoubtedly by

Commodianus, although the name of the author (as well as the title) is

absent from the MS., is free from the acrostic restriction. The first

part of the _Instructiones_ is addressed to the heathens and Jews, and

ridicules the divinities of classical mythology; the second contains

reflections on Antichrist, the end of the world, the Resurrection, and

advice to Christians, penitents and the clergy. In the _Apologeticum_

all mankind are exhorted to repent, in view of the approaching end of

the world. The appearance of Antichrist, identified with Nero and the

Man from the East, is expected at an early date. Although they display

fiery dogmatic zeal, the poems cannot be considered quite orthodox. To

the classical scholar the metre alone is of interest. Although they are

professedly written in hexameters, the rules of quantity are sacrificed

to accent. The first four lines of the _Instructiones_ may be quoted by

way of illustration:

"Praefatio nostra viam erranti demonstrat,

Respectumque bonum, cum venerit saeculi meta,

Aeternum fieri, quod discredunt inscia corda:

Ego similiter erravi tempore multo."

These _versus politici_ (as they are called) show that the change was

already passing over Latin which resulted in the formation of the

Romance languages. The use of cases and genders, the construction of

verbs and prepositions, and the verbal forms exhibit striking

irregularities. The author, however, shows an acquaintance with Latin

poets--Horace, Virgil, Lucretius.

The best edition of the text is by B. Dombart (Vienna, 1887), and a

good account of the poems will be found in M. Manitius, _Geschichte

der christlich-lateinischen Poesie_ (1891), with bibliography, to

which may be added G. Boissier, "Commodien," in the _Melanges Renier_

(1887); H. Brewer, _Kommodian von Gaza_ (Paderborn, 1906); L. Vernier,

"La Versification latine populaire en Afrique," in _Revue de

philologie_, xv. (1891); and C. E. Freppel, _Commodien, Arnobe,

Lactance_ (1893). Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Literature_ (Eng.

trans., 384), should also be consulted.

COMMODORE (a form of "commander"; in the 17th century the term

"commandore" is used), a temporary rank in the British navy for an

officer in command of a squadron. There are two kinds, one with and the

other without a captain below him in his ship, the first holding the

temporary rank, pay, &c., of a rear-admiral, the other that of captain.

It is also given as a courtesy title to the senior officer of a squadron

of more than three vessels. In the United States navy "commodore" was a

courtesy title given to captains who had been in command of a squadron.

In 1862 it was made a commissioned rank, but was abolished in 1899. The

name is given to the president of a yacht club, as of the Royal Yacht

Squadron, and to the senior captain of a fleet of merchant vessels.

COMMODUS, LUCIUS AELIUS AURELIUS (161-192), also called Marcus

Antoninus, emperor of Rome, son of Marcus Aurelius and Faustina, was

born at Lanuvium on the 31st of August 161. In spite of a careful

education he soon showed a fondness for low society and amusement. At

the age of fifteen he was associated by his father in the government. On

the death of Aurelius, whom he had accompanied in the war against the

Quadi and Marcomanni, he hastily concluded peace and hurried back to

Rome (180). The first years of his reign were uneventful, but in 183 be

was attacked by an assassin at the instigation of his sister Lucilla

and many members of the senate, which felt deeply insulted by the

contemptuous manner in which Commodus treated it. From this time he

became tyrannical. Many distinguished Romans were put to death as

implicated in the conspiracy, and others were executed for no reason at

all. The treasury was exhausted by lavish expenditure on gladiatorial

and wild beast combats and on the soldiery, and the property of the

wealthy was confiscated. At the same time Commodus, proud of his bodily

strength and dexterity, exhibited himself in the arena, slew wild

animals and fought with gladiators, and commanded that he should be

worshipped as the Roman Hercules. Plots against his life naturally began

to spring up. That of his favourite Perennis, praefect of the praetorian

guard, was discovered in time. The next danger was from the people, who

were infuriated by the dearth of corn. The mob repelled the praetorian

guard, but the execution of the hated minister Cleander quieted the

tumult. The attempt also of the daring highwayman Maternus to seize the

empire was betrayed; but at last Eclectus the emperor's chamberlain,

Laetus the praefect of the praetorians, and his mistress Marcia, finding

their names on the list of those doomed to death, united to destroy him.

He was poisoned, and then strangled by a wrestler named Narcissus, on

the 31st of December 192. During his reign unimportant wars were

successfully carried on by his generals Clodius Albinus, Pescennius

Niger and Ulpius Marcellus. The frontier of Dacia was successfully

defended against the Scythians and Sarmatians, and a tract of territory

reconquered in north Britain. In 1874 a statue of Commodus was dug up at

Rome, in which he is represented as Hercules--a lion's skin on his head,

a club in his right and the apples of the Hesperides in his left hand.

See Aelius Lampridius, Herodian, and fragments in Dio Cassius; H.

Schiller, _Geschichte der romischen Kaiserzeit_; J. Zurcher,

"Commodus" (1868, in Budinger's _Untersuchungen zur romischen

Kaisergeschichte_, a criticism of Herodian's account); Pauly-Wissowa,

_Realencyclopadie_, ii. 2464 ff. (von Rohden); Heer, "Der historische

Wert des Vita Commodi" (_Philologus_, Supplementband ix.).

COMMON LAW, like "civil law," a phrase with many shades of meaning, and

probably best defined with reference to the various things to which it

is opposed. It is contrasted with statute law, as law not promulgated by

the sovereign body; with equity, as the law prevailing between man and

man, unless when the court of chancery assumed jurisdiction; and with

local or customary law, as the general law for the whole realm,

tolerating variations in certain districts and under certain conditions.

It is also sometimes contrasted with civil, or canon, or international

law, which are foreign systems recognized in certain special courts only

and within limits defined by the common law. As against all these

contrasted kinds of law, it may be described broadly as the universal

law of the realm, which applies wherever they have not been introduced,

and which is supposed to have a principle for every possible case.

Occasionally, it would appear to be used in a sense which would exclude

the law developed by at all events the more modern decisions of the

courts.

Blackstone divides the civil law of England into _lex scripta_ or

statute law, and _lex non scripta_ or common law. The latter, he says,

consists of (1) general customs, which are the common law strictly so

called, (2) particular customs prevailing in certain districts, and (3)

laws used in particular courts. The first is the law by which

"proceedings and determinations in the king's ordinary courts of justice

are guided and directed." That the eldest son alone is heir to his

ancestor, that a deed is of no validity unless sealed and delivered,

that wills shall be construed more favourably and deeds more strictly,

are examples of common law doctrines, "not set down in any written

statute or ordinance, but depending on immemorial usage for their

support." The validity of these usages is to be determined by the

judges--"the depositaries of the law, the living oracles who must decide

in all cases of doubt, and who are bound by an oath to decide according

to the law of the land." Their judgments are preserved as records, and

"it is an established rule to abide by former precedents where the same

points come again in litigation." The extraordinary deference paid to

precedents is the source of the most striking peculiarities of the

English common law. There can be little doubt that it was the rigid

adherence of the common law courts to established precedent which caused

the rise of an independent tribunal administering justice on more

equitable principles--the tribunal of the chancellor, the court of

chancery. And the old common law courts--the king's bench, common pleas

and exchequer--were always, as compared with the court of chancery,

distinguished for a certain narrowness and technicality of reasoning. At

the same time the common law was never a fixed or rigid system. In the

application of old precedents to the changing circumstances of society,

and in the development of new principles to meet new cases, the common

law courts displayed an immense amount of subtlety and ingenuity, and a

great deal of sound sense. The continuity of the system was not less

remarkable than its elasticity. Two great defects of form long

disfigured the English law. One was the separation of common law and

equity. The Judicature Act of 1873 remedied this by merging the

jurisdiction of all the courts in one supreme court, and causing

equitable principles to prevail over those of the common law where they

differ. The other is the overwhelming mass of precedents in which the

law is embedded. This can only be removed by some well-conceived scheme

of the nature of a code or digest; to some extent this difficulty has

been overcome by such acts as the Bills of Exchange Act 1882, the

Partnership Act 1890 and the Sale of Goods Act 1893.

The English common law may be described as a pre-eminently national

system. Based on Saxon customs, moulded by Norman lawyers, and jealous

of foreign systems, it is, as Bacon says, as mixed as the English

language and as truly national. And like the language, it has been taken

into other English-speaking countries, and is the foundation of the law

in the United States.

COMMON LODGING-HOUSE, "a house, or part of a house, where persons of the

poorer classes are received for gain, and in which they use one or more

rooms in common with the rest of the inmates, who are not members of one

family, whether for eating or sleeping" (_Langdon_ v. _Broadbent_, 1877,

37 L.T. 434; _Booth_ v. _Ferrett_, 1890, 25 Q.B.D. 87). There is no

statutory definition of the class of houses in England intended to be

included in the expression "common lodging-house," but the above

definition is very generally accepted as embracing those houses which,

under the Public Health and other Acts, must be registered and

inspected. The provisions of the Public Health Act 1875 are that every

urban and rural district council must keep registers showing the names

and residences of the keepers of all common lodging-houses in their

districts, the situation of every such house, and the number of lodgers

authorized by them to be received therein. They may require the keeper

to affix and keep undefaced and legible a notice with the words

"registered common lodging-house" in some conspicuous place on the

outside of the house, and may make by-laws fixing the number of lodgers,

for the separation of the sexes, for promoting cleanliness and

ventilation, for the giving of notices and the taking of precautions in

case of any infectious disease, and generally for the well ordering of

such houses. The keeper of a common lodging-house is required to

limewash the walls and ceilings twice a year--in April and October--and

to provide a proper water-supply. The whole of the house must be open at

all times to the inspection of any officer of a council. The county of

London (except the city) is under the Common Lodging Houses Acts 1851

and 1853, with the Sanitary Act 1866 and the Sanitary Law Amendment Act

1874. The administration of these acts was, from 1851 to 1894, in the

hands of the chief commissioner of police, when it was transferred to

the London County Council.

COMMON ORDER, BOOK OF, sometimes called _The Order of Geneva_ or _Knox's

Liturgy_, a directory for public worship in the Reformed Church in

Scotland. In 1557 the Scottish Protestant lords in council enjoined the

use of the English Common Prayer, i.e. the Second Book of Edward VI.

Meanwhile, at Frankfort, among British Protestant refugees, a

controversy was going on between the upholders of the English liturgy

and the French Reformed Order of Worship respectively. By way of

compromise John Knox and other ministers drew up a new liturgy based

upon earlier Continental Reformed Services, which was not deemed

satisfactory, but which on his removal to Geneva he published in 1556

for the use of the English congregations in that city. The Geneva book

made its way to Scotland, and was used here and there by Reformed

congregations. Knox's return in 1559 strengthened its position, and in

1562 the General Assembly enjoined the uniform use of it as the "Book of

Our Common Order" in "the administration of the Sacraments and

solemnization of marriages and burials of the dead." In 1564 a new and

enlarged edition was printed in Edinburgh, and the Assembly ordered that

"every Minister, exhorter and reader" should have a copy and use the

Order contained therein not only for marriage and the sacraments but

also "in Prayer," thus ousting the hitherto permissible use of the

Second Book of Edward VI. at ordinary service. "The rubrics as retained

from the Book of Geneva made provision for an extempore prayer before

the sermon, and allowed the minister some latitude in the other two

prayers. The forms for the special services were more strictly imposed,

but liberty was also given to vary some of the prayers in them. The

rubrics of the Scottish portion of the book are somewhat stricter, and,

indeed, one or two of the Geneva rubrics were made more absolute in the

Scottish emendations; but no doubt the 'Book of Common Order' is best

described as a discretionary liturgy."

It will be convenient here to give the contents of the edition printed

by Andrew Hart at Edinburgh in 1611, and described (as was usually the

case) as _The Psalmes of David in Meeter, with the Prose, whereunto is

added Prayers commonly used in the Kirke, and private houses; with a

perpetuall Kalendar and all the Changes of the Moone that shall happen

for the space of Six Yeeres to come_. They are as follows:--

(i.) The Calendar; (ii.) The names of the Faires of Scotland; (iii.) The

Confession of Faith used at Geneva and received by the Church of

Scotland; (iv.-vii.) Concerning the election and duties of Ministers,

Elders and Deacons, and Superintendent; (viii.) An order of

Ecclesiastical Discipline; (ix.) The Order of Excommunication and of

Public Repentance; (x.) The Visitation of the Sick; (xi.) The Manner of

Burial; (xii.) The Order of Public Worship--Forms of Confession and

Prayer after Sermon; (xiii.) Other Public Prayers; (xiv.) The

Administration of the Lord's Supper; (xv.) The Form of Marriage; (xvi.)

The Order of Baptism; (xvii.) A Treatise on Fasting with the order

thereof; (xviii.) The Psalms of David; (xix.) Conclusions or Doxologies;

(xx.) Hymns--metrical versions of the Decalogue, Magnificat, Apostles'

Creed, &c.; (xxi.) Calvin's Catechism; (xxii. and xxiii.) Prayers for

Private Houses and Miscellaneous Prayers, e.g. for a man before he

begins his work.

The Psalms and Catechism together occupy more than half the book. The

chapter on burial is significant. In place of the long office of the

Catholic Church we have simply this statement:--"The corpse is

reverently brought to the grave, accompanied with the Congregation,

without any further ceremonies: which being buried, the Minister (if he

be present and required) goeth to the Church, if it be not far off, and

maketh some comfortable exhortation to the people, touching death and

resurrection." This (with the exception of the bracketed words) was

taken over from the Book of Geneva. The Westminster Directory which

superseded the Book of Common Order also enjoins interment "without any

ceremony," such being stigmatized as "no way beneficial to the dead and

many ways hurtful to the living." Civil honours may, however, be

rendered.

Revs. G. W. Sprott and Thomas Leishman, in the introduction to their

edition of the Book of Common Order, and of the Westminster Directory

published in 1868, collected a valuable series of notices as to the

actual usage of the former book for the period (1564-1645) during which

it was enjoined by ecclesiastical law. Where ministers were not

available suitable persons (often old priests, sometimes schoolmasters)

were selected as readers. Good contemporary accounts of Scottish worship

are those of W. Cowper (1568-1619), bishop of Galloway, in his _Seven

Days' Conference between a Catholic Christian and a Catholic Roman_

(_c._ 1615), and Alexander Henderson in _The Government and Order of the

Church of Scotland_ (1641). There was doubtless a good deal of variety

at different times and in different localities. Early in the 17th

century under the twofold influence of the Dutch Church, with which the

Scottish clergy were in close connexion, and of James I.'s endeavours to

"justle out" a liturgy which gave the liberty of "conceiving" prayers,

ministers began in prayer to read less and extemporize more.

Turning again to the legislative history, in 1567 the prayers were done

into Gaelic; in 1579 parliament ordered all gentlemen and yeomen holding

property of a certain value to possess copies. The assembly of 1601

declined to alter any of the existing prayers but expressed a

willingness to admit new ones. Between 1606 and 1618 various attempts

were made under English and Episcopal influence, by assemblies

afterwards declared unlawful, to set aside the "Book of Common Order."

The efforts of James I., Charles I. and Archbishop Laud proved

fruitless; in 1637 the reading of Laud's draft of a new form of service

based on the English prayer book led to riots in Edinburgh and to

general discontent in the country. The General Assembly of Glasgow in

1638 abjured Laud's book and took its stand again by the Book of Common

Order, an act repeated by the assembly of 1639, which also demurred

against innovations proposed by the English separatists, who objected

altogether to liturgical forms, and in particular to the Lord's Prayer,

the _Gloria Patri_ and the minister kneeling for private devotion in the

pulpit. An Aberdeen printer named Raban was publicly censured for having

on his own authority shortened one of the prayers. The following years

witnessed a counter attempt to introduce the Scottish liturgy into

England, especially for those who in the southern kingdom were inclined

to Presbyterianism. This effort culminated in the Westminster Assembly

of divines which met in 1643, at which six commissioners from the Church

of Scotland were present, and joined in the task of drawing up a Common

Confession, Catechism and Directory for the three kingdoms. The

commissioners reported to the General Assembly of 1644 that this Common

Directory "is so begun ... that we could not think upon any particular

Directory for our own Kirk." The General Assembly of 1645 after careful

study approved the new order. An act of Assembly on the 3rd of February

and an act of parliament on the 6th of February ordered its use in every

church, and henceforth, though there was no act setting aside the "Book

of Common Order," the Westminster Directory was of primary authority.

The Directory was meant simply to make known "the general heads, the

sense and scope of the Prayers and other parts of Public Worship," and

if need be, "to give a help and furniture." The act of parliament

recognizing the Directory was annulled at the Restoration and the book

has never since been acknowledged by a civil authority in Scotland. But

General Assemblies have frequently recommended its use, and worship in

Presbyterian churches is largely conducted on the lines of the

Westminster Assembly's Directory.

The modern _Book of Common Order_ or _Euchologion_ is a compilation

drawn from various sources and issued by the Church Service Society, an

organization which endeavours to promote liturgical usages within the

Established Church of Scotland.

COMMONPLACE, a translation of the Gr. [Greek: koivos topos], i.e. a

passage or argument appropriate to several cases; a "common-place book"

is a collection of such passages or quotations arranged for reference

under general heads either alphabetically or on some method of

classification. To such a book the name _adversaria_ was given, which is

an adaptation of the Latin _adversaria scripta_, notes written on one

side, the side opposite (_adversus_), of a paper or book. From its

original meaning the word came to be used as meaning something

hackneyed, a platitude or truism, and so, as an adjective, equivalent to

trivial or ordinary. It was first spelled as two words, then with a

hyphen, and so still in the sense of a "common-place book."

COMMON PLEAS, COURT OF, formerly one of the three English common law

courts at Westminster--the other two being the king's bench and

exchequer. The court of common pleas was an offshoot of the Curia Regis

or king's council. Previous to Magna Carta, the king's council,

especially that portion of it which was charged with the management of

judicial and revenue business, followed the king's person. This, as far

as private litigation was concerned, caused great inconvenience to the

unfortunate suitors whose plaints awaited the attention of the court,

for they had, of necessity, also to follow the king from place to place,

or lose the opportunity of having their causes tried. Accordingly, Magna

Carta enacted that common pleas (_communia placita_) or causes between

subject and subject, should be held in some fixed place and not follow

the court. This place was fixed at Westminster. The court was presided

over by a chief (_capitalis justiciarius de communi banco_) and four

puisne judges. The jurisdiction of the common pleas was, by the

Judicature Act 1873, vested in the king's bench division of the High

Court of Justice.

COMMONS,[1]

Early history.

the term for the lands held in commonalty, a relic of the system on

which the lands of England were for the most part cultivated during the

middle ages. The country was divided into vills, or townships--often,

though not necessarily, or always, coterminous with the parish. In each

stood a cluster of houses, a village, in which dwelt the men of the

township, and around the village lay the arable fields and other lands,

which they worked as one common farm. Save for a few small inclosures

near the village--for gardens, orchards or paddocks for young stock--the

whole township was free from permanent fencing. The arable lands lay in

large tracts divided into compartments or fields, usually three in

number, to receive in constant rotation the triennial succession of

wheat (or rye), spring crops (such as barley, oats, beans or peas), and

fallow. Low-lying lands were used as meadows, and there were sometimes

pastures fed according to fixed rules. The poorest land of the township

was left waste--to supply feed for the cattle of the community, fuel,

wood for repairs, and any other commodity of a renewable or practically

inexhaustible character.[2] This waste land is the common of our own

days.

It would seem likely that at one time there was no division, as between

individual inhabitants or householders, of any of the lands of the

township, but only of the products. But so far back as accurate

information extends the arable land is found to be parcelled out, each

householder owning strips in each field. These strips are always long

and narrow, and lie in sets parallel with one another. The plough for

cultivating the fields was maintained at the common expense of the

village, and the draught oxen were furnished by the householders. From

the time when the crop was carried till the next sowing, the field lay

open to the cattle of the whole vill, which also had the free run of the

fallow field throughout the year. But when two of the three fields were

under crops, and the meadows laid up for hay, it is obvious that the

cattle of the township required some other resort for pasturage. This

was supplied by the waste or common. Upon it the householder turned out

the oxen and horses which he contributed to the plough, and the cows and

sheep, which were useful in manuring the common fields,--in the words of

an old law case: "horses and oxen to plough the land, and cows and sheep

to compester it." Thus the use of the common by each householder was

naturally measured by the stock which he kept for the service of the

common fields; and when, at a later period, questions arose as to the

extent of the rights on the common, the necessary practice furnished the

rule, that the commoner could turn out as many head of cattle as he

could keep by means of the lands which were parcelled out to him,--the

rule of levancy and couchancy, which has come down to the present day.

Status of township.

In the earliest post-conquest times the vill or township is found to be

associated with an over-lord. There has been much controversy on the

question, whether the vill originally owned its lands free from any

control, and was subsequently reduced to a state of subjection and to a

large extent deprived of its ownership, or whether its whole history has

been one of gradual emancipation, the ownership of the waste, or

common, now ascribed by the law to the lord being a remnant of his

ownership of all the lands of the vill. (See MANOR.)

At whatever date the over-lord first appeared, and whatever may have

been the personal relations of the villagers to him from time to time

after his appearance, there can be hardly any doubt that the village

lands, whether arable, meadow or waste, were substantially the property

of the villagers for the purposes of use and enjoyment. They resorted

freely to the common for such purposes as were incident to their system

of agriculture, and regulated its use amongst themselves. The idea that

the common was the "lord's waste," and that he had the power to do what

he liked with it, subject to specific and limited qualifying rights in

others, was, there is little doubt, the creation of the Norman lawyers.

Statutes of Merton and Westminster the Second.

One of the earliest assertions of the lord's proprietary interest in

waste lands is contained in the Statute of Merton, a statute which, it

is well to notice, was passed in one of the first assemblies of the

barons of England, before the commons of the realm were summoned to

parliament. This statute, which became law in the year 1235, provided

"that the great men of England (which had enfeoffed knights and their

freeholders of small tenements in their great manors)" might "make their

profit of their lands, wastes, woods and pastures," if they left

sufficient pasture for the service of the tenements they had granted.

Some fifty years later, another statute, that of Westminster the Second,

supplemented the Statute of Merton by enabling the lord of the soil to

inclose common lands, not only against his own tenants, but against

"neighbours" claiming pasture there. These two pieces of legislation

undoubtedly mark the growth of the doctrine which converted the

over-lord's territorial sway into property of the modern kind, and a

corresponding loosening of the hold of the rural townships on the wastes

of their neighbourhood. To what extent the two acts were used, it is

very difficult to say. We know, from later controversies, that they made

no very great change in the system on which the country was cultivated,

a system to which, as we have seen, commons were essential. In some

counties, indeed, inclosures had, by the Tudor period, made greater

progress than in others. T. Tusser, in his eulogium on inclosed farming,

cites Suffolk and Essex as inclosed counties by way of contrast to

Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire, where the open or "champion"

(champain) system prevailed. The Statutes of Merton and Westminster may

have had something to do with the progress of inclosed farming; but it

is probable that their chief operation lay in furnishing the lord of the

manor with a farm on the new system, side by side with the common

fields, or with a deer park.

The Black Death.

The first event which really endangered the village system was the

coming of the Black Death. This scourge is said to have swept away half

the population of the country. The disappearance, by no means uncommon,

of a whole family gave the over-lord of the vill the opportunity of

appropriating, by way of escheat, the holding of the household in the

common fields. The land-holding population of the townships and the

persons interested in the commons were thus sensibly diminished.

During the Wars of the Roses the small cultivator is thought to have

again made headway. But his diminished numbers, and the larger interest

which the lords had acquired in the lands of each vill, no doubt

facilitated the determined attack on the common-field system which

marked the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI.

The Tudor agrarian revolution.

This attack, which had for its chief object the conversion of arable

land into pasture for the sake of sheep-breeding, was the outcome of

many causes. It was no longer of importance to a territorial magnate to

possess a large body of followers pledged to his interests by their

connexion with the land. On the other hand, wool commanded a high price,

and the growth of towns and of foreign commerce supplied abundant

markets. At the same time the confiscation of the monastic possessions

introduced a race of new over-lords--not bound to their territories by

any family traditions, and also tended to spread the view that the

strong hand was its own justification. In order to keep large flocks

and send many bales of wool to market, each landowner strove to increase

his range of pasture, and with this view to convert the arable fields of

his vill into grass land. There is abundant evidence both from the

complaints of writers such as Latimer and Sir Thomas More, and from the

Statutes and royal commissions of the day, that large inclosures were

made at this time, and that the process was effected with much injustice

and accompanied by great hardship. "Where," says Bishop Latimer in one

of his courageous and vigorous denunciations of "inclosers and

rent-raisers," "there have been many householders and inhabitants, there

is now but a shepherd and his dog." In the full tide of this movement,

and despite Latimer's appeals, the Statutes of Merton and Westminster

the Second were confirmed and re-enacted. Both common fields and commons

no doubt disappeared in many places; and the country saw the first

notable instalment of inclosure. But from the evidence of later years it

is clear that a very large area of the country was still cultivated on

the common-field system for another couple of centuries. When inclosure

on any considerable scale again came into favour, it was effected on

quite different principles; and before describing what was essentially a

modern movement, it will be convenient to give a brief outline of the

principles of law applicable to commons at the present day.

Rights of common.

_Law._--The distinguishing feature in law of common land is, that it is

land the soil of which belongs to one person, and from which certain

other persons take certain profits--for example, the bite of the grass

by the mouth of cattle, or gorse, bushes or heather for fuel or litter.

The right to take such a profit is a right of common; the right to feed

cattle on common land is a right of common of pasture; while the right

of cutting bushes, gorse or heather (more rarely of lopping trees) is

known as a right of common of _estovers_ (_estouviers_) or _botes_

(respectively from the Norman-French _estouffer_, and the Saxon _botan_,

to furnish). Another right of common is that of _turbary_, or the right

to cut turf or peat for fuel. There are also rights of taking sand,

gravel or loam for the repair and maintenance of land. The persons who

enjoy any of these rights are called commoners.

From the sketch of the common-field system of agriculture which has been

given, we shall readily infer that a large proportion of the commons of

the country, and of the peculiarities of the law relating to commons,

are traceable to that system. Thus, common rights are mostly attached

to, or enjoyed with, certain lands or houses. A right of common of

pasture usually consists of the right to turn out as many cattle as the

farm or other private land of the commoner can support in winter; for,

as we have seen, the enjoyment of the common, in the village system,

belonged to the householders of the village, and was necessarily

measured by their holdings in the common fields. The cattle thus

commonable are said to be _levant_ and _couchant_, i.e. uprising and

down-lying on the land. But it has now been decided that they need not

in fact be so kept. At the present day a commoner may turn out any

cattle belonging to him, wherever they are kept, provided they do not

exceed in number the head of cattle which can be supported by the stored

summer produce of the land in respect of which the right is claimed,

together with any winter herbage it produces. The animals which a

commoner may usually turn out are those which were employed in the

village system--horses, oxen, cows and sheep. These animals are termed

commonable animals. A right may be claimed for other animals, such as

donkeys, pigs and geese; but they are termed non-commonable, and the

right can only be established on proof of special usage. A right of

pasture attached to land in the way we have described is said to be

_appendant_ or _appurtenant_ to such land. Common of pasture appendant

to land can only be claimed for commonable cattle; and it is held to

have been originally attached only to arable land, though in claiming

the right no proof that the land was originally arable is necessary.

This species of common right is, in fact, the direct survival of the use

by the village householder of the common of the township; while common

of pasture appurtenant represents rights which grew up between

neighbouring townships, or, in later times, by direct grant from the

owner of the soil of the common to some other landowner, or (in the case

of copyholders) by local custom.

The characteristic of connexion with house or land also marks other

rights of common. Thus a right of taking gorse or bushes, or of lopping

wood for fuel, called _fire-bote_, is limited to the taking of such fuel

as may be necessary for the hearths of a particular house, and no more

may be taken than is thus required. The same condition applies to common

of _turbary_, which in its more usual form authorizes the commoner to

cut the heather, which grows thickly upon poor soils, with the roots and

adhering earth, to a depth of about 9 in. Similarly, wood taken for the

repairs of buildings (_house-bote_), or of hedges (_hedge-bote_ or

_hey-bote_), must be limited in quantity to the requirements of the

house, farm buildings and hedges of the particular property to which the

right is attached. And heather taken for litter cannot be taken in

larger quantities than is necessary for manuring the lands in respect of

which the right is enjoyed. It is illegal to take the wood or heather

from the common, and to sell it to any one who has not himself a right

to take it. So, also, a right of digging sand, gravel, clay or loam is

usually appurtenant to land, and must be exercised with reference to the

repair of the roads, or the improvement of the soil, of the particular

property to which the right is attached.

We have already alluded to the fact that, in Norman and later days,

every vill or township was associated with some over-lord,--some one

responsible to the crown, either directly or through other superior

lords, for the holding of the land and the performance of certain duties

of defence and military support. To this lord the law has assigned the

ownership of the soil of the common of the vill; and the common has for

many centuries been styled the waste of the manor. The trees and bushes

on the common belong to the lord, subject to any rights of lopping or

cutting which the commoners may possess. The ground, sand and subsoil

are his, and even the grass, though the commoners have the right to take

it by the mouths of their cattle. To the over-lord, also, was assigned a

seignory over all the other lands of the vill; and the vill came to be

termed his manor. At the present day it is the manorial system which

must be invoked in most cases as the foundation of the curiously

conflicting rights which co-exist on a common. (See MANOR.)

Manorial commons.

Within the bounds of a manor, speaking generally, there are three

classes of persons possessing an interest in the land, viz.:--

(a) Persons holding land freely of the manor, or freehold tenants.

(b) Persons holding land of the manor by copy of court roll, or copyhold

tenants.

(c) Persons holding from the lord of the manor, by lease or agreement,

or from year to year, land which was originally demesne, or which was

once freehold or copyhold and has come into the lord's hands by escheat

or forfeiture.

Amongst the first two classes we usually find the majority of the

commoners on the wastes or commons of the manor. To every freehold

tenant belongs a right of common of pasture on the commons, such right

being "appendant" to the land which he holds freely of the manor. This

right differs from most other rights of common in the characteristic

that actual exercise of the right need not be proved. When once it is

shown that certain land is held freely of the manor, it follows of

necessity that a right of common of pasture for commonable cattle

attaches to the land, and therefore belongs to its owner, and may be

exercised by its occupant. "Common appendant," said the Elizabethan

judges, "is of common right, and commences by operation of law and in

favour of tillage."

Now this is exactly what we saw to be the case with reference to the use

of the common of the vill by the householder cultivating the arable

fields. The use was a necessity, not depending upon the habits of this

or that householder; it was a use for commonable cattle only, and was

connected with the tillage of the arable lands. It seems almost

necessarily to follow that the freehold tenants of the manor are the

representatives of the householders of the vill. However this may be, it

is amongst the freehold tenants of the manor that we must first look for

commoners on the waste of the manor.

Owing, however, to the light character of the services rendered by the

freeholders, the connexion of their lands with the manor is often

difficult to prove. Copyhold tenure, on the other hand, cannot be lost

sight of; and in many manors copyholders are numerous, or were, till

quite recently. Copyholders almost invariably possess a right of common

on the waste of the manor; and when (as is usual) they exist side by

side with freeholders, their rights are generally of the same character.

They do not, however, exist as of common right, without proof of usage,

but by the custom of the manor. Custom has been defined by a great judge

(Sir George Jessel, M.R., in _Hammerton_ v. _Honey_) as local law. Thus,

while the freehold tenants enjoy their rights by the general law of the

land, the copyholders have a similar enjoyment by the local law of the

manor. This, again, is what one might expect from the ancient

constitution of a village community. The copyholders, being originally

serfs, had no rights at law; but as they had a share in the tillage of

the land, and gradually became possessed of strips in the common fields,

or of other plots on which they were settled by the lord, they were

admitted by way of indulgence to the use of the common; and the practice

hardened into a custom. As might be expected, there is more variety in

the details of the rights they exercise. They may claim common for

cattle which are not commonable, if the custom extends to such cattle;

and their claim is not necessarily connected with arable land.

In the present day large numbers of copyhold tenements have been

enfranchised, i.e. converted into freehold. The effect of this step is

to sever all connexion between the land enfranchised and the manor of

which it was previously held. Technically, therefore, the common rights

previously enjoyed in respect of the land would be gone. When, however,

there is no indication of any intention to extinguish such rights, the

courts protect the copyholders in their continued enjoyment; and when an

enfranchisement is effected under the statutes passed in modern years,

the rights are expressly preserved. The commoners on a manorial common

then will be, prima facie, the freeholders and copyholders of the manor,

and the persons who own lands which were copyhold of the manor but have

been enfranchised.

The occupants of lands belonging to the lord of the manor, though they

usually turn out their cattle on the common, do so by virtue of the

lord's ownership of the soil of the common, and can, as a rule, make no

claim to any right of common as against the lord, even though the

practice of turning out may have obtained in respect of particular lands

for a long series of years. When, however, lands have been sold by the

lord of the manor, although no right of common attached by law to such

lands in the lord's hands, their owners may subsequently enjoy such a

right, if it appears from the language of the deeds of conveyance, and

all the surrounding circumstances, that there was an intention that the

use of the common should be enjoyed by the purchaser. The rules on this

point are very technical; it is sufficient here to indicate that lands

bought from a lord of a manor are not necessarily destitute of common

rights.

Rights of common not connected with manorial system.

So far we have considered common rights as they have arisen out of the

manorial system, and out of the still older system of village

communities. There may, however, be rights of common quite unconnected

with the manorial system. Such rights may be proved either by producing

a specific grant from the owner of the manor or by long usage. It is

seldom that an actual grant is produced, although it would seem likely

that such grants were not uncommon at one time. But a claim founded on

actual user is by no means unusual. Such a claim may be based (a) on

immemorial usage, i.e. usage for which no commencement later than the

coronation of Richard I. (1189) can be shown, (b) on a presumed modern

grant which has been lost, or (c) (in some cases) on the Prescription

Act 1832. There are special rules applicable to each kind of claim.

A right of common not connected with the manorial system may be, and

usually is, attached to land; it may be measured, like a manorial right,

by levancy and couchancy, or it may be limited to a fixed number of

animals. Rights of the latter character seem to have been not uncommon

in the middle ages. In one of his sermons against inclosure, Bishop

Latimer tells us his father "had walk (i.e. right of common) for 100

sheep." This may have been a right in gross, but was more probably

attached to the "farm of L3 or L4 by year at the uttermost" which his

father held. A right of common appurtenant may be sold separately, and

enjoyed by a purchaser independently of the tenement to which it was

originally appurtenant. It then becomes a right of common in gross.

A right of common in gross is a right enjoyed irrespective of the

ownership or occupancy of any lands. It may exist by express grant, or

by user implying a modern lost grant, or by immemorial usage. It must be

limited to a certain number of cattle, unless the right is claimed by

actual grant. Such rights seldom arise in connexion with commons in the

ordinary sense, but are a frequent incident of regulated or stinted

pastures; the right is then generally known as a cattle-gate or

beast-gate.

There may be rights over a common which exclude the owner of the soil

from all enjoyment of some particular product of the common. Thus a

person, or a class of persons, may be entitled to the whole of the corn,

grass, underwood, or sweepage, (i.e. everything which falls to the sweep

of the scythe) of a tract of land, without possessing any ownership in

the land itself, or in the trees or mines. Such a right is known as a

right of sole vesture.

A more limited right of the same character is a right of sole

pasturage--the exclusive right to take everything growing on the land in

question by the mouths of cattle, but not in any other way. Either of

these rights may exist throughout the whole year, or during part only. A

right of sole common pasturage and herbage was given to a certain class

of commoners in Ashdown Forest on the partition of the forest at the end

of the 18th century.

Rights in common fields.

We have seen that the common arable fields and common meadows of a vill

were thrown open to the stock of the community between harvest and

seed-time. There is still to be found, here and there, a group of arable

common fields, and occasionally a piece of grass land with many of the

characteristics of a common, which turns out to be a common field or

meadow. The Hackney Marshes and the other so-called commons of Hackney

are really common fields or common meadows, and along the valley of the

Lea a constant succession of such meadows is met with. They are still

owned in parcels marked by metes; the owners have the right to grow a

crop of hay between Lady day and Lammas day; and from Lammas to March

the lands are subject to the depasturage of stock. In the case of some

common fields and meadows the right of feed during the open time belongs

exclusively to the owners; in others to a larger class, such as the

owners and occupiers of all lands within the bounds of the parish.

Anciently, as we have seen, the two classes would be identical. In some

places newcomers not owning strips in the fields were admitted to the

right of turn out; in others, not. Hence the distinction. Similar

divergences of practice will be found to exist in Switzerland at the

present day; _nieder-gelassene_, or newcomers, are in some communes

admitted to all rights, while, in others, privileges are reserved to the

_burger_, or old inhabitant householders.

Rights in royal forests.

Some of the largest tracts of waste land to be found in England are the

waste or commonable lands of royal forests or chases. The thickets and

pastures of Epping Forest, now happily preserved for London under the

guardianship of the city corporation, and the noble woods and

far-stretching heaths of the New Forest, will be called to mind. Cannock

Chase, unhappily inclosed according to law, though for the most part

still lying waste, Dartmoor, and Ashdown Forest in Sussex, are other

instances; and the list might be greatly lengthened. Space will not

permit of any description of the forest system; it is enough, in this

connexion, to say that the common rights in a forest were usually

enjoyed by the owners and occupiers of land within its bounds (the class

may differ in exact definition, but is substantially equivalent to this)

without reference to manorial considerations. Epping Forest was saved by

the proof of this right. It is often said that the right was given, or

confirmed, to the inhabitants in consideration of the burden of

supporting the deer for the pleasure of the king or of the owner of the

chase. It seems more probable that the forest law prevented the growth

of the manorial system, and with it those rules which have tended to

restrict the class of persons entitled to enjoy the waste lands of the

district.

Prevention of inclosure.

We have seen that in the case of each kind of common there is a division

of interest. The soil belongs to one person; other persons are entitled

to take certain products of the soil. This division of interest

preserves the common as an open space. The commoners cannot inclose,

because the land does not belong to them. The owner of the soil cannot

inclose, because inclosure is inconsistent with the enjoyment of the

commoners' rights. At a very early date it was held that the right of a

commoner proceeded out of every part of the common, so that the owner of

the soil could not set aside part for the commoner and inclose the rest.

The Statutes of Merton and Westminster the Second were passed to get

over this difficulty. But under these statutes the burden of proving

that sufficient pasture was left was thrown upon the owner of the soil;

such proof can very seldom be given. Moreover, the statutes have never

enabled an inclosure to be made against commoners entitled to _estovers_

or _turbary_. It seems clear that the statutes had become obsolete in

the time of Edward VI., or they would not have been re-enacted. And we

know that the zealous advocates of inclosure in the 18th century

considered them worthless for their purposes. Practically it may be

taken that, save where the owner of the soil of a common acquires all

the lands in the township (generally coterminous with the parish) with

which the common is connected, an inclosure cannot legally be effected

by him. And even in the latter case it may be that rights of common are

enjoyed in respect of lands outside the parish, and that such rights

prevent an inclosure.

The modern Inclosure Act.

_Modern Inclosure._--When, therefore, the common-field system began to

fall out of gear, and the increase of population brought about a demand

for an increased production of corn, it was felt to be necessary to

resort to parliament for power to effect inclosure. The legislation

which ensued was based on two principles. One was that all persons

interested in the open land to be dealt with should receive a

proportionate equivalent in inclosed land; the other, that inclosure

should not be prevented by the opposition, or the inability to act, of a

small minority. Assuming that inclosure was desirable, no more equitable

course could have been adopted, though in details particular acts may

have been objectionable. The first act was passed in 1709; but the

precedent was followed but slowly, and not till the middle of the 18th

century did the annual number of acts attain double figures. The

high-water mark was reached in the period from 1765 to 1785, when on an

average forty-seven acts were passed every year. From some cause,

possibly the very considerable expense attending upon the obtaining of

an act, the numbers then began slightly to fall off. In the year 1793 a

board of agriculture, apparently similar in character to the chambers of

commerce of our own day, was established. Sir John Sinclair was its

president, and Arthur Young, the well-known agricultural reformer, was

its secretary. Owing to the efforts of this body, and of a select

committee appointed by the House of Commons on Sinclair's motion, the

first General Inclosure Act was passed in 1801. This act would at the

present day be called an Inclosure Clauses Act. It contained a number of

provisions applicable to inclosures, which could be incorporated by

reference, in a private bill. By this means, it was hoped, the length

and complexity, and consequently the expense, of inclosure bills would

be greatly diminished. Under the stimulus thus applied inclosure

proceeded apace. In the year 1801 no less than 119 acts were passed, and

the total area inclosed probably exceeded 300,000 acres. Three

inclosures in the Lincolnshire Fens account for over 53,000 acres. As

before, the movement after a time spent its force, the annual average of

acts falling to about twelve in the decade 1830-1840. Another

parliamentary committee then sat to consider how inclosure might be

promoted; and the result was the Inclosure Act 1845, which, though much

amended by subsequent legislation, still stands on the statute-book. The

chief feature of that act was the appointment of a permanent commission

to make in each case all the inquiries previously made (no doubt

capriciously and imperfectly) by committees of the two Houses. The

commission, on being satisfied of the propriety of an inclosure was to

draw up a provisional order prescribing the general conditions on which

it was to be carried out, and this order was to be submitted to

parliament by the government of the day for confirmation. It is believed

that these inclosure orders afford the first example of the provisional

order system of legislation, which has attained such large proportions.

Again inclosure moved forward, and between 1845 and 1869 (when it

received a sudden check) 600,000 acres passed through the hands of the

inclosure commission. Taking the whole period of about a century and a

half, when parliamentary inclosure was in favour, and making an estimate

of acreage where the acts do not give it, the result may be thus

summarized:--

Acres.

From 1709 to 1797 2,744,926

" 1801 to 1842 1,307,964

" 1845 to 1869 618,000

Add for Forests inclosed under Special Acts 100,000

---------

4,770,890

The total area of England being 37,000,000 acres, we shall probably not

be far wrong in concluding that about one acre in every seven was

inclosed during the period in question. During the first period, the

lands inclosed consisted mainly of common arable fields; during the

second, many great tracts of moor and fen were reduced to severalty

ownership. In the third period, inclosure probably related chiefly to

the ordinary manorial common; and it seems likely that, on the whole,

England would have gained, had inclosure stopped in 1845.

Open Space movement.

As a fact it stopped in 1869. Before the inclosure commission had been

in existence twenty years the feeling of the nation towards commons

began to change. The rapid growth of towns, and especially of London,

and the awakening sense of the importance of protecting the public

health, brought about an appreciation of the value of commons as open

spaces. Naturally, the metropolis saw the birth of this sentiment. An

attempted inclosure in 1864 of the commons at Epsom and Wimbledon

aroused strong opposition; and a select committee of the House of

Commons was appointed to consider how the London commons could best be

preserved. The Metropolitan Board of Works, then in the vigour of youth,

though eager to become the open-space authority for London, could make

no better suggestion than that all persons interested in the commons

should be bought out, that the board should defray the expense by

selling parts for building, and should make parks of what was left. Had

this advice been followed, London would probably have lost two-thirds of

the open space which she now enjoys. Fortunately a small knot of men,

who afterwards formed the Commons Preservation Society, took a broader

and wiser view. Chief amongst them were the late Philip Lawrence, who

acted as solicitor to the Wimbledon opposition, and subsequently

organized the Commons Preservation Society, George Shaw-Lefevre,

chairman of that society since its foundation, the late John Locke, and

the late Lord Mount Temple (then Mr W. F. Cowper). They urged that the

conflict of legal interests, which is the special characteristic of a

common, might be trusted to preserve it as an open space, and that all

that parliament could usefully do, was to restrict parliamentary

inclosure, and to pass a measure of police for the protection of commons

as open spaces. The select committee adopted this view. On their report,

was passed the Metropolitan Commons Act 1866, which prohibited any

further parliamentary inclosures within the metropolitan police area,

and provided means by which a common could be put under local

management. The lords of the manors in which the London commons lay felt

that their opportunity of making a rich harvest out of land, valuable

for building, though otherwise worthless, was slipping away; and a

battle royal ensued. Inclosures were commenced, and the Statute of

Merton prayed in aid. The public retorted by legal proceedings taken in

the names of commoners. These proceedings--which culminated in the

mammoth suit as to Epping Forest, with the corporation of London as

plaintiffs and fourteen lords of manors as defendants--were uniformly

successful; and London commons were saved. By degrees the manorial

lords, seeing that they could not hope to do better, parted with their

interest for a small sum to some local authority; and a large area of

the common land, not only in the county of London, but in the suburbs,

is now in the hands of the representatives of the ratepayers, and is

definitely appropriated to the recreation of the public.

Amendment of Statue of Merton.

Moreover, the Commons Preservation Society was able to base, upon the

uniform success of the commoners in the law courts, a plea for the

amendment of the law. The Statute of Merton, we have seen, purports to

enable the lord of the soil to inclose a common, if he leaves sufficient

pasture for the commoners. This statute was constantly vouched in the

litigation about London commons; but in no single instance was an

inclosure justified by virtue of its provisions. It thus remained a trap

to lords of manors, and a source of controversy and expense. In the year

1893 Lord Thring, at the instance of the Commons Preservation Society,

carried through parliament the Commons Law Amendment Act, which provided

that in future no inclosure under the Statute of Merton should be valid,

unless made with the consent of the Board of Agriculture, which was to

consider the expediency of the inclosure from a public point of view.

Rural commons.

The movement to preserve commons as open spaces soon spread to the rural

districts. Under the Inclosure Act of 1845 provision was made for the

allotment of a part of the land to be inclosed for field gardens for the

labouring poor, and for recreation. But those who were interested in

effecting an inclosure often convinced the inclosure commissioners that

for some reason such allotments would be useless. To such an extent did

the reservation of such allotments become discredited that, in 1869, the

commission proposed to parliament the inclosure of 13,000 acres, with

the reservation of only one acre for recreation, and none at all for

field gardens. This proposal attracted the attention of Henry Fawcett,

who, after much inquiry and consideration, came to the conclusion that

inclosures were, speaking generally, doing more harm than good to the

agricultural labourer, and that, under such conditions as the

commissioners were prescribing, they constituted a serious evil. With

characteristic intrepidity he opposed the annual inclosure bill (which

had come to be considered a mere form) and moved for a committee on the

whole subject. The ultimate result was the passing, seven years later,

of the Commons Act 1876. This measure, introduced by a Conservative

government, laid down the principle that an inclosure should not be

allowed unless distinctly shown to be for the benefit, not merely of

private persons, but of the neighbourhood generally and the public. It

imposed many checks upon the process, and following the course already

adopted in the case of metropolitan commons, offered an alternative

method of making commons more useful to the nation, viz. their

management and regulation as open spaces. The effect of this legislation

and of the changed attitude of the House of Commons towards inclosure

has been almost to stop that process, except in the case of common

fields or extensive mountain wastes.

Regulation.

We have alluded to the regulation of commons as open spaces. The primary

object of this process is to bring a common under the jurisdiction of

some constituted authority, which may make by-laws, enforceable in a

summary way before the magistrates of the district, for its protection,

and may appoint watchers or keepers to preserve order and prevent wanton

mischief. There are several means of attaining this object. Commons

within the metropolitan police district--the Greater London of the

registrar-general--are in this respect in a position by themselves.

Under the Metropolitan Commons Acts, schemes for their local management

may be made by the Board of Agriculture (in which the inclosure

commission is now merged) without the consent either of the owner of the

soil or the commoners--who, however, are entitled to compensation if

they can show that they are injuriously affected. Outside the

metropolitan police district a provisional order for regulation may be

made under the Commons Act 1876, with the consent of the owner of the

soil and of persons representing two-thirds in value of all the

interests in the common. And under an act passed in 1899 the council of

any urban or rural district may, with the approval of the Board of

Agriculture and without recourse to parliament, make a scheme for the

management of any common within its district, provided no notice of

dissent is served on the board by the lord of the manor or by persons

representing one-third in value of such interests in the common as are

affected by the scheme. There is yet another way of protecting a common.

A parish council may, by agreement, acquire an interest in it, and may

make by-laws for its regulation under the Local Government Act 1894. The

acts of 1894 and 1899 undoubtedly proceed on right lines. For, with the

growth of efficient local government, commons naturally fall to be

protected and improved by the authority of the district.

Statistics.

It remains to say a word as to the extent of common land still remaining

open in England and Wales. In 1843 it was estimated that there were

still 10,000,000 acres of common land and common-field land. In 1874

another return made by the inclosure commission made a guess of

2,632,772. These two returns were made from the same materials, viz. the

tithe commutation awards. As less than 700,000 acres had been inclosed

in the intervening period, it is obvious that the two estimates are

mutually destructive. In July 1875 another version was given in the

Return of Landowners (generally known as the Modern Domesday Book),

compiled from the valuation lists made for the purposes of rating. This

return put the commons of the country (not including common fields) at

1,542,648 acres. It is impossible to view any of these returns as

accurate. Those compiled from the tithe commutation awards are based

largely on estimates, since there are many parishes where the tithes had

not been commuted. On the other hand, the valuation lists do not show

waste and unoccupied land (which is not rated), and consequently the

information as to such lands in the Return of Landowners was based on

any materials which might happen to be at the disposal of the clerk of

the guardians. All we can say, therefore, is that the acreage of the

remaining common land of the country is probably somewhere between

1,500,000 and 2,000,000 acres. It is most capriciously distributed. In

the Midlands there is very little to be found, while in a county of poor

soil, like Surrey, nearly every parish has its common, and there are

large tracts of heath and moor. In 1866, returns were made to parliament

by the overseers of the poor of the commons within 15 and within 25 m.

of Charing Cross. The acreage within the larger area was put at 38,450

acres, and within the smaller at 13,301; but owing to the difference of

opinion which sometimes prevails upon the question, whether land is

common or not, and the carelessness of some parish authorities as to the

accuracy of their returns, even these figures cannot be taken as more

than approximately correct. The metropolitan police district, within

which the Metropolitan Commons Acts are in force, approaches in extent

to a circle of 15 miles' radius. Within this district nearly 12,000

acres of common land have been put under local management, either by

means of the Commons Acts or under special legislation. London is

fortunate in having secured so much recreation ground on its borders.

But when the enormous population of the capital and its rapid growth and

expansion are considered, the conclusion is inevitable, that not one

acre of common land within an easy railway journey of the metropolis can

be spared.

AUTHORITIES.--Marshall, _Elementary and Practical Treatise on Landed

Property_ (London, 1804); F. W. Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_

(Cambridge, 1897); _Borough and Township_ (Cambridge, 1898); F.

Seebohm, _The English Village Community_ (London, 1883); Williams,

Joshua, _Rights of Common_ (London, 1880); C. I. Elton, _A Treatise on

Commons and Waste Lands_ (1868); T. E. Scrutton, _On Commons and

Common Fields_ (1887); H. R. Woolrych, _Rights of Common_ (1850); G.

Shaw-Lefevre, _English Commons and Forests_ (London, 1894); Sir W.

Hunter, _The Preservation of Open Spaces_ (London, 1896); "The

Movements for the Inclosure and Preservation of Open Lands," _Journal

of the Royal Statistical Society_, vol. lx. part ii. (June 1897);

_Returns to House of Commons_ (1843), No. 325; (1870), No. 326;

(1874), No. 85; _Return of Landowners_ (1875); _Annual Reports of

Inclosure Commission and Board of Agriculture_; Revised Statutes and

Statutes at large. (R. H.*)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For the commons (_communitates_) in a socio-political sense see

REPRESENTATION and PARLIAMENT.

[2] There is an entry on the court rolls of the manor of Wimbledon of

the division amongst the inhabitants of the vill of the crab-apples

growing on the common.

COMMONWEALTH, a term generally synonymous with commonweal, i.e. public

welfare, but more particularly signifying a form of government in which

the general public have a direct voice. "The Commonwealth" is used in a

special sense to denote the period in English history between the

execution of Charles I. in 1649 and the Restoration in 1660.

Commonwealth is also the official designation in America of the states

of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. The Commonwealth

of Australia is the title of the federation of Australian colonies

carried out in 1900.

COMMUNE (Med. Lat. _communia_, Lat. _communis_, common), in its most

general sense, a group of persons acting together for purposes of

self-government, especially in towns. (See BOROUGH, and COMMUNE,

MEDIEVAL, below.) "Commune" (Fr. _commune_, Ital. _comune_, Ger.

_Gemeinde_, &c.) is now the term generally applied to the smallest

administrative division in many European countries. (See the sections

dealing with the administration of these countries under their several

headings.) "The Commune" is the name given to the period of the history

of Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871, during which the commune of

Paris attempted to set up its authority against the National Assembly at

Versailles. It was a political movement, intended to replace the

centralized national organization by one based on a federation of

communes. Hence the "communists" were also called "federalists." It had

nothing to do with the social theories of Communism (q.v.). (See FRANCE:

_HISTORY_.)

COMMUNE, MEDIEVAL. Under this head it is proposed to give a short

account of the rise and development of towns in central and western

continental Europe since the downfall of the Roman Empire. All these,

including also the British towns (for which, however, see BOROUGH), may

be said to have formed one unity, inasmuch as all arose under similar

conditions, economic, legal and political, irrespective of local

peculiarities. Kindred economic conditions prevailed in all the former

provinces of the Western empire, while new law concepts were everywhere

introduced by the Germanic invaders. It is largely for the latter reason

that it seems advisable to begin with an account of the German towns,

the term German to correspond to the limits of the old kingdom of

Germany, comprising the present empire, German Austria, German

Switzerland, Holland and a large portion of Belgium. In their

development the problem, as it were, worked out least tainted by foreign

interference, showing at the same time a rich variety in detail; and it

may also be said that their constitutional and economic history has been

more thoroughly investigated than any other.

Like the others, the German towns should be considered from three points

of view, viz. as jurisdictional units, as self-administrative units and

as economic units. One of the chief distinguishing features of early as

opposed to modern town-life is that each town formed a jurisdictional

district distinct from the country around. Another trait, more in

accordance with the conditions of to-day, is that local self-government

was more fully developed and strongly marked in the towns than without.

And, thirdly, each town in economic matters followed a policy as

independent as possible of that of any other town or of the country in

general. The problem is, how this state of things arose.

From this point of view the German towns may be divided into two main

classes: those that gradually resuscitated on the ruins of former Roman

cities in the Rhine and Danube countries, and those that were newly

founded at a later date in the interior.[1] Foremost in importance among

the former stand the episcopal cities. Most of these had never been

entirely destroyed during the Germanic invasion. Roman civic

institutions perished; but probably parts of the population survived,

and small Christian congregations with their bishops in most cases seem

to have weathered all storms. Much of the city walls presumably remained

standing, and within them German communities soon settled.

In the 10th century it became the policy of the German emperors to hand

over to the bishops full jurisdictional and administrative powers within

their cities. The bishop henceforward directly or indirectly appointed

all officers for the town's government. The chief of these was usually

the _advocatus_ or _Vogt_, some neighbouring noble who served as the

proctor of the church in all secular affairs. It was his business to

preside three times a year over the chief law-court, the so-called

_echte_ or _ungebotene Ding_, under the cognizance of which fell all

cases relating to real property, personal freedom, bloodshed and

robbery. For the rest of the legal business and as president of the

ordinary court he appointed a _Schultheiss_, _centenarius_ or

_causidicus_. Other officers were the _Burggraf_[2] or _praefectus_ for

military matters, including the preservation of the town's defences,

walls, moat, bridges and streets, to whom also appertained some

jurisdiction over the craft-gilds in matters relating to their crafts;

further the customs-officer or _teleonarius_ and the mint-master or

_monetae magister_. It was not, however, the fact of their being placed

under the bishop that constituted these towns as separate jurisdictional

units. The chief feature rather is the existence within their walls of a

special law, distinct in important points from that of the country at

large. The towns enjoyed a special peace, as it was called, i.e.

breaches of the peace were more severely punished if committed in a town

than elsewhere. Besides, the inhabitants might be sued before the town

court only, and to fugitives from the country who had taken refuge in

the town belonged a similar privilege. This special legal status

probably arose from the towns being considered in the first place as the

king's fortresses[3] or burgs (see BOROUGH), and, therefore, as

participating in the special peace enjoyed by the king's palace. Hence

the terms "burgh," "borough" in English, _baurgs_ in Gothic, the

earliest Germanic designations for a town; "burgher," "burgess" for its

inhabitants. What struck the townless early Germans most about the Roman

towns was their mighty walls. Hence they applied to all fortified

habitations the term in use for their own primitive fortifications; the

walls remained with them the main feature distinguishing a town from a

village; and the fact of the town being a fortified place, likewise

necessitated the special provisions mentioned for maintaining the peace.

The new towns in the interior of Germany were founded on land belonging

to the founder, some ecclesiastical or lay lord, and frequently

adjoining the cathedral close of one of the new sees or the lord's

castle, and they were laid out according to a regular plan. The most

important feature was the market-square, often surrounded by arcades

with stalls for the sale of the principal commodities, and with a number

of straight streets leading thence to the city gates.[4] As for the

fortifications, some time naturally passed before they were completed.

Furthermore, the governmental machinery would be less complex than in

the older towns. The legal peculiarities distinguishing town and

country, on the other hand, may be said to have been conferred on the

new towns in a more clearly defined form from the beginning.

An important difference lay in the mode of settlement. There is evidence

that in the quondam Roman towns the German newcomers settled much as in

a village, i.e. each full member of the community had a certain portion

of arable land allotted to him and a share in the common. Their pursuits

would at first be mainly agricultural. The new towns, on the other hand,

general economic conditions having meanwhile begun to undergo a marked

change, were founded with the intention of establishing centres of

trade. Periodical markets, weekly or annual, had preceded them, which

already enjoyed the special protection of the king's ban, acts of

violence against traders visiting them or on their way towards them

being subject to special punishment. The new towns may be regarded as

markets made permanent. The settlers invited were merchants (_mercatores

personati_) and handicraftsmen. The land now allotted to each member of

the community was just large enough for a house and yard, stabling and

perhaps a small garden (50 by 100 ft. at Freiburg, 60 by 100 ft. at

Bern). These building plots were given as free property or, more

frequently, at a merely nominal rent (_Wurtzins_) with the right of free

disposal, the only obligation being that of building a house. All that

might be required besides would be a common for the pasture of the

burgesses' cattle.

The example thus set was readily followed in the older towns. The

necessary land was placed at the disposal of new settlers, either by the

members of the older agricultural community, or by the various churches.

The immigrants were of widely differing status, many being serfs who

came either with or without their lords' permission. The necessity of

putting a stop to belated prosecutions on this account in the town court

led to the acceptance of the rule that nobody who had lived in a town

undisturbed for the term of a year and a day could any longer be claimed

by a lord as his serf. But even those who had migrated into a town with

their lords' consent could not very well for long continue in serfdom.

When, on the other hand, certain bishops attempted to treat all

new-comers to their city as serfs, the emperor Henry V. in charters for

Spires and Worms proclaimed that in these towns all serf-like conditions

should cease. This ruling found expression in the famous saying:

_Stadtluft macht frei_, "town-air renders free." As may be imagined,

this led to a rapid increase in population, mainly during the 11th to

13th centuries. There would be no difficulty for the immigrants to find

a dwelling, or to make a living, since most of them would be versed in

one or other of the crafts in practice among villagers.

The most important further step in the history of the towns was the

establishment of an organ of self-government, the town-council (_Rat_,

_consilium_, its members, _Ratmanner_, _consules_, less frequently

_consiliarii_), with one, two or more burgomasters (_Burgermeister_,

_magistri civium_, _proconsules_) at its head. (It was only after the

Renaissance that the town-council came to be styled _senate_, and the

burgomasters in Latin documents, _consules_.) As _units of local

government_ the towns must be considered as originally placed on the

same legal basis as the villages, viz. as having the right of taking

care of all common interests below the cognizance of the public courts

or of those of their lord.[5] In the towns, however, this right was

strengthened at an early date by the _jus negotiale_. At least as early

as the beginning of the 11th century, but probably long before that

date, mercantile communities claimed the right, confirmed by the

emperors, of settling mercantile disputes according to a law of their

own, to the horror of certain conservative-minded clerics.[6]

Furthermore, in the rapidly developing towns, opportunities for the

exercise of self-administrative functions constantly increased. The new

self-governing body soon began to legislate in matters of local

government, imposing fines for the breach of its by-laws. Thus it

assumed a jurisdiction, partly concurrent with that of the lord, which

it further extended to breaches of the peace. And, finally, it raised

funds by means of an excise-duty, _Ungeld_ (cf. the English _malatolta_)

or _Accise_, _Zeise_. In the older and larger towns it soon went beyond

what the bishops thought proper to tolerate; conflicts ensued; and in

the 13th century several bishops obtained decrees in the imperial court,

either to suppress the _Rat_ altogether, or to make it subject to their

nomination, and more particularly to abolish the _Ungeld_, as

detrimental to episcopal finances. In the long run, however, these

attempts proved of little avail.

Meanwhile the tendency towards self-government spread even to the lower

ranks of town society, resulting in the establishment of craft-gilds.

From a very early period there is reason to believe merchants among

themselves formed gilds for social and religious purposes, and for the

furtherance of their economic interests. These gilds would, where they

existed, no doubt also influence the management of town affairs; but

nowhere has the _Rat_, as used to be thought, developed out of a gild,

nor has the latter anywhere in Germany played a part at all similar in

importance to that of the English gild merchant, the only exception

being for a time the _Richerzeche_, or Gild of the Rich of Cologne, from

early times by far the largest, the richest, and the most important

trading centre among German cities, and therefore provided with an

administration more complex, and in some respects more primitive, than

any other. On the other hand, the most important commodities offered for

sale in the market had been subject to official examination already in

Carolingian times. Bakers', butchers', shoemakers' stalls were grouped

together in the market-place to facilitate control, and with the same

object in view a master was appointed for each craft as its responsible

representative. By and by these crafts or "offices" claimed the right of

electing their master and of assisting him in examining the goods, and

even of framing by-laws regulating the quality of the wares and the

process of their manufacture. The bishops at first resented these

attempts at self-management, as they had done in the case of the town

council, and imperial legislation in their interests was obtained. But

each craft at the same time formed a society for social, beneficial and

religious purposes, and, as these were entirely in accordance with the

wishes of the clerical authorities, the other powers could not in the

long run be withheld, including that of forcing all followers of any

craft to join the gild (_Zunftzwang_). Thus the official inspection of

markets, community of interests on the part of the craftsmen, and

co-operation for social and religious ends, worked together in the

formation of craft-gilds. It is not suggested that in each individual

town the rise of the gilds was preceded by an organization of crafts on

the part of the lord and his officers; but it is maintained that as a

general thing voluntary organization could hardly have proceeded on such

orderly lines as on the whole it did, unless the framework had in the

first instance been laid down by the authorities: much as in modern

times the working together in factories has practically been an

indispensable preliminary to the formation of trade unions. Much less

would the principle of forced entrance have found such ready acceptance

both on the part of the authorities and on that of the men, unless it

had previously been in full practice and recognition under the system of

official market-control. The different names for the societies, viz.

_fraternitas_, _Bruderschaft_, _officium_, _Amt_, _condictum_, _Zunft_,

_unio_, _Innung_, do not signify different kinds of societies, but only

different aspects of the same thing. The word _Gilde_ alone forms an

exception, inasmuch as, generally speaking, it was used by merchant

gilds only.[7]

From an early date the towns, more particularly the older episcopal

cities, took a part in imperial politics. Legally the bishops were in

their cities mere representatives of the imperial government. This fact

found formal expression mainly in two ways. The _Vogt_, although

appointed by the bishop, received the "ban," i.e. the power of having

justice executed, which he passed on to the lesser officers, from the

king or emperor direct. Secondly, whenever the emperor held a _curia

generalis_ (or general assembly, or diet) in one of the episcopal

cities, and for a week before and after, all jurisdictional and

administrative power reverted to him and his immediate officers. The

citizens on their part clung to this connexion and made use of it

whenever their independence was threatened by their bishops, who

strongly inclined to consider themselves lords of their cathedral

cities, much as if these had been built on church-lands. As early as

1073, therefore, we find the citizens of Worms successfully rising

against their bishop in order to provide the emperor Henry IV. with a

refuge against the rebellious princes. Those of Cologne made a similar

attempt in 1074. But a second class of imperial cities (_Reichsstadte_),

much more numerous than the former, consisted of those founded on

demesne-land belonging either to the Empire or to one of the families

who rose to imperial rank. This class was largely reinforced, when after

the extinction of the royal house of Hohenstaufen in the 13th century, a

great number of towns founded by them on their demesne successfully

claimed immediate subjection to the crown. About this time, during the

interregnum, a federation of more than a hundred towns was formed,

beginning on the Rhine, but spreading as far as Bremen in the north,

Zurich in the south, and Regensburg in the east, with the object of

helping to preserve the peace. After the death of King William in 1256,

they resolved to recognize no king unless unanimously elected. This

league was joined by a powerful group of princes and nobles and found

recognition by the prince-electors of the Empire; but for want of

leadership it did not stand the test, when Richard of Cornwall and

Alphonso of Castile were elected rival kings in 1257.[8] In the

following centuries the imperial cities in south Germany, where most of

them were situated, repeatedly formed leagues to protect their interests

against the power of the princes and the nobles, and destructive wars

were waged; but no great political issue found solution, the relative

position of the parties after each war remaining much what it had been

before. On the part of the towns this was mainly due to lack of

leadership and of unity of purpose. At the time of the Reformation the

imperial towns, like most of the others, stood forward as champions of

the new cause and did valuable service in upholding and defending it.

After that, however, their political part was played out, mainly because

they proved unable to keep up with modern conditions of warfare. It

should be stated that seven among the episcopal cities, viz. Cologne,

Mainz, Worms, Spires, Strassburg, Basel and Regensburg, claimed a

privileged position as "Free Cities," but neither is the ground for this

claim clearly established, nor its nature well defined. The general

obligations of the imperial cities towards the Empire were the payment

of an annual fixed tax and the furnishing of a number of armed men for

imperial wars, and from these the above-named towns claimed some measure

of exemption. Some of the imperial cities lost their independence at an

early date, as unredeemed pledges to some prince who had advanced money

to the emperor. Others seceded as members of the Swiss Confederation.

But a considerable number survived until the reorganization of the

Empire in 1803. At the peace in 1815, however, only four were spared,

namely, Frankfort, Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck, these being practically

the only ones still in a sufficiently flourishing and economically

independent position to warrant such preferential treatment. But finally

Frankfort, having chosen the wrong side in the war of 1866, was annexed

by Prussia, and only the three seaboard towns remain as full members of

the new confederate Empire under the style of _Freie und Hansestadte_.

But until modern times most of the larger _Landstadte_ or mesne-towns

for all intents and purposes were as independent under their lords as

the imperial cities were under the emperor. They even followed a foreign

policy of their own, concluded treaties with foreign powers or made war

upon them. Nearly all the _Hanseatic towns_ belonged to this category.

With others like Bremen, Hamburg and Magdeburg, it was long in the

balance which class they belonged to. All towns of any importance,

however, were for a considerable time far ahead of the principalities in

administration. It was largely this fact that gave them power. When,

therefore, from about the 15th century the princely territories came to

be better organized, much of the _raison d'etre_ for the exceptional

position held by the towns disappeared. The towns from an early date

made it their policy to suppress the exercise of all handicrafts in the

open country. On the other hand, they sought an increase of power by

extending rights of citizenship to numerous individual inhabitants of

the neighbouring villages (_Pfalburger_, a term not satisfactorily

explained). By this and other means, e.g. the purchase of estates by

citizens, many towns gradually acquired a considerable territory. These

tendencies both princes and lesser nobles naturally tried to thwart, and

the mediate towns or _Landstadte_ were finally brought to stricter

subjection, at least in the greater principalities such as Austria and

Brandenburg. Besides, the less favourably situated towns suffered

through the concentration of trade in the hands of their more fortunate

sisters. But the economic decay and consequent loss of political

influence among both imperial and territorial towns must be chiefly

ascribed to inner causes.

Certain leading political economists, notably K. Bucher (_Die

Bevolkerung von Frankfurt a. M. im 14ten und 15ten Jahrhundert_, i.,

Tubingen, 1886; _Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft_, 5th ed., Tubingen,

1906), and, in a modified form, W. Sombart (_Der moderne Kapitalismus_,

2 vols., Leipzig, 1902), have propounded the doctrine of one gradual

progression from an agricultural state to modern capitalistic

conditions. This theory, however, is nothing less than an outrage on

history. As a matter of fact, as far as modern Europe is concerned,

there has twice been a progression, separated by a period of

retrogression, and it is to the latter that Bucher's picture of the

agricultural and strictly protectionist town (the _geschlossene

Stadtwirtschaft_) of the 14th and 15th centuries belongs, while

Sombart's notion of an entire absence of a spirit of capitalistic

enterprise before the middle of the 15th century in Europe north of the

Alps, or the 14th century in Italy, is absolutely fantastic.[9] The

period of the rise of cities till well on in the 13th century was

naturally a period of expansion and of a considerable amount of freedom

of trade. It was only afterwards that a protectionist spirit gained the

upper hand, and each town made it its policy to restrict as far as

possible the trade of strangers. In this revolution the rise of the

lower strata of the population to power played an important part.

The craft-gilds had remained subordinate to the _Rat_, but by-and-by

they claimed a share in the government of the towns. Originally any

inhabitant holding a certain measure of land, freehold or subject to the

mere nominal ground-rent above-mentioned, was a full citizen

independently of his calling, the clergy and the lord's retainers and

servants of whatever rank, who claimed exemption from scot and lot, to

use the English formula, alone excepted. The majority of the artisans,

however, were not in this happy position. Moreover, the town council,

instead of being freely elected, filled up vacancies in its ranks by

co-optation, with the result that all power became vested in a limited

number of rich families. Against this state of things the crafts

rebelled, alleging mismanagement, malversation and the withholding of

justice. During the 14th and 15th centuries revolutions and

counter-revolutions, sometimes accompanied by considerable slaughter,

were frequent, and a great variety of more democratic constitutions were

tried. Zurich, however, is the only German place where a kind of

_tyrannis_, so frequent in Italy, came to be for a while established. On

the whole it must be said that in those towns where the democratic party

gained the upper hand an unruly policy abroad and a narrow-minded

protection at home resulted. An inclination to hasty measures of war and

an unwillingness to observe treaties among the democratic towns of

Swabia were largely responsible for the disasters of the war of the

Swabian League in the 14th century. At home, whereas at first markets

had been free and open to any comer, a more and more protective policy

set in, traders from other towns being subjected more and more to

vexatious restrictions. It was also made increasingly difficult to

obtain membership in the craft-gilds, high admission fees and so-called

masterpieces being made a condition. Finally, the number of members

became fixed, and none but members' sons and sons-in-law, or members'

widows' husbands were received. The first result was the formation of a

numerous proletariate of life-long assistants and of men and women

forcibly excluded from following any honest trade; and the second

consequence, the economic ruin of the town to the exclusive advantage of

a limited number. From the end of the 15th century population in many

towns decreased, and not only most of the smaller ones, but even some

once important centres of trade, sank to the level almost of villages.

Those cities, on the other hand, where the mercantile community remained

in power, like Nuremberg and the seaboard towns, on the whole followed a

more enlightened policy, although even they could not quite keep clear

of the ever-growing protective tendencies of the time. Many even of the

richer towns, notably Nuremberg, ran into debt irretrievably, owing

partly to an exorbitant expenditure on magnificent public buildings and

extensive fortifications, calculated to resist modern instruments of

destruction, partly to a faulty administration of the public debt. From

the 13th century the towns had issued ("sold," as it was called)

annuities, either for life or for perpetuity in ever-increasing number,

until it was at last found impossible to raise the funds necessary to

pay them.

One of the principal achievements of the towns lay in the field of

_legislation_. Their law was founded originally on the general national

(or provincial) law, on custom, and on special privilege. New

foundations were regularly provided by their lord with a charter

embodying the most important points of the special law of the town in

question. This miniature code would thenceforth be developed by means of

statutes passed by the town council. The codification of the law of

Augsburg in 1276 already fills a moderate volume in print (ed. by

Christian Meyer, Augsburg, 1872). Later foundations were frequently

referred by their founders to the nearest existing town of importance,

though that might belong to a different lord. Afterwards, if a question

in law arose which the court of a younger town found itself unable to

answer, the court next senior in affiliation was referred to, which in

turn would apply to the court above, until at last that of the original

mother town was reached, whose decision was final. This system was

chiefly developed in the colonial east, where most towns were affiliated

directly or indirectly either to Lubeck or to Magdeburg; but it was by

no means unknown in the home country. A number of collections of such

judgments (_Schoffenspruche_) have been published. It is also worth

mentioning that it was usual to read the police by-laws of a town at

regular intervals to the assembled citizens in a morning-speech

(_Morgenspraehe_).[10]

To turn to _Italy_, the country for so many centuries in close political

connexion with Germany, the foremost thing to be noted is that here the

towns grew to even greater independence, many of them in the end

acknowledging no overlord whatever after the yoke of the German kings

had been shaken off. On the other hand, nearly all of them in the long

run fell under the sway of some local tyrant-dynasty.

From Roman times the country had remained thickly studded with towns,

each being the seat of a bishop. From this arose their most important

peculiarity. For it was largely due to an identification of dioceses and

municipal territories that the nobles of the surrounding country took up

their headquarters in the cities, either voluntarily or because forced

to do so by the citizens, who made it their policy thus to turn possible

opponents into partisans and defenders. In Germany, on the other hand,

nobles and knights were carefully shut out so long as the town's

independence was at stake, the members of a princely garrison being

required to take up their abode in the citadel, separated from the town

proper by a wall. Only in the comparatively few cathedral cities this

rule does not obtain. It will be seen that, in consequence of this,

municipal life in Italy was from the first more complex, the main

constituent parts of the population being the _capitani_, or greater

nobles, the _valvassori_, or lesser nobles (knights) and the people

(_popolo_). Furthermore, the bishops being in most cases the exponents

of the imperial power, the struggle for freedom from the latter ended in

a radical riddance from all temporal episcopal government as well.

Foremost in this struggle stood the cities of Lombardy, most of which

all through the barbarian invasions had kept their walls in repair and

maintained some importance as economic centres, and whose _popolo_

largely consisted of merchants of some standing. As early as the 8th

century the laws of the Langobard King Aistulf distinguished three

classes of merchants (_negotiantes_), among whom the _majores et

potentes_ were required to keep themselves provided with horse, lance,

shield and a cuirass. The valley of the Po formed the main artery of

trade between western Europe and the East, Milan being besides the point

of convergence for all Alpine passes west of the Brenner (the St

Gotthard, however, was not made accessible until early in the 13th

century). Lombard merchants soon spread all over western Europe, a chief

source of their ever-increasing wealth being their employment as bankers

of the papal see.

The struggle against the bishops, in which a clamour for a reform of

clerical life and a striving for local self-government were strangely

interwoven, had raged for a couple of generations when King Henry V.,

great patron of municipal freedom as he was, legalized by a series of

charters the _status quo_ (Cremona, 1114, Mantua, 1116). But under his

weak successors the independence of the cities reached such a pitch as

to be manifestly intolerable to an energetic monarch like Frederick I.

Besides, the more powerful among them would subdue or destroy their

weaker neighbours, and two parties were formed, one headed by Milan, the

other by Cremona. Como and Lodi complained of the violence used to them

by the former city. Therefore in 1158 a commission was appointed

embracing four Roman legists as representatives of the emperor, as well

as those of fourteen towns, to examine into the imperial and municipal

rights. The claims of the imperial government, jurisdictional and other,

were acknowledged, only such rights of self-government being admitted as

could be shown to be grounded on imperial charters. But when it came to

carrying into effect these Roncaglian decrees, a general rising

resulted. Milan was besieged by the emperor and destroyed in 1162 in

accordance with the verdict of her rivals. Nevertheless, after a defeat

at Legnano in 1176, Frederick was forced to renounce all pretensions to

interference with the government of the cities, merely retaining an

overlordship that was not much more than formal (peace of Constance in

1183). All through this war the towns had been supported by Pope

Alexander III. Similarly under Frederick II. the renewal of the struggle

between emperor and pope dovetailed with a fresh outbreak of the war

with the cities, who feared lest an imperial triumph over the church

would likewise threaten their independence. The emperor's death finally

decided the issue in their favour.

Constitutionally, municipal freedom was based on the formation of a

commune headed by elected consuls, usually to the number of twelve,

representing the three orders of _capitani_, _valvassori_ and _popolo_.

Frequently, however, the number actually wielding power was much more

restricted, and their position altogether may rather be likened to that

of their Roman predecessors than to that of their German contemporaries.

In all important matters they asked the advice and support of "wise

men," _sapientes, discretiores, prudentes_, as a body called the

_credenza_, while the popular assembly (_parlamentum, concio, consilium

generale_) was the true sovereign. The consuls with the assistance of

_judices_ also presided in the law-courts; but besides the consuls of

the commune there were _consules de placitis_ specially appointed for

jurisdictional purposes.

In spite of these multifarious safeguards, however, family factions

early destroyed the fabric of liberty, especially as, just as there was

an imperial, or Ghibelline, and a papal, or Guelph party among the

cities as a whole, thus also within each town each faction would allege

adherence to and claim support by one or other of the great

world-powers. To get out of the dilemma of party-government, resort was

thereupon had to the appointment as chief magistrate of a _podesta_ from

among the nobles or knights of a different part of the country not mixed

up with the local feuds. But the end was in most cases the establishment

of the despotism of some leading family, such as the Visconti at Milan,

the Gonzaga at Mantua, the della Scala in Verona and the Carrara in

Padua.

In Tuscany, the historic role of the cities, with the exception of Pisa,

begins at a later date, largely owing to the overlordship of the

powerful margraves of the house of Canossa and their successors, who

here represented the emperor. Pisa, however, together with Genoa, all

through the 11th century distinguished itself by war waged in the

western Mediterranean and its isles against the Saracens. Both cities,

along with Venice, but especially the Genoese, also did excellent

service in reducing the Syrian coast towns still in the hands of the

Turks in the reigns of Kings Baldwin I. and Baldwin II. of Jerusalem,

while more particularly Pisa with great constancy placed her fleet at

the disposal of the Hohenstaufen emperors for warfare with Sicily.

Meanwhile communes with consuls at their head were formed in Tuscany

much as elsewhere. On the other hand the Tuscan cities managed to

prolong the reign of liberty to a much later epoch, no _podesta_ ever

quite succeeding here in his attempts to establish the rule of his

dynasty. Even when in the second half of the 15th century the Medici in

Florence attained to power, the form at least of a republic was still

maintained, and not till 1531 did one of them, supported by Charles V.,

assume the ducal title.

Long before the last stage, the rule of _signori_, was reached, however,

the commune as originally constituted had everywhere undergone radical

changes. As early as the 13th century the lower orders among the

inhabitants formed an organization under officers of their own, side by

side with that of the commune, which was controlled by the great and the

rich; e.g. at Florence the people in 1250 rose against the turbulent

nobles and chose a _capitano del popolo_ with twelve _anziani_, two from

each of the six city-wards (_sestieri_), as his council. The _popolo_

itself was divided into twenty armed companies, each under a

_gonfaloniere_. But later the _arti_ (craft-gilds), some of whom,

however, can be shown to have existed under consuls of their own as

early as 1203, attained supreme importance, and in 1282 the government

was placed in the hands of their _priori_, under the name of the

_signoria_. The Guelph nobles were at first admitted to a share in the

government, on condition of their entering a gild, but in 1293 even this

privilege was withdrawn. The _ordinamenti della giustizia_ of that year

robbed the nobility of all political power. The lesser or lower _arti_,

on the other hand, were conceded a full share in it, and a _gonfaloniere

della giustizia_ was placed at the head of the militia. In the 14th

century twelve _buoni uomini_ representing the wards (_sestieri_) were

superadded, all these dignitaries holding office for two months only.

And besides all these, there existed three competing chief justices and

commanders of the forces called in from abroad and holding office for

six months, viz. the _podesta_, the _capitano del popolo_, and the

_esecutore della giustizia_. In spite of all this complicated machinery

of checks and balances, revolution followed upon revolution, nor could

an occasional reign of terror be prevented like that of the Signore

Gauthier de Brienne, duke of Athens (1342-1343). It was not till after a

rising of the lowest order of all, the industrial labourers, had been

suppressed in 1378 (_tumulto dei Ciompi_, the wool-combers), that

quieter times ensued under the wise leadership, first of the Albizzi and

finally of the Medici.

The history of the other Tuscan towns was equally tumultuous, all of

them save Lucca, after many fitful changes finally passing under the

sway of Florence, or the grand-duchy of Tuscany, as the state was now

called. Pisa, one time the mightiest, had been crushed between its

inland neighbour and its maritime rival Genoa (battle of Meloria, 1282).

Apart in its constitutional development from all other towns in Italy,

and it might be added, in Europe, stands Venice. Almost alone among

Italian cities its origin does not go back to Roman times. It was not

till the invasions of Hun and Langobard that fugitives from the Venetian

mainland took refuge among the poor fishermen on the small islands in

the lagoons and on the _lido_--the narrow stretch of coast-line which

separates the lagoons from the Adriatic--some at Grado, some at

Malamocco, others on Rialto. A number of small communities was formed

under elected tribunes, acknowledging as their sovereign the emperor at

Constantinople. Treaties of commerce were concluded with the Langobard

kings, thus assuring a market for the sale of imports from the East and

for the purchase of agricultural produce. Just before or after A.D. 700

the young republic seems to have thrown off the rule of the Byzantine

_dux Histriae et Venetiae_ and elected a duke (_doge_) of its own, in

whom was vested the executive power, the right to convoke the popular

assembly (_concio_) and appoint tribunes and justices. Political unity

was thus established, but it was not till after another century of civil

war that Rialto was definitely chosen the seat of government and thus

the foundation of the present city laid. After a number of attempts to

establish a hereditary dukedom, Duke Domenico Flabianico in 1032 passed

a law providing that no duke was to appoint his successor or procure him

to be elected during his own lifetime. Besides this two councils were

appointed without whose consent nothing of importance was to be done.

After the murder by the people of Duke Vitale Michiel in 1172, who had

suffered naval defeat, it was deemed necessary to introduce a stricter

constitutional order. According to the orthodox account, some details of

which have, however, recently been impugned,[11] the irregular popular

meeting was replaced by a great council of from 450 to 480 members

elected annually by special appointed electors in equal proportion from

each of the six wards. One of the functions of this body was to appoint

most of the state officials or their electors. There was also an

executive council of six, one from each ward. Besides these, the duke,

who was henceforward elected by a body of eleven electors from among the

aristocracy, would invite persons of prominence (the _pregadi_) in order

to secure their assent and co-operation, whenever a measure of

importance was to be placed before the great council. Only under

extraordinary circumstances the _concio_ was still to be called. The

tenure of the duke's office was for life. The general tendency of

constitutional development in Venice henceforward ran in an exactly

opposite direction to that of all other Italian cities towards a growing

restriction of popular rights, until in 1296 the great council was for

all future time closed to all but the descendants of a limited number of

noble families, whose names were in that year entered in the Golden

Book. It still remained to appoint a board to superintend the executive

power. These were the _avvogadori di commune_, and, since Tiepolo's

conspiracy in 1310, the _Consiglio dei Dieci_, the Council of Ten, which

controlled the whole of the state, and out of which there developed in

the 16th century the state inquisition.

While in all prominent Italian cities the leading classes of the

community were largely made up of merchants, in Venice the nobility was

entirely commercial. The marked steadiness in the evolution of the

Venetian constitution is no doubt largely due to this fact. Elsewhere

the presence of large numbers of turbulent country nobles furnished the

first germ for the unending dissensions which ruined such promising

beginnings. In Venice, on the contrary, its businesslike habits of mind

led the ruling class to make what concessions might seem needful, while

both the masses and the head of the state were kept in due subjection to

the laws. Too much stability, however, finally changed into stagnation,

and decay followed. The foreign policy of Venice was likewise mainly

dictated by commercial motives, the chief objectives being commercial

privilege in the Byzantine empire and in the Frankish states in the

East, domination of the Adriatic, occupation of a sufficient hinterland

on the _terra firma_, non-sufferance of the rivalry of Genoa, and,

finally, maintenance of trade-supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean

through a series of alternating wars and treaties with Turkey, the

lasting monument of which was the destruction of the Parthenon in 1685

by a Venetian bomb. At last the proud republic surrendered to Napoleon

without a stroke.

The cities of southern Italy do not here call for special attention.

Several of them developed a certain amount of independence and free

institutions, and took an important part in trade with the East, notably

so Amalfi. But after incorporation in the Norman kingdom all individual

history for them came to an end.

Rome, finally, derived its importance from being the capital of the

popes and from its proud past. From time to time spasmodic attempts were

made to revive the forms of the ancient republic, as under Arnold of

Brescia in the 12th and by Niccolo di Rienzo in the 14th century; but

there was no body of stalwart, self-reliant citizens to support such

measures: nothing but turbulent nobles on the one hand and a rabble on

the other.

In no country is there such a clear grouping of the towns on

geographical lines as in _France_, these geographical lines, of course,

having in the first instance been drawn by historical causes. Another

feature is the extent to which, in the unruly times preceding the civic

movement, serfdom had spread among the inhabitants even of the towns

throughout the greater part of the country, and the application of

feudal ideas to town government. In some other respects the constitution

of the cities in the south of France, as will be seen, has more in

common with that of the Italian communes, and that of the northern

French towns with those of Germany, than the constitutions of the

various groups of French towns have among each other.