Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7

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Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 - "Columbus" to "Condottiere"
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.

*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 - "Columbus" to "Condottiere"" ***

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 COMPIÈGNE
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, ÉMILE 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 CONCEPCIÓN (province of Chile)
COMITY CONCEPCIÓN (city of Chile)
COMMA CONCEPCIÓN (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 CONDÉ, PRINCES OF
COMMODIANUS CONDÉ, LOUIS DE BOURBON
COMMODORE CONDÉ, LOUIS II. DE BOURBON
COMMODUS, LUCIUS AELIUS AURELIUS CONDÉ (villages of France)
COMMON LAW CONDE, JOSÉ ANTONIO
COMMON LODGING-HOUSE CONDENSATION OF GASES
COMMON ORDER, BOOK OF CONDENSER
COMMONPLACE CONDER, CHARLES
COMMON PLEAS, COURT OF CONDILLAC, ÉTIENNE 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. Lundström, 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 Vendôme 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: Harpagê Helenês]) 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. Schäfer (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, 40½ 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: kôma], 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: komê], 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 5½, 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 £2000--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 £200 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: kumbê] 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] ÉMILE (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-Inférieure. 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-Inférieure. 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 père_.
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 + cx² + dx³ + ... 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 - x²z) (1 - x³z) ...
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 + h2x² + h3x³ + ...

h1 = [Sigma][alpha] = (1)
h2 = [Sigma][alpha]² + [Sigma][alpha][beta] = (2) + (1²)
h3 = [Sigma][alpha]³ + [Sigma][alpha]²[beta] +
[Sigma][alpha][beta][gamma] = (3) + (21) + (1³).

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), (1²), (1³), ... 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 + (1²)x1²,
X3 = (3)x3 + (21)x2x1 + (1³){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 _près_, 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 + h2x² + h3x³ + ... )^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 ½ we bring this to the still more convenient form

1
½ -------------------------.
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 ½{1/1 - 2[alpha]} = ½ + [Sigma]F(p)[alpha]^p, and thence
F(p) = 2^(p-1).

1
Again ½ --------------------------------------- =
1 - 2([alpha] + [beta] - [alpha][beta])

= ½ + [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
½ · ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
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
½ · -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
{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
½ · -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
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

½ (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
½[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:--

Hence F(22) = 2(2² + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2°) = 26.

We may regard the fraction

1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
½ · {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

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

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 "Problème 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 - n² + 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
(321³). Euler's pioneering work in the subject rests on the observation
that the algebraic multiplication

x^a × x^b × x^c × ... = 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] = ½(a + b + ... + l), may
be written

[rho]_q^[nu]·e^[nu]x
[Sigma]------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------,
([rho]_q^½a·e^½ax - [rho]_q^-½a·e^-½ax)([rho]_q^½b·e^½bx - [rho]_q^-½b·e^-½bx)...([rho]_q^½l·e^½lx - [rho]_q^-½l·e^-½lx)

and the calculation in simple cases is practicable.

Thus Sylvester finds for the coefficient of x^n in

1
---------------------
1 - x. 1 - x². 1 - x³

[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. (321³),
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 - ax². 1 - ax³...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 - x²...1 - x^j

Therefore

1 a a²
-------------------------- = 1 + ----- + ------------- + ...
1 - a. 1 - ax. 1 - ax².... 1 - x 1 - x. 1 - x²

a^j
+ ----------------------- + ....
1 - x. 1 - x²...1 - x^j

The coefficient of a^j·x^n in the expansion of

1
------------------------------------
1 - a. 1 - ax. 1 - ax². ... 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 - x². ... 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 - x². ... 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 - x²)(1 - x³)...ad inf. = [Sigma](-)jx^{½(3j²+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 ½(3j² + 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 ½(n = [theta]²) into
[theta] or few parts, i.e. it is the coefficient of x^{½(n-[theta]²)} in

1
-----------------------------------------,
1 - x. 1 - x². 1 - x³. ... 1 - x^[theta].

x^[theta]²
or of x^n in --------------------------------------------.
1 - x². 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 - x². 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 + ax³)(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 - x². 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^2[theta]

(1 + ax)(1 + ax³)(1 + ax^5)...ad inf.

x x^4 x^9
= 1 + ------ a + --------------- a² + ---------------------- a³ + ...
1 - x² 1 - x². 1 - x^4 1 - x². 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 + ax³)(1 + ax^5)...(1 + ax^{2i-1}); moreover
the same number enumerates the partition of ½(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^{½(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 - x². 1 - x³. ... 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 - x². 1 - x^4. 1 - x^6. ... 1 - x^[t]

hence the expansion

(1 + ax)(1 + ax³)(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 - x². 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 ... )
× (1 - b[alpha]²x². 1 - b[alpha][beta]x². 1 - b[beta]²x² ... )
× (1 - b[alpha]³x³. 1 - b[alpha]²[beta]x³. 1 - b[alpha][beta][gamma]x³ ...)

. . . . . .

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·b²x^2r + ...,

we may write the development

r=[oo]
[Pi] (1 + h_r1·bx^r + h_r2·b²x^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

h2² = h4 - h3h1 + (h2)²

h3² = h6 - h5h1 + h4h2

h4² = 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

h2x² + h2h1x³ + (h4 + h2²)x^4 + (h4h1 + h3h2)x^5 + (h6 + 2h4h2)x^6
+ (h6h1 + h6h2 + h4h3)x^7 + (h8 + 2h6h2 + h4²)x8 + ...

Taking h4 + h2² = h4 + {(2) + (1²)}²

= 2(4) + 3(31) + 4(2²) + 5(21²) + 7(1^4),

the term 5(21²) 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 n² 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 + a2x² + ... + ... = (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,

D2²D1²·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 n²
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_; Édouard Lucas, _Théorie
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: kômôidia], which is a
compound either of [Greek: kômos] (revel) and [Greek: aoidos] (singer;
[Greek: aeidein], [Greek: aidein], to sing), or of [Greek: kômê]
(village) and [Greek: aoidos]: it is possible that [Greek: kômos] itself
is derived from [Greek: komê], 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: kômikos]), 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 Pädogogik_, and Carpzov's
_Religionsuntersuchung der böhmischen und mährischen Brüder_.

COMET (Gr. [Greek: komêtês], 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 Helwân 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° 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. Méchain 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: esêgounto ... tas
cheirotonias mê 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, _Römisches Staatsrecht_, iii. p. 300 foll.
(3rd ed., Leipzig, 1887), and _Römische Forschungen_, Bd. i. (Berlin,
1879); Soltau, _Entstehung und Zusammensetzung der altrömischen
Volksversammlungen_, and _Die Gültigkeit der Plebiscite_ (Berlin,
1884); Huschke, _Die Verfassung des Königs Servius Tullius als
Grundlage zu einer römischen Verfassungsgeschichte_ (Heidelberg,
1838); Borgeaud, _Le Plébiscite dans l'antiquité. Grèce 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: hypomnêmata]), 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,
_Realencyclopädie_ (1901); Teuffel-Schwabe, _Hist. of Roman Lit._
(Eng. trans.), pp. 72, 77-79; and the concise account by H. Thédenat
in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionnaire des antiquités_.

COMMENTRY, a town of central France, in the department of Allier, 42 m.
S.W. of Moulins by the Orléans 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 Lübeck and Hamburg, commanding the navigation of the
Elbe, it gradually spread over 85 towns, including Amsterdam, Cologne
and Frankfort in the south, and Danzig, Königsberg 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 Lübeck 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 liberè
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 "mouahedé"--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 château 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 François 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 Péronne, 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 Trémoille claimed to
have rights. The king arranged his marriage with Hélène 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 Trémoille, 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
Hélène 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 château 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 Pré, 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 _Kriegskommissär_ 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 employé 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 employés 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 employés
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 £500, or to both, or on summary conviction to imprisonment not
exceeding four months with or without hard labour or to a fine not
exceeding £50, 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 employé 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 _committé_, an Anglo-Fr. past participle of _commettre_,
Lat. _committere_, to entrust; the modern Fr. equivalent _comité_ 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 _commítt-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 _Mélanges 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 römischen Kaiserzeit_; J. Zürcher,
"Commodus" (1868, in Büdinger's _Untersuchungen zur römischen
Kaisergeschichte_, a criticism of Herodian's account); Pauly-Wissowa,
_Realencyclopädie_, 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: koivòs tópos], 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 £3 or £4 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
_bürger_, 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, _Ratmänner_, _consules_, less frequently
_consiliarii_), with one, two or more burgomasters (_Bürgermeister_,
_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_, _Brüderschaft_, _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 (_Reichsstädte_),
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,
Zürich 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 Lübeck, 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 Hansestädte_.
But until modern times most of the larger _Landstädte_ 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'être_ 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 (_Pfalbürger_, 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 _Landstädte_ 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. Bücher (_Die
Bevölkerung von Frankfurt a. M. im 14ten und 15ten Jahrhundert_, i.,
Tübingen, 1886; _Die Entstehung der Volkswirtschaft_, 5th ed., Tübingen,
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 Bücher'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. Zürich, 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 Lübeck or to Magdeburg; but it was by
no means unknown in the home country. A number of collections of such
judgments (_Schöffensprüche_) 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 _podestà_ 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 rôle 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 _podestà_ 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 _podestà_, 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 Niccolò 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.

In the group of the _villes consulaires_, comprising all important towns
in the south, the executive was, as in Italy, in the hands of a body of
_consules_, whose number in most cases rose to twelve. They were elected
for the term of one year and re-eligible only after an interval, and
they were supported by a municipal council (_commune consilium,
consilium magnum_ or _secretum_ or _generale_, or _colloquium_) and a
general assembly (_parlamentum, concio, commune consilium, commune,
universitas civium_), which, however, as a rule was far from comprising
the whole body of citizens. Another feature which these southern towns
had in common with their Italian neighbours was the prominent part
played by the native nobility. The relations with the clergy were
generally of a more friendly character than in the north, and in some
cases the bishop or archbishop even retained a considerable influence in
the management of the town's affairs. Dissensions among the citizens, or
between the nobles and the bourgeois, frequently ended in the adoption
of a _podestat_. And in several cities of the Languedoc, each of the two
classes composing the population retained its separate laws and customs.
It is matter of dispute whether vestiges of Roman institutions had
survived in these parts down to the time when the new constitutions
sprang into being; but all investigators are pretty well agreed that in
no case did such remnants prove of any practical importance. Roman law,
however, was never quite superseded by Germanic law, as appears from the
_statuts municipaux_. In the improvement and expansion of these statutes
a remarkable activity was displayed by means of an annual _correctio
statutorum_ carried out by specially appointed _statutores_. In the
north, on the other hand, the _carta communiae_, forming as it were the
basis of the commune's existence, seems to have been considered almost
as something sacred and unchangeable.

The constitutional history of the communes in northern France in a
number of points widely differed from that of these _villes
consulaires_. First of all the movement for their establishment in most
cases was to a far greater degree of a revolutionary character. These
revolutions were in the first place directed against the bishops; but
the position both of the higher clergy and of the nobility was here of a
nature distinctly more hostile to the aspirations of the citizens than
it was in the south. As a result the clergy and the nobles were excluded
from all membership of the commune, except inasmuch as that those
residing in the town might be required to swear not to conspire against
it. The commune (_communia, communa, communio, communitas, conjuratio,
confoederatio_) was formed by an oath of mutual help (_sacramentum,
juramentum communiae_). The members were described as _jurati_ (also
_burgenses, vicini, amici_), although in some communes that term was
reserved for the members of the governing body. None but men of free and
legitimate birth, and free from debt and contagious or incurable disease
were received. The members of the governing body were styled _jurés_
(_jurati_), _pairs_ (_pares_) or _échevins_ (_scabini_). The last was,
however, as in Germany, more properly the title of the jurors in the
court of justice, which in many cases remained in the hands of the lord.
In some cases the town council developed out of this body; but in the
larger cities, like Rouen, several councils worked and all these names
were employed side by side. The number of the members of the governing
body proper varies from twelve to a hundred, and its functions were both
judicial and administrative. There was also known an arrangement
corresponding to the German _alte und sitzende Rat_, viz. of retired
members who could be called in to lend assistance on important
occasions. The most striking distinction, however, as against the
_villes consulaires_ was the elevation of the president of the body to
the position of _maire_ or _mayeur_ (sometimes also called _prévôt_,
_praepositus_). As elsewhere, at first none but the civic aristocracy
were admitted to take part in the management of the town's affairs; but
from the end of the 13th century a share had to be conceded to
representatives of the crafts. Dissatisfaction, however, was not easily
allayed; the lower orders applied for the intervention of the king; and
that effectively put an end to political freedom. This tendency of
calling in state help marks a most striking difference as against the
policy followed by the German towns, where all classes appear to have
been always far too jealous of local independence. The result for the
nation was in the one case despotism, equality and order, in the other
individual liberty and an inability to move as a whole. At an earlier
stage the king had frequently come to the assistance of the communes in
their struggle with their lords. By-and-by the king's confirmation came
to be considered necessary for their lawful existence. This proved a
powerful lever for the extension of the king's authority. It may seem
strange that in France the towns never had recourse to those interurban
leagues which played so important a part in Italian and in German
history.

These two varieties, the _communes_ and the _villes consulaires_
together form the group of _villes libres_. As opposed to these stand
the _villes franches_, also called _villes prévotales_ after the chief
officer, _villes de bourgeoisie_ or _villes soumises_. They make up by
far the majority of French towns, comprising all those situated in the
centre of the kingdom, and also a large number in the north and the
south. They are called _villes franches_ on account of their possessing
a franchise, a charter limiting the services due by the citizens to
their lord, but political status they had little or none. According to
the varying extent of the liberties conceded them, there may be
distinguished towns governed by an elective body and more or less fully
authorized to exercise jurisdiction; towns possessing some sort of
municipal organization, but no rights of jurisdiction, except that of
simple police; and, thirdly, those governed entirely by seignorial
officers. To this last class belong some of the most important cities in
France, wherever the king had power enough to withhold liberties deemed
dangerous and unnecessary. On the other hand, towns of the first
category often come close to the _villes libres_. A strict line of
demarcation, however, remains in the mutual oath which forms the basis
of the civic community in both varieties of the latter, and in the fact
that the _ville libre_ stands to its lord in the relation of vassal and
not in that of an immediate possession. But however _complètement
assujettie_ Paris might be, its organization, naturally, was immensely
more complex than that of hundreds of smaller places which, formally,
might stand in an identical relationship to their lords. Like other
_villes franches_ under the king, Paris was governed by a _prévôt_
(provost), but certain functions of self-government for the city were
delegated to the company of the _marchands de l'eau, mercatores aquae_,
also called _mercatores ansati_, that is, the gild of merchants whose
business lay down the river Seine, in other words, a body naturally
exclusive, not, however, to the citizens as such. At their head stood a
_prévôt des marchands_ and four _eschevins de la marchandise_. Other
_prud'hommes_ were occasionally called in, and from 1296 _prévôt_ and
_échevins_, appointed twenty-four councillors to form with themselves a
_parloir aux bourgeois_. The crafts of Paris were organized in
_métiers_, whose masters were appointed, some by the _prévôt de Paris_,
and some by certain great officers of the court. In the tax rolls of
A.D. 1292 to 1300 no fewer than 448 names of crafts occur, while the
_Livre des métiers_ written in 1268 by Étienne de Boileau, then _prévôt
de Paris_, enumerates 101 organized bodies of tradesmen or women and
artisans. Among the duties of these bodies, as elsewhere, was the _guet_
or night-watch, which necessitated a military organization under
_quartiniers, cinquantainiers_ and _dixainiers_. This gave them a
certain power. But both their revolutions, under the _prévôt des
marchands_, Étienne Marcel, after the battle of Maupertuis, and again in
1382, were extremely short-lived, and the only tangible result was a
stricter subjection to the king and his officers.

An exceptional position among the cities of France is taken up by those
of _Flanders_, more particularly the three "Great Towns," Bruges, Ghent
and Ypres, whose population was Flemish, i.e. German. They sprang up at
the foot of the count's castles and rose in close conjunction with his
power. On the accession of a new house they made their power felt as
early as 1128. Afterwards the counts of the house of Dampierre fell into
financial dependence on the burghers, and therefore allied themselves
with the rising artisans, led by the weavers. These, however, proved far
more unruly, bloody conflicts ensued, and for a considerable period the
three great cities ruled the whole of Flanders with a high hand. Their
influence in the foreign relations of the country was likewise great, it
being in their interest to keep up friendly relations with England, on
whose wool the flourishing state of the staple industry of Flanders
depended. It is a remarkable fact that the historical position taken up
by these cities, which politically belonged to France, is much more akin
to the part played by the German towns, whereas Cambrai, whose
population was French, is the only city politically situated in Germany,
where a commune came to be established.

In the _Spanish peninsula_, the chief importance of the numerous small
towns lay in the part they played as fortresses during the unceasing
wars with the Moors. The kings therefore extended special privileges
(_fueros_) to the inhabitants, and they were even at an early date
admitted to representation in the Cortes (parliament). Of greater
individual importance than all the rest was Barcelona. Already in 1068
Count Berengarius gave the city a special law (_usatici_) based on its
ancient usages, and from the 14th century its commercial code (_libro
del consolat del mar_) became influential all over southern Europe.

The constitutions of the _Scandinavian_ towns were largely modelled on
those of Germany, but the towns never attained anything like the same
independence. Their dependence on the royal government most strongly
comes out in the fact of their being uniformly regulated by royal law in
each of the three kingdoms. In Sweden particularly, German merchants by
law took an equal share in the government of the towns. In Denmark their
influence was also great, and only in Norway did they remain in the
position of foreigners in spite of their famous settlement at Bergen.
The details, as well as those of the German settlement at Wisby and on
the east coast of the Baltic, belong rather to the history of the
Hanseatic League (q.v.). Denmark appears to be the only one of the three
kingdoms where gilds at an early date played a part of importance.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The only book dealing with the subject in general, viz.
K. D. Hüllmann, _Städtewesen des Mittelalters_ (4 vols., Bonn,
1826-1828), is quite antiquated. For Germany it is best to consult
Richard Schröder, _Lehrbruch der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (5th ed.,
Leipzig, 1907), §§ 51 and 56, where a bibliography as complete as need
be is given, both of monographs dealing with various aspects of the
question, and of works on the history of individual towns. The latter
alone covers two large octavo pages of small print. As a sort of
complement to Schröder's chapters may be considered, F. Keutgen,
_Urkunden zur städtischen Verfassungsgeschichte_ (Berlin, 1901 =
_Ausgewählte Urkunden zur deutschen Verfassungsgeschichte_, by G. von
Below and F. Keutgen, vol. i.), a collection of 437 select charters
and other documents, with a very full index. The great work of G. L.
von Maurer, _Geschichte der Städteverfassung von Deutschland_ (4 thick
vols., Erlangen, 1869-1871), contains an enormous mass of information
not always treated quite so critically as the present age requires.
There is an excellent succinct account for general readers by Georg
von Below, "Das ältere deutsche Städtewesen und Bürgertum,"
_Monographien zur Weltgeschichte_, vol. vi. (Bielefeld and Leipzig,
1898, illustrated). A number of the most important recent monographs
have been mentioned above. As fpr Italy, the most valuable general
work for the early times is still Carl Hegel, _Geschichte der
Städteverfassung von Italien seit der Zeit der römischen Herrschaft
bis zum Ausgang des zwölften Jahrhunderts_ (2 small vols., Leipzig,
1847, price second-hand, M. 40), in which it was for the first time
fully proved that there is no connexion between Roman and modern
municipal constitutions. For the period from the 13th century it will
perhaps be best to consult W. Assmann, _Geschichte des Mittelalters_,
3rd ed., by L. Viereck, dritte Abteilung, _Die letzten beiden
Jahrhunderts des Mittelalters: Deutschland, die Schweiz, und Italien_,
by R. Fischer, R. Scheppig and L. Viereck (Brunswick, 1906). In this
volume, pp. 679-943 contain an excellent account of the various
Italian states and cities during that period, with a full bibliography
for each. Among recent critical contributions to the history of
individual towns, the following works deserve to be specially
mentioned: Robert Davidsohn, _Geschichte von Florenz_ (Berlin,
1896-1908); down to the beginning of the 14th century; the same,
_Forschungen zur Geschichte von Florenz_ (vols. i.-iv., Berlin,
1896-1908); Heinrich Kretschmayr, _Geschichte von Venedig_ (vol. i.,
Gotha, 1905, to 1205). For France, there are the works by Achille
Luchaire, _Les Communes françaises à l'époque des Capétiens directs_
(Paris, 1890), and Paul Viollet, "Les Communes françaises au moyen
âge," _Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-lettres_,
tome xxxvi. (Paris, 1900). There are, of course, also accounts in the
great works on French institutions by Flach, Glasson, Viollet,
Luchaire, but perhaps the one in Luchaire's _Manuel des institutions
françaises, période des Capétiens directs_ (Paris, 1892) deserves
special recommendation. Another valuable account for France north of
the Loire is that contained in the great work by Karl Hegel, _Städte
und Gilden der germanischen Völker im Mittelaller_ (2 vols., Leipzig,
1891; see _English Historical Review_, viii. 120-127). Of course,
there are also numerous monographs, among which the following may be
mentioned: Édouard Bonvalot, _Le Tiers État d'après la charte de
Beaumont et ses filiales_ (Paris, 1884); and A. Giry, _Les
Êtablissements de Rouen_ (2 vols., Paris, 1883-1885); also a
collection of documents by Gustave Fagniez, _Documents relatifs à
l'histoire de l'industrie et du commerce en France_ (2 vols., Paris,
1898, 1900). Some valuable works on the commercial history of southern
Europe should still be mentioned, such as W. Heyd, _Geschichte des
Levantehandels im Mittelalter_ (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1879; French
edition by Furcy Raynaud, 2 vols., Paris, 1885 seq., improved by the
author), recognized as a standard work; Adolf Schaube,
_Handelsgeschichte der romanischen Völker des Mittelmeergebietes bis
zum Ende der Kreuzzüge_ (Munich and Berlin, 1906); Aloys Schulte,
_Geschichte des mittelalterlichen Handels und Verkehrs zwischen
Westdeutschland und Italien mit Ausschluss Venedigs_ (2 vols.,
Leipzig, 1900); L. Goldschmidt, _Universalgesdiichte des
Handelsrechts_ (vol. i., Stuttgart, 1891). As for the Scandinavian
towns, the best guide is perhaps the book by K. Hegel, _Städte und
Gilden der germanischen Völker_, already mentioned; but see also
Dietrich Schäfer, "Der Stand der Geschichtswissenschaft im
skandinavischen Norden," _Internationale Wochenschrift_, November 16,
1907. (F. K.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As to the former, see S. Rietschel, _Die Civitas auf deutschem
Boden bis zum Ausgange der Karolingerzeit_ (Leipzig, 1894); and, for
the newly founded towns, the same author, _Markt und Stadt in ihrem
rechtlichen Verhältnis_ (Leipzig, 1897).

[2] About the _Burggraf_, see S. Rietschel, _Das Burggrafenamt und die
hohe Gerichtsbarkeit in den deutschen Bischofsstädten während des
früheren Mittelalters_ (Leipzig, 1905).

[3] As to the towns as fortresses, see also F. Keutgen,
_Untersuchungen über den Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung_
(Leipzig, 1895); and "Der Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung"
(_Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum_, &c, N.F. vol. v.).

[4] See S. Rietschel, _Markt und Stadt_, and J. Fritz, _Deutsche
Stadtanlagen_ (Strassburg, 1894).

[5] G. von Below, _Die Entstehung der deutschen Stadtgemeinde_
(Düsseldorf, 1889); and _Der Ursprung der deutschen Stadtverfassung_
(Düsseldorf, 1892).

[6] F. Keutgen, _Urkunden zur städtischen Verfassungsgeschichte_, No.
74 and No. 75 (Berlin, 1901).

[7] F. Keutgen, _Ämter und Zünfte_ (Jena, 1903).

[8] J. Weizsäcker, _Der rheinische Bund_ (Tübingen, 1879).

[9] G. v. Below, _Der Untergang der mittelalterlichen Stadtwirtschaft;
Über Theorien der wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung der Völker_; F.
Keutgen, "Hansische Handelsgesellschaften, vornehmlich des 14ten
Jahrhunderts," in _Vierteljahrsschrift für Sozial- und
Wirtschaftsgeschichte_, vol. iv. (1906).

[10] On this whole subject see Richard Schröder, _Lehrbuch der
deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (5th ed., Leipzig, 1907), § 56, "Die
Stadtrechte." Also Charles Gross, _The Gild Merchant_ (Oxford, 1890),
vol. i. Appendix E, "Affiliation of Medieval Boroughs."

[11] H. Kretschmayr, _Geschichte von Venedig_, vol. i. (Gotha, 1905).

COMMUNISM, the name loosely given to schemes of social organizations
depending on the abolition of private property and its absorption into
the property of a community as such. It is a form of what is now
generally called socialism (q.v.), the terminology of which has varied a
good deal according to time and place; but the expression "communism"
may be conveniently used, as opposed to "socialism" in its wider
political sense, or to the political and municipal varieties known as
"collectivism," "state socialism," &c., in order to indicate more
particularly the historical schemes propounded or put into practice for
establishing certain ideally arranged communities composed of
individuals living and working on the basis of holding their property in
common. It has nothing, of course, to do with the Paris Commune,
overthrown in May 1871, which was a political and not an economic
movement. Communistic schemes have been advocated in almost every age
and country, and have to be distinguished from mere anarchism or from
the selfish desire to transfer other people's property into one's own
pockets. The opinion that a communist is merely a man who has no
property to lose, and therefore advocates a redistribution of wealth, is
contrary to the established facts as to those who have historically
supported the theory of communism. The Corn-law Rhymer's lines on this
subject are amusing, but only apply to the baser sort:--

"What is a Communist! One that hath yearnings
For equal division of unequal earnings.
Idler or bungler, or both, he is willing
To fork out his penny and pocket your shilling."

This is the communist of hostile criticism--a criticism, no doubt,
ultimately based on certain fundamental facts in human nature, which
have usually wrecked communistic schemes of a purely altruistic type in
conception. But the great communists, like Plato, More, Saint-Simon,
Robert Owen, were the very reverse of selfish or idle in their aims; and
communism as a force in the historical evolution of economic and social
opinion must be regarded on its ideal side, and not merely in its
lapses, however natural the latter may be in operation, owing to the
defects of human character. As a theory it has inspired not only some of
the finest characters in history, but also much of the gradual evolution
of economic organization--especially in the case of co-operation (q.v.);
and its opportunities have naturally varied according to the state of
social organization in particular countries. The communism of the early
Christians, for instance, was rather a voluntary sharing of private
property than any abnegation of property as such. The Essenes and the
Therapeutae, however, in Palestine, had a stricter form of communism,
and the former required the surrender of individual property; and in the
middle ages various religious sects, followed by the monastic orders,
were based on the communistic principle.

Communistic schemes have found advocates in almost every age and in many
different countries. The one thing that is shared by all communists,
whether speculative or practical, is deep dissatisfaction with the
economic conditions by which they are surrounded. In Plato's _Republic_
the dissatisfaction is not limited to merely economic conditions. In his
examination of the body politic there is hardly any part which he can
pronounce to be healthy. He would alter the life of the citizens of his
state from the very moment of birth. Children are to be taken away from
their parents and nurtured under the supervision of the state. The old
nursery tales, "the blasphemous nonsense with which mothers fool the
manhood out of their children," are to be suppressed. Dramatic and
imitative poetry are not to be allowed. Education, marriage, the number
of births, the occupations of the citizens are to be controlled by the
guardians or heads of the state. The most perfect equality of conditions
and careers is to be preserved; the women are to have similar training
with the men, no careers and no ambition are to be forbidden to them;
the inequalities and rivalries between rich and poor are to cease,
because all will be provided for by the state. Other cities are divided
against themselves. "Any ordinary city, however small, is in fact two
cities, one the city of the poor, the other of the rich, at war with one
another" (_Republic_, bk. iv. p. 249, Jowett's translation). But this
ideal state is to be a perfect unit; although the citizens are divided
into classes according to their capacity and ability, there is none of
the exclusiveness of birth, and no inequality is to break the accord
which binds all the citizens, both male and female, together into one
harmonious whole. The marvellous comprehensiveness of the scheme for the
government of this ideal state makes it belong as much to the modern as
to the ancient world. Many of the social problems to which Plato draws
attention are yet unsolved, and some are in process of solution in the
direction indicated by him. He is not appalled by the immensity of the
task which he has sketched out for himself and his followers. He admits
that there are difficulties to be overcome, but he says in a sort of
parenthesis, "Nothing great is easy." He refuses to be satisfied with
half measures and patchwork reforms. "Enough, my friend! but what is
enough while anything remains wanting?" These sentences indicate the
spirit in which philosophical as distinguished from practical communists
from the time of Plato till to-day have undertaken to reconstruct human
society.

Sir Thomas More's _Utopia_ has very many of the characteristics of _The
Republic_. There is in it the same wonderful power of shaking off the
prejudices of the place and time in which it was written. The government
of Utopia is described as founded on popular election; community of
goods prevailed, the magistrates distributed the instruments of
production among the inhabitants, and the wealth resulting from their
industry was shared by all. The use of money and all outward ostentation
of wealth were forbidden. All meals were taken in common, and they were
rendered attractive by the accompaniment of sweet strains of music,
while the air was filled by the scent of the most delicate perfumes.
More's ideal state differs in one important respect from Plato's. There
was no community of wives in Utopia. The sacredness of the family
relation and fidelity to the marriage contract were recognized by More
as indispensable to the well-being of modern society. Plato,
notwithstanding all the extraordinary originality with which he
advocated the emancipation of women, was not able to free himself from
the theory and practice of regarding the wife as part and parcel of the
property of her husband. The fact, therefore, that he advocated
community of property led him also to advocate community of wives. He
speaks of "the _possession and use_ of women and children," and proceeds
to show how this possession and use must be regulated in his ideal
state. Monogamy was to him mere exclusive possession on the part of one
man of a piece of property which ought to be for the benefit of the
public. The circumstance that he could not think of wives otherwise than
as the property of their husbands only makes it the more remarkable that
he claimed for women absolute equality of training and careers. The
circumstance that communists have so frequently wrecked their projects
by attacking marriage and advocating promiscuous intercourse between the
sexes may probably be traced to the notion which regards a wife as being
a mere item among the goods and chattels of her husband. It is not
difficult to find evidence of the survival of this ancient habit of
mind. "I will be master of what is mine own," says Petruchio. "She is my
goods, my chattels."

The Perfectionists of Oneida, on the other hand, held that there was "no
intrinsic difference between property in persons and property in things;
and that the same spirit which abolished exclusiveness in regard to
money would abolish, if circumstances allowed full scope to it,
exclusiveness in regard to women and children" (Nordhoff's _Communistic
Societies of the United States_). It is this notion of a wife as
property that is responsible for the wild opinions communists have often
held in favour of a community of wives and the break-up of family
relations. If they could shake off this notion and take hold of the
conception of marriage as a contract, there is no reason why their views
on the community of property should lead them to think that this
contract should not include mutual fidelity and remain in force during
the life of the contracting parties. It was probably not this conception
of the marriage relation so much as the influence of Christianity which
led More to discountenance community of wives in Utopia. It is strange
that the same influence did not make him include the absence of slavery
as one of the characteristics of his ideal state. On the contrary,
however, we find in Utopia the anomaly of slavery existing side by side
with institutions which otherwise embody the most absolute personal,
political and religious freedom. The presence of slaves in Utopia is
made use of to get rid of one of the practical difficulties of
communism, viz. the performance of disagreeable work. In a society where
one man is as good as another, and the means of subsistence are
guaranteed to all alike, it is easy to imagine that it would be
difficult to ensure the performance of the more laborious, dangerous and
offensive kinds of labour. In Utopia, therefore, we are expressly told
that "all the uneasy and sordid services" are performed by slaves. The
institution of slavery was also made supplementary to the criminal
system of Utopia, as the slaves were for the most part men who had been
convicted of crime; slavery for life was made a substitute for capital
punishment.

In many respects, however, More's views on the labour question were
vastly in advance of his own time. He repeats the indignant protest of
the _Republic_ that existing society is a warfare between rich and poor.
"The rich," he says, "desire every means by which they may in the first
place secure to themselves what they have amassed by wrong, and then
take to their own use and profit, at the lowest possible price, the work
and labour of the poor. And so soon as the rich decide on adopting these
devices in the name of the public, then they become law." One might
imagine these words had been quoted from the programme of The
International (q.v.), so completely is their tone in sympathy with the
hardships of the poor in all ages. More shared to the full the keen
sympathy with the hopeless misery of the poor which has been the strong
motive power of nearly all speculative communism. The life of the poor
as he saw it was so wretched that he said, "Even a beast's life seems
enviable!" Besides community of goods and equality of conditions, More
advocated other means of ameliorating the condition of the people.
Although the hours of labour were limited to six a day there was no
scarcity, for in Utopia every one worked; there was no idle class, no
idle individual even. The importance of this from an economic point of
view is insisted on by More in a passage remarkable for the importance
which he attaches to the industrial condition of women. "And this you
will easily apprehend," he says, "if you consider how great a part of
all other nations is quite idle. First, women generally do little, who
are the half of mankind." Translated into modern language his proposals
comprise universal compulsory education, a reduction of the hours of
labour to six a day, the most modern principles of sanitary reform, a
complete revision of criminal legislation, and the most absolute
religious toleration. The romantic form which Sir Thomas More gave to
his dream of a new social order found many imitators. The _Utopia_ may
be regarded as the prototype of Campanella's _City of the Sun_,
Harrington's _Oceana_, Bacon's _Nova Atlantis_, Defoe's _Essay on
Projects_, Fénelon's _Voyage dans l'Île des Plaisirs_, and other works
of minor importance.

All communists have made a great point of the importance of universal
education. All ideal communes have been provided by their authors with a
perfect machinery for securing the education of every child. One of the
first things done in every attempt to carry communistic theories into
practice has been to establish a good school and guarantee education to
every child. The first impulse to national education in the 19th century
probably sprang from the very marked success of Robert Owen's schools in
connexion with the cotton mills at New Lanark. Compulsory education,
free trade, and law reform, the various movements connected with the
improvement of the condition of women, have found their earliest
advocates among theoretical and practical communists. The communists
denounce the evils of the present state of society; the hopeless poverty
of the poor, side by side with the self-regarding luxury of the rich,
seems to them to cry aloud to Heaven for the creation of a new social
organization. They proclaim the necessity of sweeping away the
institution of private property, and insist that this great revolution,
accompanied by universal education, free trade, a perfect administration
of justice, and a due limitation of the numbers of the community, would
put an end to half the self-made distress of humanity.

The various communistic experiments in America are the most interesting
in modern times, opportunities being naturally greater there for such
deviations from the normal forms of regulations as compared with the
closely organized states of Europe, and particularly in the means of
obtaining land cheaply for social settlements with peculiar views. They
have been classified by Morris Hillquit (_History of Socialism in the
United States_, 1903) as (1) sectarian, (2) Owenite, (3) Fourieristic,
(4) Icarian.

1. The oldest of the sectarian group was the society of the Shakers
(q.v.), whose first settlement at Watervliet was founded in 1776. The
Harmony Society or Rappist Community was introduced into Pennsylvania by
George Rapp (1770-1847) from Württemberg in 1804, and in 1815 they moved
to a settlement (New Harmony) in Indiana, returning to Pennsylvania
again in 1824, and founding the village of Economy, from which they were
also known as Economites. Emigrants from Württemberg also founded the
community of Zoar in Ohio in 1817, being incorporated in 1832 as the
Society of Separatists of Zoar; it was dissolved in 1898. The Amana
(q.v.) community, the strongest of all American communistic societies,
originated in Germany in the early part of the 18th century as "the True
Inspiration Society," and some 600 members removed to America in
1842-1844. The Bethel (Missouri) and Aurora (Oregon) sister communities
were founded by Dr Keil (1812-1877) in 1844 and 1856 respectively, and
were dissolved in 1880 and 1881. The Oneida Community (q.v.), created by
John Humphrey Noyes (1811-1886), the author of a famous _History of
American Socialisms_ (1870), was established in 1848 as a settlement for
the Society of Perfectionists. All these bodies had a religious basis,
and were formed with the object of enjoying the free exercise of their
beliefs, and though communistic in character they had no political or
strictly economic doctrine to propagate.

2. The Owenite communities rose under the influence of Robert Owen's
work at New Lanark, and his propaganda in America from 1824 onwards, the
principal being New Harmony (acquired from the Rappists in 1825); Yellow
Springs, near Cincinnati, 1824; Nashoba, Tennessee, 1825; Haverstraw,
New York, 1826; its short-lived successors, Coxsackie, New York, and the
Kendal Community, Canton, Ohio, 1826. All these had more or less short
existences, and were founded on Owen's theories of labour and economics.

3. The Fourierist communities similarly were due to the Utopian
teachings of the Frenchman Charles Fourier (q.v.), introduced into
America by his disciple Albert Brisbane (1809-1890), author of _The
Social Destiny of Man_ (1840), who was efficiently helped by Horace
Greeley, George Ripley and others. The North American Phalanx, in New
Jersey, was started in 1843 and lasted till 1855. Brook Farm (q.v.) was
started as a Fourierist Phalanx in 1844, after three years' independent
career, and became the centre of Fourierist propaganda, lasting till
1847. The Wisconsin Phalanx, or Ceresco, was organized in 1844, and
lasted till 1850. In Pennsylvania seven communities were established
between 1843 and 1845, the chief of which were the Sylvania Association,
the Peace Union Settlement, the Social Reform Unity, and the Leraysville
Phalanx. In New York state the chief were the Clarkson Phalanx, the
Sodus Bay Phalanx, the Bloomfield Association, and the Ontario Union. In
Ohio the principal were the Trumbull Phalanx, the Ohio Phalanx, the
Clermont Phalanx, the Integral Phalanx, and the Columbian Phalanx; and
of the remainder the Alphadelphia Phalanx, in Michigan, was the
best-known. It is pointed out by Morris Hillquit that while only two
Fourierist Phalanxes were established in France, over forty were started
in the United States.

4. The Icarian communities were due to the communistic teachings of
another Frenchman, Étienne Cabet (q.v.) (1788-1856), the name being
derived from his social romance, _Voyage en Icarie_ (1840), sketching
the advantages of an imaginary country called Icaria, with a
co-operative system, and criticizing the existing social organization.
It was his idea, in fact, of a Utopia. Robert Owen advised him to
establish his followers, already numerous, in Texas, and thither about
1500 went in 1848. But disappointment resulted, and their numbers
dwindled to less than 500 in 1849; some 280 went to Nauvoo, Illinois;
after a schism in 1856 some formed a new colony (1858) at Cheltenham,
near St Louis; others went to Iowa, others to California. The last
branch was dissolved in 1895.

See also the articles SOCIALISM; OWEN; SAINT-SIMON; FOURIER, &c.; and
the bibliography to SOCIALISM. The whole subject is admirably covered
in Morris Hillquit's work, referred to above; and see also Noyes's
_History of American Socialisms_ (1870); Charles Nordhoff's
_Communistic Societies of the United States_ (1875); and W. A. Hinds's
_American Communities_ (1878; 2nd edition, 1902), a very complete
account.

COMMUTATION (from Lat. _commutare_, to change), a process of exchanging
one thing for another, particularly of one method of payment for
another, such as payment in money for payment in kind or by service, or
of payment of a lump sum for periodical payments; for various kinds of
such substitution see ANNUITY; COPYHOLD and TITHES. The word is also
used similarly of the substitution of a lesser sentence on a criminal
for a greater. In electrical engineering, the word is applied to the
reversal of the course of an electric current, the contrivance for so
doing being known as a "commutator" (see DYNAMO). In America, a
"commutation ticket" on a railway is one which allows a person to travel
at a lower rate over a particular route for a certain time or for a
certain number of times; the person holding such a ticket is known as a
"commuter."

COMNENUS, the name of a Byzantine family which from 1081 to 1185
occupied the throne of Constantinople. It claimed a Roman origin, but
its earliest representatives appear as landed proprietors in the
district of Castamon (mod. _Kastamuni_) in Paphlagonia. Its first member
known in Byzantine history is Manuel Eroticus Comnenus, an able general
who rendered great services to Basil II. (976-1025) in the East. At his
death he left his two sons Isaac and John in the care of Basil, who gave
them a careful education and advanced them to high official positions.
The increasing unpopularity of the Macedonian dynasty culminated in a
revolt of the nobles and the soldiery of Asia against its feeble
representative Michael VI. Stratioticus, who abdicated after a brief
resistance. Isaac was declared emperor, and crowned in St Sophia on the
2nd of September 1057. For the rulers of this dynasty see ROMAN EMPIRE,
LATER, and separate articles.

With Andronicus I. (1183-1185) the rule of the Comneni proper at
Constantinople came to an end. A younger line of the original house,
after the establishment of the Latins at Constantinople in 1204, secured
possession of a fragment of the empire in Asia Minor, and founded the
empire of Trebizond (q.v.), which lasted till 1461, when David Comnenus,
the last emperor, was deposed by Mahommed II.

For a general account of the family and its alleged survivors see
article "Komnenen," by G. F. Hertzberg, in Ersch and Gruber's
_Allgemeine Encyklopädie_, and an anonymous monograph, _Précis
historique de la maison impériale des Comnènes_ (Amsterdam, 1784);
and, for the history of the period, the works referred to under ROMAN
EMPIRE, LATER.

COMO (anc. _Comum_), a city and episcopal see of Lombardy, Italy, the
capital of the province of Como, situated at the S. end of the W. branch
of the Lake of Como, 30 m. by rail N. by W. of Milan. Pop. (1881)
25,560; (1905) 34,272 (town), 41,124 (commune). The city lies in a
valley enclosed by mountains, the slopes of which command fine views of
the lake. The old town, which preserves its rectangular plan from Roman
times, is enclosed by walls, with towers constructed in the 12th
century. The cathedral, built entirely of marble, occupies the site of
an earlier church, and was begun in 1396, from which period the nave
dates: the façade belongs to 1457-1486, while the east of the exterior
was altered into the Renaissance style, and richly decorated with
sculptures by Tommaso Rodari in 1487-1526. The dome is an unsuitable
addition of 1731 by the Sicilian architect Filippo Juvara (1685-1735),
and its baroque decorations spoil the effect of the fine Gothic
interior. It contains some good pictures and fine tapestries. In the
same line as the façade of the cathedral are the Broletto (in black and
white marble), dating from 1215, the seat of the original rulers of the
commune, and the massive clock-tower. The Romanesque church of S.
Abondio outside the town was founded in 1013 and consecrated in 1095; it
has two fine campanili, placed at the ends of the aisles close to the
apse. It occupies the site of the 5th-century church of SS. Peter and
Paul. Near it is the Romanesque church of S. Carpoforo. Above it is the
ruined castle of Baradello. The churches of S. Giacomo (1095-1117) and
S. Fedele (12th century), both in the town, are also Romanesque, and the
apses have external galleries. The Palazzo Giovio contains the Museo
Civico. Como is a considerable tourist resort, and the steamboat traffic
on the lake is largely for travellers. A climate station is established
on the hill of Brunate (2350 ft.) above the town to the E., reached by a
funicular railway. The Milanese possess many villas here. Como is an
industrial town, having large silk factories and other industries (see
LOMBARDY). It is connected with Milan by two lines of railway, one via
Monza (the main line, which goes on to Chiasso--Swiss frontier--and the
St Gotthard), the other via Saronno and also with Lecco and Varese.

Of the Roman Comum little remains above ground; a portion of its S.E.
wall was discovered and may be seen in the garden of the Liceo Volta, 88
ft. within the later walls: later fortifications (but previous to 1127),
largely constructed with Roman inscribed sepulchral urns and other
fragments, had been superimposed on it. Thermae have also been
discovered (see V. Barelli in _Notizie degli scavi_, 1880, 333; 1881,
333; 1882, 285). The inscriptions, on the other hand, are numerous, and
give an idea of its importance. The statements as to the tribe which
originally possessed it are various. It belonged to Gallia Cisalpina,
and first came into contact with Rome in 196 B.C., when M. Claudius
Marcellus conquered the Insubres and the Comenses. In 89 B.C., having
suffered damage from the Raetians, it was restored by Cn. Pompeius
Strabo, and given Latin rights with the rest of Gallia Transpadana.
Shortly after this 3000 colonists seem to have been sent there; 5000
were certainly sent by Caesar in 59 B.C., and the place received the
name Novum Comum. It appears in the imperial period as a _municipium_,
and is generally spoken of as Comum simply. The place was prosperous; it
had an important iron industry; and the banks of the lake were, as now,
dotted with villas. It was also important as the starting-point for the
journey across the lake in connexion with the Splugen and Septimer
passes (see CHIAVENNA). It was the birthplace of both the elder and the
younger Pliny, the latter of whom founded baths and a library here and
gave money for the support of orphan children. There was a _praefectus
classis Comensis_ under the late empire, and it was regarded as a strong
fortress. See Ch. Hulsen in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, Suppl.
Heft i. (Stuttgart, 1903), 326.

Como suffered considerably from the early barbarian invasions, many of
the inhabitants taking refuge on the Isola Comacina off Sala, but
recovered in Lombard times. It was from that period that the _magistri
Comacini_ formed a privileged corporation of architects and sculptors,
who were employed in other parts of Italy also, until, at the end of the
11th century, individuals began to come more to the front (G. T.
Rivoira, _Origini del l'architettura Lombarda_, Rome, 1901, i. 127 f.).
Como then became subject to the archbishops of Milan, but gained its
freedom towards the end of the 11th century. At the beginning of the
12th century war broke out between Como and Milan, and after a ten
years' war Como was taken and its fortifications dismantled in 1127. In
1154, however, it took advantage of the arrival of Barbarossa, and
remained faithful to him throughout the whole war of the Lombard League.
After frequent struggles with Milan, it fell under the power of the
Visconti in 1335. In 1535, like the rest of Lombardy, it fell under
Spanish dominion, and in 1714 under Austrian. Thenceforth it shared the
fortunes of Milan, becoming in the Napoleonic period the chief town of
the department of the Lario. Its silk industry and its position at the
entrance to the Alpine passes gave it some importance even then. It bore
a considerable part in the national risings of 1848-1859 against
Austrian rule. (T. As.)

COMO, Lake of (the _Lacus Larius_ of the Romans, and so sometimes called
Lario to the present day, though in the 4th century it is already termed
_Lacus Comacinus_), one of the most celebrated lakes in Lombardy,
Northern Italy. It lies due N. of Milan and is formed by the Adda that
flows through the Valtelline to the north end of the lake (here falls in
the Maira or Mera, coming from the Val Bregaglia) and flows out of it at
its south-eastern extremity, on the way to join the Po. Its area is 55½
sq. m., it is about 43 m. from end to end (about 30½ m. from the north
end of Bellagio), it is from 1 to 2½ m. in breadth, its surface is 653
ft. above the sea, and its greatest depth is 1365 ft. A railway line now
runs along its eastern shore from Colico to Lecco (24½ m.), while on its
western shore Menaggio is reached by a steam tramway from Porlezza on
the Lake of Lugano (8 m.). Colico, at the northern extremity, is by rail
17 m. from Chiavenna and 42 m. from Tirano, while at its southern end
Como (on the St Gotthard line) is 32 m. from Milan, and Lecco about the
same distance. The lake fills a remarkable depression which has been
cut through the limestone ranges that enclose it, and once doubtless
extended as far as Chiavenna, the Lake of Mezzola being a surviving
witness of its ancient bed. Towards the south the promontory of Bellagio
divides the lake into two arms. That to the south-east ends at Lecco and
is the true outlet, for the south-western arm, ending at Como, is an
enclosed bay. During the morning the _Tivano_ wind blows from the north,
while in the afternoon the _Breva_ wind blows from the south. But, like
other Alpine lakes, the Lake of Como is exposed to sudden violent
storms. Its beauties have been sung by Virgil and Claudian, while the
two Plinys are among the celebrities associated with the lake. The
shores are bordered by splendid villas, while perhaps the most lovely
spot on it is Bellagio, built in an unrivalled position. Among the other
villages that line the lake, the best-known are Varenna (E.) and
Menaggio (W.), nearly opposite one another, while Cadenabbia (W.) faces
Bellagio. (W. A. B. C.)

COMONFORT, IGNACIO (1812-1863), a Mexican soldier and politician, who,
after occupying a variety of civil and military posts, was in December
1855 made provisional president by Alvarez, and from December 1857 was
for a few weeks constitutional president. (See MEXICO.)

COMORIN, CAPE, a headland in the state of Travancore, forming the
extreme southern point of the peninsula of India. It is situated in 8°
4' 20" N., 77° 35' 35" E., and is the terminating point of the western
Ghats. The village of Comorin, with the temple of Kanniyambal, the
"virgin goddess," on the coast at the apex of the headland, is a
frequented place of pilgrimage.

COMORO ISLANDS, a group of volcanic islands belonging to France, in the
Indian Ocean, at the northern entrance of the Mozambique Channel midway
between Madagascar and the African continent. The following table of the
area and population of the four largest islands gives one of the sets of
figures offered by various authorities:--

+-------------------+-------------+--------------+
| | Area sq. m. | Population. |
+-------------------+-------------+--------------+
| Great Comor | 385 | 50,000 |
| Anjuan or Johanna | 145 | 12,000 |
| Mayotte | 140 | 11,000 |
| Moheli | 90 | 9,000 |
| +-------------+--------------+
| Total | 760 | 82,000 |
+-------------------+-------------+--------------+

There are besides a large number of islets of coral formation.
Particulars of the four islands named follow.

1. Great Comoro, or Angazia, the largest and most westerly, has a length
of about 38 m., with a width of about 12 m. Near its southern extremity
it rises into a fine dome-shaped volcanic mountain, Kartola (Karthala),
which is over 8500 ft. high, and is visible for more than 100 m. Up to
about 6000 ft. it is clothed with dense vegetation. Eruptions are
recorded for the years 1830, 1855 and 1858; and another eruption
occurred in 1904. In the north the ground rises gradually to a plateau
some 2000 ft. above the sea; from this plateau many regularly shaped
truncated cones rise another 2000 ft. The centre of the island consists
of a desert field of lava streams, about 1600 ft. high. The chief towns
are Maroni (pop. about 2000), Itzanda and Mitsamuli; the first, situated
at the head of a bay in 11° 40' S., being the seat of the French
administrator.

2. Anjuan, or Johanna, next in size, lies E. by S. of Comoro. It is some
30 m. long by 20 at its greatest breadth. The land rises in a succession
of richly wooded heights till it culminates in a central peak, upwards
of 5000 ft. above the sea, in 12° 14' S., 44° 27' E. The former capital,
Mossamondu, on the N.W. coast, is substantially built of stone,
surrounded by a wall, and commanded by a dilapidated citadel; it is the
residence of the sultan and of the French administrator. There is a
small but safe anchorage at Pomony, on the S. side, formerly used as a
coal depot by ships of the British navy.

3. Mayotte, about 21 m. long by 6 or 7 m. broad, is surrounded by an
extensive and dangerous coral reef. The principal heights on its
extremely irregular surface are: Mavegani Mountain, which rises in two
peaks to a maximum of 2164 ft., and Uchongin, 2100 ft. The French
headquarters are on the islet of Zaudzi, which lies within the reef in
12° 46' S., 45° 20' E. There are substantial government buildings and
store-houses. On the mainland opposite Zaudzi is Msapéré, the chief
centre of trade. Mayotte was devastated in 1898 by a cyclone of great
severity.

4. Moheli or Mohilla lies S. of and between Anjuan and Grand Comoro. It
is 15 m. long and 7 or 8 m. at its maximum breadth. Unlike the other
three it has no peaks, but rises gradually to a central ridge about 1900
ft. in height. Fomboni (pop. about 2000) in the N.W. and Numa Choa in
the S.W. are the chief towns.

All the islands possess a very fertile soil; there are forests of
coco-nut palms, and among the products are rice, maize, sweet-potatoes,
yams, coffee, cotton, vanilla and various tropical fruits, the papaw
tree being abundant. The fauna is allied to that of Madagascar rather
than to the mainland of Africa; it includes some land birds and a
species of lemur peculiar to the islands. Large numbers of cattle and
sheep, the former similar to the small species at Aden, are reared as
well as, in Great Comoro, the zebra. Turtles are caught in abundance
along the coasts, and form an article of export. The climate is in
general warm, but not torrid nor unsuitable for Europeans. The dry
season lasts from May to the end of October, the rest of the year being
rainy. The natives are of mixed Malagasy, Negro and Arab blood. The
majority are Mahommedans. The European inhabitants, mostly French,
number about 600. There are some 200 British Indians, traders, in the
islands. The external trade of the islands has developed since the
annexation of Madagascar to France, and is of the value of about
£100,000 a year. Sugar refineries, distilleries of rum, and sawmills are
worked in Mayotte by French settlers. Cane sugar and vanilla are the
chief exports. The islands are regularly visited by vessels of the
Messageries Maritimes fleet, and a coaling station for the French navy
has been established.

The islands were first visited by Europeans in the 16th century; they
are marked on the map of Diego Ribero made in 1527. At that time, and
for long afterwards, the dominant influence in, and the civilization of,
the islands was Arab. According to tradition the islands were first
peopled by Arab voyagers driven thither by tempests. The petty sultans
who exercised authority were notorious slave traders. A Sakalava chief
who had been driven from Madagascar by the Hovas took refuge in Mayotte
_c._ 1830, and, with the aid of the sultan of Johanna, conquered the
island, which for a century had been given over to civil war. French
naval officers having reported on the strategic value of Mayotte,
Admiral de Hell, governor of Réunion, sent an officer there in 1841, and
a treaty was negotiated ceding the island to France. Possession was
taken in 1843, the sultan of Johanna renouncing his claims in the same
year. In 1886 the sultans of the other three islands were placed under
French protection, France fearing that otherwise the islands would be
taken by Germany. The French experienced some difficulty with the
natives, but by 1892 had established their position. The islands, as
regulated by the decree of the 9th of April 1908, are under the supreme
authority of the governor-general of Madagascar. The local
administration is in the hands of an official who himself governs
Mayotte but is represented in the other islands by administrators. On
the council which assists the governor are two nominated native
notables. In 1910 the sultan of Great Comoro ceded his sovereign rights
to France. In Anjuan the native government is continued under French
supervision. The budgets of the four islands in 1904 came to some
£30,000, that of Mayotte being about half the total. The chief sources
of revenue are poll and house taxes, and, in Mayotte, a land tax.

The _Iles Glorieuses_, three islets 160 m. N.E. of Mayotte, with a
population of some 20 souls engaged in the collection of guano and the
capture of turtles, were in 1892 annexed to France and placed under the
control of the administrator of Mayotte.

See _Notice sur Mayotte et les Comores_, by Emile Vienne, one of the
memoirs on the French colonies prepared for the Paris Exhibition of
1900; _Le Sultanat d'Anjouan_, by Jules Repiquet (Paris, 1901), a
systematic account of the geography, ethnology and history of Johanna;
_Les colonies françaises_ (Paris, 1900), vol. ii. pp. 179-197, in
which the story of the archipelago is set forth by various writers; an
account of the islands by A. Voeltzkow in the _Zeitschrift_ of the
Berlin Geog. Soc. (No. 9, 1906), and _Carte des Iles Comores_, by A.
Meunier (Paris, 1904).

COMPANION (through the O. Fr. _compaignon_ or _compagnon_, from the Late
Lat. _companio_,--_cum_, with, and _panis_, bread,--one who shares meals
with another; the word has been wrongly derived from the Late Lat.
_compagnus_, one of the same _pagus_ or district), a mess-mate or
"comrade" (a term which itself has a similar origin, meaning one who
shares the same _camera_ or room). "Companion" is particularly used of
soldiers, as in the expression "companion in arms," and so is the title
of the lowest rank in a military or other order of knighthood; the word
is also used of a person who lives with another in a paid position for
the sake of company, and is looked on rather as a friend than a servant;
and of a pair or match, as of pictures and the like. Similar in ultimate
origin but directly adapted from the Fr. _chambre de la compagne_, and
Ital. _camera della compagna_, the storeroom for provisions on board
ship, is the use of "companion" for the framed windows over a hatchway
on the deck of a ship, and also for the hooded entrance-stairs to the
captain's cabin.

COMPANY, one of a number of words like "partnership," "union," "gild,"
"society," "corporation," denoting--each with its special shade of
meaning--the association of individuals in pursuit of some common
object. The taking of meals together was, as the word signifies (_cum_,
with, _panis_, bread,) a characteristic of the early company. Gild had a
similar meaning: but this characteristic, though it survives in the
Livery company (see LIVERY COMPANIES), has in modern times disappeared.
The word "company" is now monopolized--in British usage--by two great
classes of companies--(1) the joint stock company, constituted under the
Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, which consolidated the various acts
from 1862 to 1907, and (2) the "public company," constituted under a
special act to carry on some work of public utility, such as a railway,
docks, gasworks or waterworks, and regulated by the Companies Clauses
Acts 1845 and 1863.

1. _Joint Stock Companies._

The joint stock company may be defined as an association of persons
incorporated to promote by joint contributions to a common stock the
carrying on of some commercial enterprise. Associations formed not for
"the acquisition of gain" but to promote art, science, religion, charity
or some other useful or philanthropic object, though they may be
constituted under the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, seldom call
themselves companies, but adopt some name more appropriate to express
their objects, such as society, club, institute, college or chamber. The
joint stock company has had a long history which can only be briefly
sketched here. The name of "joint stock company" is--or was--used to
distinguish such a company from the "regulated company," which did not
trade on a joint stock but was in the nature of a trade gild, the
members of which had a monopoly of foreign trade with particular
countries or places (see Adam Smith, _Wealth of Nations_, bk. v. ch. i.
pt. iii.).

The earliest kind of joint stock company is the chartered (see CHARTERED
COMPANIES). The grant of a charter is one of the exclusive privileges of
the crown, and the crown has from time to time exercised it in
furtherance of trading enterprise. Examples of such grants are the
Merchant Adventurers of England, chartered by Richard II. (1390); the
East India Co., chartered by Queen Elizabeth (1600); the Bank of
England, chartered by William and Mary (1694); the Hudson's Bay Co.; the
Royal African Co.; the notorious South Sea Co.; and in later times the
New Zealand Co., the North Borneo Co., and the Royal Niger Co. Chartered
companies had, however, several disadvantages. A charter was not easily
obtainable. It was costly. The members could not be made personally
liable for the debts of the company: and once created--though only for
defined objects--such a company was invested with entire independence
and could not be kept to the conditions imposed by the grant, which was
against public policy. A new form of commercial association was wanted,
free from these defects, and it was found in the common law
company--the lineal ancestor of the modern trading company. The common
law company was not an incorporated association: it was simply a great
partnership with transferable shares. Companies of this kind multiplied
rapidly towards the close of the 17th century and the beginning of the
18th century, but they were regarded with strong disfavour by the law,
for reasons not very intelligible to modern notions; the chief of these
reasons being that such companies purported to act as corporate bodies,
raised transferable stock, used charters for purposes not warranted by
the grant, and were--or were supposed to be--dangerous and mischievous,
tending (in the words of the preamble of the Bubble Act) to "the common
grievance, prejudice and inconvenience of His Majesty's subjects or
great numbers of them in trade, commerce or other lawful affairs." They
were too often--and this no doubt was the real ground of the prejudice
against them--utilized by unprincipled persons to promote fantastic and
often fraudulent schemes. Matthew Green, in his poem "The Spleen," notes
how

"Wrecks appear each day,
And yet fresh fools are cast away."

The result was that by the act (6 Geo. I. c. 18) commonly known as the
Bubble Act (1719) such companies were declared to be common nuisances
and indictable as such. But the act, though it remained on the statute
book for more than one hundred years and was not formally repealed till
1825, proved quite ineffectual to check the growth of joint stock
enterprise, and the legislature, finding that such companies had to be
tolerated, adopted the wiser course of regulating what it could not
repress. One great inconvenience of these common law trading companies
arose from their being unincorporated. They were formed of large
fluctuating bodies of individuals, and a person dealing with them did
not know with whom he was contracting or whom he was to sue. This evil
the legislature sought to rectify by empowering the crown to grant to
companies by letters patent without incorporation the privilege of suing
and being sued by a public officer. Ten years afterwards--in 1844--a
more important line of policy was adopted, and all companies with some
exceptions were enabled to obtain a certificate of incorporation without
applying for a charter or special act. The act of 1862 carried this
policy one step farther by prohibiting all associations of more than
twenty persons from carrying on business without registering under the
act. These were all useful amendments, but they were amendments of form
rather than substance. The real vitality of joint stock enterprise lies
in the co-operative principle, and the natural growth and expansion of
this fruitful principle was checked until the middle of the 19th century
by the notorious risks attaching to unlimited liability. In the case of
an ordinary partnership, though their liability is unlimited (or was
until the Limited Partnerships Act 1907), the partners can generally
tell what risks they are incurring. Not so the shareholders of a
company. They delegate the management of their business to a board of
directors, and they may easily find themselves committed by the fraud or
folly of its members to engagements which in the days of unlimited
liability meant ruin. Failures like those of Overend and Gurney, and of
the Glasgow Bank, caused widespread misery and alarm. It was not until
limited liability had been grafted on the stock of the co-operative
system that the real potency of the principle of industrial co-operation
became apparent. We owe the adoption of the limited liability principle
to the clear-sightedness of Lord Sherbrooke--then Mr Robert Lowe--and to
the vigorous advocacy of Lord Bramwell. We owe it to Lord Bramwell also
that the principle was made a feasible one. The practical difficulty was
how to bring home to persons dealing with the company notice that the
liability of the shareholders was limited. Lord Bramwell solved the
problem by a happy suggestion--"write it on my tombstone," he said
humorously to a friend. This was that the company should add to its name
the word "Limited "--paint it up on its premises, and use it on all
invoices, bills, promissory notes and other documents. The proposal was
adopted by the Legislature and has worked successfully. While limited
companies have been multiplying at the rate of over 4000 a year, the
unlimited company has become practically an extinct species. The growth
of limited companies is, indeed, one of the most striking phenomena of
our day. Their number may be estimated at quite 40,000. Their paid-up
capital amounts to the stupendous sum of £1,850,000,000 and, what is
even more significant, as the 1st Viscount Goschen remarks in his
_Essays and Addresses_, is that "the number of shareholders has grown in
a much greater ratio than the colossal growth of the aggregate capital.
The profits and risks of nearly every kind of business have been spread
from year to year over fresh thousands of individuals, and the middle
class with moderate incomes are more and more participating in that
accumulation of wealth from business of every description which formerly
built up the fortunes of individual traders or of bankers or of single
families."

It is with the limited company then--the company limited by shares--as
the normal type and incomparably the most important, that this article
mainly deals.

_Companies Limited by Shares._--The Companies Act 1862, was intended to
constitute a comprehensive code of law applicable to joint stock trading
companies for the whole of the United Kingdom. Recognizing the mischief
above alluded to--of trading concerns being carried on by large and
fluctuating bodies, the act begins by declaring that no company,
association or partnership, consisting of more than twenty persons, or
ten in the case of banking, shall be formed after the commencement of
the act for the purpose of carrying on any business which has for its
object the acquisition of gain by the company, association or
partnership, or by the individual members thereof, unless it is
registered as a company under the act, or is formed in pursuance of some
other act of parliament or of letters patent, or is a company engaged in
working mines within and subject to the jurisdiction of the Stannaries.
Broadly speaking, the meaning of the act is that all commercial
undertakings, as distinguished from literary or charitable associations,
shall be registered. "Business" has a more extensive signification than
"trade." Having thus cleared the ground the act goes on to provide in
what manner a company may be formed under the act. The machinery is
simple, and is described as follows:--

"Any seven or more persons associated for any lawful purpose may, by
subscribing their names to a memorandum of association and otherwise
complying with the requisitions of this act in respect of registration,
form an incorporated company with or without limited liability" (§ 6).
It is not necessary that the subscribers should be traders nor will the
fact that six of the subscribers are mere dummies, clerks or nominees of
the seventh affect the validity of the company; so the House of Lords
decided in _Salomon_ v. _Salomon & Co._, 1897, A. C. 22.

Memorandum of Association.

The document to be subscribed--the Memorandum of
Association--corresponds, in the case of companies formed under the
Companies Act 1862, to the charter or deed of settlement in the case of
other companies. The form of it is given in the schedule to the act, and
varies slightly according as the company is limited by shares or
guarantee, or is unlimited. (See the 3rd schedule to the Consolidation
Act 1908, forms A, B, C, D.) It is required to state, in the case of a
company limited by shares, the five following matters:--

1. The name of the proposed company, with the addition of the word
"limited" as the last word in such name.

2. The part of the United Kingdom, whether England, Scotland or Ireland,
in which the registered office of the company is proposed to be situate.

3. The objects for which the proposed company is to be established.

4. A declaration that the liability of the members is limited.

5. The amount of capital with which the company proposes to be
registered, divided into shares of a certain fixed amount.

No subscriber of the memorandum is to take less than one share, and each
subscriber is to write opposite his name the number of shares he takes.

These five matters the legislature has deemed of such intrinsic
importance that it has required them to be set out in the company's
Memorandum of Association. They are the essential conditions of
incorporation, and as such they must not only be stated, but the policy
of the legislature has made them with certain exceptions unalterable.

The most important of these five conditions is the third, and its
importance consists in this, that the objects defined in the memorandum
circumscribe the sphere of the company's activities. This principle,
which is one of public policy and convenience, and is known as the
"_ultra vires_ doctrine," carries with it important consequences,
because every act done or contract made by a company _ultra vires_, i.e.
in excess of its powers, is absolutely null and void. The policy, too,
is a sound one. Shareholders contribute their money on the faith that it
is to be employed in prosecuting certain objects, and it would be a
violation of good faith if the company, i.e. the majority of
shareholders, were to be allowed to divert it to something quite
different. So strict is the rule that not even the consent of every
individual shareholder can give validity to an _ultra vires_ act.

Articles of Association.

The articles of association are the regulations for internal management
of the company--the terms of the partnership agreed upon by the
shareholders among themselves. A model or specimen set of articles known
as Table A was given by the Companies Act 1862, and is appended in a
revised form to the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908. When a company
is to be registered the memorandum of association accompanied by a copy
of the articles is taken to the office of the registrar of joint stock
companies at Somerset House, together with the following documents:--

1. A list of persons who have consented to be directors of the company
(fee stamp 5s.).

2. A statutory declaration by a solicitor of the High Court engaged in
the formation of the company, or by a person named in the articles of
association as a director or secretary of the company, that the
requisitions of the act in respect of registration and of matters
precedent and incidental thereto have been complied with (fee stamp
5s.).

3. A statement as to the nominal share capital (stamped with an _ad
valorem_ duty of 5s. per £100).

4. If no prospectus is to be issued, a company must now (Companies Act
1907, s. 1; Consolidation Act 1908, s. 82) in lieu thereof file with the
registrar a statement, in the form prescribed by the 1st schedule to the
act, of all the material facts relating to the company. Till this has
been done the company cannot allot any shares or debentures.

If these documents are in order the registrar registers the company and
issues a certificate of incorporation (see Companies (Consolidation) Act
1908, sect. 82); on registration, the memorandum and articles of
association become public documents, and any person may inspect them on
payment of a fee of one shilling. This has important consequences,
because every person dealing with the company is presumed to be
acquainted with its constitution, and to have read its memorandum and
articles. The articles also, upon registration, bind the company and its
members to the same extent as if each member had subscribed his name and
affixed his seal to them.

The total cost of registering a company with a capital of £1000 is about
£7; £10,000 about £34; £100,000 about £280.

Capital.

The capital which is required to be stated in the memorandum of
association, and which represents the amount which the company is
empowered to issue, is what is known as the nominal capital. This
nominal capital must be distinguished from the subscribed capital.
Subscribed capital is the aggregate amount agreed to be paid by those
who have taken shares in the company. Under the Companies Act 1900,
Companies Act 1908, s. 85, a "minimum subscription" may be fixed by the
articles, and if it is the directors cannot go to allotment on less: if
it is not, then the whole of the capital offered for subscription must
be subscribed. A company may increase its capital, consolidate it,
subdivide it into shares of smaller amount and convert paid-up shares
into stock. It may also, with the sanction of the court, otherwise
reorganize its capital (Companies Act 1907, s. 39; Companies
(Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 45), and for this purpose modify its
Memorandum of Association; but a limited company cannot reduce its
capital either by direct or indirect means without the sanction of the
court. The inviolability of the capital is a condition of
incorporation--the price of the privilege of trading with limited
liability, and by no subterfuge will a company be allowed to evade this
cardinal rule of policy, either by paying dividends out of capital, or
buying its own shares, or returning money to shareholders. But the
prohibition against reduction means that the capital must not be reduced
by the voluntary act of the company, not that a company's capital must
be kept intact. It is embarked in the company's business, and it must
run the risks of such business. If part of it is lost there is no
obligation on the company to replace it and to cease paying dividends
until such lost capital is repaid. The company may in such a case write
off the lost capital and go on trading with the reduced amount. But for
this purpose the sanction of the court must be obtained by petition.

Shares.

A share is an aliquot part of a company's nominal capital. The amount
may be anything from 1s. to £1000. The tendency of late years has been
to keep the denomination low, and so to appeal to a wider public. Shares
of £100, or even £10, are now the exception. The most common amount is
either £1 or £5. Shares are of various kinds--ordinary, preference,
deferred, founders' and management. Into what classes of shares the
original capital of the company shall be divided, what shall be the
amount of each class, and their respective rights, privileges and
priorities, are matters for the consideration of the promoters of the
company, and must depend on its special circumstances and requirements.

A company may issue preference shares even if there is no mention of
them in the Memorandum of Association, and any preference or special
privilege so given to a class of shares cannot be interfered with on any
reorganization of capital except by a resolution passed by a majority of
shareholders of that class representing three-fourths of the capital of
that class (Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 45). The preference
given may be as to dividends only, or as to dividends and capital. The
dividend, again, may be payable out of the year's profits only, or it
may be cumulative, that is, a deficiency in one year is to be made good
out of the profits of subsequent years. Prima facie, a preferential
dividend is cumulative. For issuing preference shares the question for
the directors is, what must be offered to attract investors. Preference
shareholders are given by the Companies Act 1907, s. 23; Companies
(Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 114, the right to inspect balance sheets.
Founders' shares--which originated with private companies--are shares
which usually take the whole or half the profits after payment of a
dividend of 7 or 10% to the ordinary shareholders. They are much less in
favour than they used to be.

Promoters and promotion.

The machinery of company formation is generally set in motion by a
person known as a promoter. This is a term of business, not law. It
means, to use Chief Justice Cockburn's words, a person "who undertakes
to form a company with reference to a given project and to set it going,
and who takes the necessary steps to accomplish that purpose." Whether
what a person has done towards this end constitutes him a promoter or
not, is a question of fact; but once an affirmative conclusion is
reached, equity clothes such promoter with a fiduciary relation towards
the company which he has been instrumental in creating. This doctrine is
now well established, and its good sense is apparent when once the
position of the promoter towards the company is understood.
Promoters--to use Lord Cairns's language in _Erlanger_ v. _New Sombrero
Phosphate Co._, 3 A. C. 1236--"have in their hands the creation and
moulding of the company. They have the power of defining how and when
and in what shape and under what supervision it shall start into
existence and begin to act as a trading corporation." Such a control
over the destinies of the company involves correlative obligations
towards it, and one of these obligations is that the promoter must not
take advantage of the company's helplessness. A promoter may sell his
property to the company, but he must first see that the company is
furnished with an independent board of directors to protect its
interests and he must make full and fair disclosure of his interest in
order that the company may determine whether it will or will not
authorize its trustee or agent (for such the promoter in equity is) to
make a profit out of the sale. It is not a sufficient disclosure in such
a case for the promoter merely to refer in the prospectus to a contract
which, if read by the shareholders, would inform them of his interest.
They are under no obligation to inquire. It is for the promoter to bring
home notice, not constructive but actual, to the shareholders.

When a company is promoted for acquiring property--to work a mine or
patent, for instance, or carry on a going business--the usual course is
for the promoter to frame a draft agreement for the sale of the property
to the company or to a trustee on its behalf. The memorandum and
articles of the intended company are then prepared, and an article is
inserted authorizing or requiring the directors to adopt the draft
agreement for sale. In pursuance of this authority the directors at the
first meeting after incorporation take the draft agreement into
consideration; and if they approve, adopt it. Where they do so in the
exercise of an honest and independent judgment, no exception can be
taken to the transaction; but where the directors happen to be nominees
of the promoter, perhaps qualified by him and acting in his interest,
the situation is obviously open to grave abuse. It is not too much,
indeed, to say that the fastening of an onerous or improvident contract
on a company at its start, by interested promoters acting in collusion
with the directors, has been the principal cause of the scandals
associated with company promotion.

Concurrently with the adoption of the contract for the acquisition of
the property which is the company's _raison d'être_, the directors have
to consider how they will best get the company's capital subscribed.
Down to the passing of the Companies Act 1900 the usual mode of doing
this was to issue a prospectus inviting the public to subscribe for
shares. After the act of 1900 the prospectus fell into general disuse.
In the year 1903, out of a total of 3596 companies which registered,
only 358 issued a prospectus, the directors preferring, it would seem,
to place the share capital through the medium of brokers, financial
agents and other intermediaries rather than run the risk of incurring,
personally, liability under the stringent provisions for disclosure
contained in the act (s. 10). Of late the prospectus has, however,
returned into favour. Under the act of 1907, incorporated in the
Consolidation Act 1908 (s. 82), a company, if it does not issue a
prospectus, must file a statement of all the material facts relating to
the company.

Prospectus.

A prospectus is an invitation to the public to take shares on the faith
of the statements therein contained, and is thus the basis of the
agreement to take the shares; there therefore rests on those who are
responsible for its issue an obligation to act with the most perfect
good faith--_uberrima fides_--and this obligation has been repeatedly
emphasized by judges of the highest eminence. (See the observations of
Kindersley, V.C., in _New Brunswick Railway Co._ v. _Muggeridge_, 1860,
1 Dr. & Sm. 383, and of Lord Herschell in _Derry_ v. _Peek_, 1889, 14 A.
C. 376.) Directors must be perfectly candid with the public; they must
not only state what they do state with strict and scrupulous accuracy,
but they must not omit any fact which, if disclosed, would falsify the
statements made. This is the general obligation of directors when
issuing a prospectus; but on this general obligation the legislature has
engrafted special requirements. By the Companies Act 1867, it required
the dates and names of the parties to any contract entered into by the
company or its promoters or directors before the issue of the
prospectus, to be disclosed in the prospectus; otherwise the prospectus
was to be deemed fraudulent. This enactment was repealed by the
Companies Act 1900, but only in favour of more stringent provisions
incorporated in the Consolidation Act of 1908. Now, not only is every
prospectus to be signed and filed with the registrar of Joint Stock
Companies before it can be issued, but the prospectus must set forth a
long and elaborate series of particulars about the company--the
contents of the Memorandum of Association, with the names of the
signatories, the share qualification (if any) of the directors, the
minimum subscription on which the directors may proceed to allotment,
the shares and debentures issued otherwise than for cash, the names and
addresses of the vendors, the amount paid for underwriting the company,
the amount of preliminary expenses, of promotion money (if any), and the
interest (if any) of every director in the promotion or in property to
be acquired by the company. Neglect of this statutory duty of disclosure
will expose directors to personal liability. For false or fraudulent
statements--as distinguished from non-disclosure--in a prospectus
directors are liable in an action of deceit or under the Directors'
Liability Act 1890, now incorporated in the act of 1908. This act was
passed to meet the decision of the House of Lords in _Peek_ v. _Derry_
(12 A. C. 337), that a director could not be made liable in an action of
deceit for an untrue statement in a prospectus, unless the plaintiff
could prove that the director had made the untrue statement
fraudulently. The Directors' Liability Act enacted in substance that
when once a prospectus is proved to contain a material statement of fact
which is untrue, the persons responsible for the prospectus are to be
liable to pay compensation to any one who has subscribed on the faith of
the prospectus, unless they can prove that they had reasonable ground to
believe, and did in fact believe, the statement to be true. Actions
under this act have been rare, but their rarity may be due to the act
having had the effect of making directors more careful in their
statements.

Allotment of shares.

Before the passing of the Companies Act 1900, it was a matter for
directors' discretion on what subscription they should go to allotment.
They often did so on a scandalously inadequate subscription. To remedy
this abuse the Companies Act 1900 (Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908,
s. 85) provided that no allotment of any share capital offered to the
public for subscription is to be made unless the amount fixed by the
memorandum and articles of association and named in the prospectus as
"the minimum subscription" upon which the directors may proceed to
allotment has been subscribed and the application moneys--which must not
be less than 5% of the nominal amount of the share--paid to and received
by the company. If no minimum is fixed the whole amount of the share
capital offered for subscription must have been subscribed before the
directors can go to allotment. The "minimum subscription" is to be
reckoned exclusively of any amount payable otherwise than in cash. If
these conditions are not complied with within forty days the application
moneys must be returned. Any "waiver clause" or contract to waive
compliance with the section is to be void.

An allotment of shares made in contravention of these provisions is
irregular and voidable at the option of the applicant for shares within
one month after the first or statutory meeting of the company (Companies
(Consolidation) Act, s. 86). Even when a company has got what under the
name of the "minimum subscription" the directors deem enough capital for
its enterprise, it cannot now commence business or make any binding
contract or exercise any borrowing powers until it has obtained a
certificate entitling it to commence business (Companies (Consolidation)
Act 1908, s. 87). To obtain this certificate the company must have
fulfilled certain statutory conditions, which are briefly these:--

(a) The company must have allotted shares to the amount of not less
than the "minimum subscription."

(b) Every director must have paid up his shares in the same proportion
as the other members of the company.

(c) A statutory declaration, made by the secretary of the company or
one of the directors, must have been filed with the registrar of joint
stock companies, that these conditions have been complied with.

These conditions fulfilled, the company gets its certificate and starts
on its business career, carrying on its business through the agency of
directors, as to whose powers and duties see DIRECTORS.

Meetings.

The Companies Act as consolidated in the act of 1908, and the
regulations under them, treat the directors of a company as the persons
in whom the management of the company's affairs is vested. But they also
contemplate the ultimate controlling power as residing in the
shareholders. A controlling power of this kind can only assert itself
through general meetings; and that it may have proper opportunities of
doing so, every company is required to hold a general meeting, commonly
called the statutory meeting, within--as fixed by the Companies Act
1900--three months from the date at which it is entitled to commence
business. This first statutory meeting acquired new significance under
the Companies Act of 1900 and marks an important stage in the early
history of a company. Seven days before it takes place the directors are
required to send round to the members a certified report informing them
of the general state of the company's affairs--the number of shares
allotted, cash received for them, and names and addresses of the
members, the amount of preliminary expenses, the particulars of any
contract to be submitted to the meeting, &c. Furnished with this report
the members come to the meeting in a position to discuss and exercise an
intelligent judgment upon the state and prospects of the company.
Besides the statutory meeting a company must hold one general meeting at
least in every calendar year, and not more than fifteen months after the
holding of the last preceding general meeting (Companies (Consolidation)
Act 1908, s. 64). This annual general meeting is usually called the
ordinary general meeting. Other meetings are extraordinary general
meetings. Notices convening a general meeting must inform the
shareholders of the particular business to be transacted; otherwise any
resolutions passed at the meeting will be invalidated. Voting is
generally regulated by the articles. Sometimes a vote is given to a
shareholder for every share held by him, but more often a scale is
adopted; for instance, one vote is given for every share up to ten, with
an additional vote for every five shares beyond the first ten shares up
to one hundred, and an additional vote for every ten shares beyond the
first hundred. In default of any regulations, every member has one vote
only. Sometimes preference shareholders are given no vote at all. A poll
may be demanded on any special resolution by three persons unless the
articles require five (Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 69).

Agreement for shares.

A contract to take shares is like any other contract. It is constituted
by offer, acceptance and communication of the acceptance to the offerer.
The offer in the case of shares is usually in the form of an application
in writing to the company, made in response to a prospectus, requesting
the company to allot the applicant a certain number of shares in the
undertaking on the terms of the prospectus, and agreeing to accept the
shares, or any smaller number, which may be allotted to the applicant.
An allottee is under the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 86,
entitled to rescind his contract where the allotment is irregular, e.g.
where the minimum subscription has not been obtained. When an
application is accepted the shares are allotted, and a letter of
allotment is posted to the applicant. Allotment is the usual, but not
the only, evidence of acceptance. As soon as the letter of allotment is
posted the contract is complete, even though the letter never reaches
the applicant. An application for shares can be withdrawn at any time
before acceptance. As soon as the contract is complete, it is the duty
of the company to enter the shareholder's name in the register of
members, and to issue to him a certificate under the seal of the
company, evidencing his title to the shares.

The register of members plays an important part in the scheme of the
company system, under the Companies Act 1862. The principle of limited
liability having been once adopted by the legislature, justice required
not only that such limitation of liability should be brought home by
every possible means to persons dealing with the company, but also that
such persons should know as far as possible what was the limited capital
which was the sole fund available to satisfy their claims--what amount
had been called up, what remained uncalled, who were the persons to pay,
and in what amounts. These data might materially assist a person
dealing with the company in determining, whether he would give it credit
or not; in any case they are matters which the public had a right to
know. The legislature, recognizing this, has exacted as a condition of
the privilege of trading with limited liability that the company shall
keep a register with those particulars in it, which shall be accessible
to the public at all reasonable times. In order that this register may
be accurate, and correspond with the true liability of membership for
the time being, the court is empowered under the Companies Act 1862, and
the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, s. 32, to rectify it in a
summary way, on application by motion, by ordering the name of a person
to be entered on or removed therefrom. This power can be exercised by
the court, whether the dispute as to membership is one between the
company and an alleged member, or between one alleged member and
another, but the machinery of the section is not meant to be used to try
claims to rescind agreements to take shares. The proper proceeding in
such cases is by action.

Payment for shares.

The same policy of guarding against an abuse of limited liability is
evinced in the Companies Act 1862, which required that shares in the
case of a limited company should be paid for in full. The legislature
has allowed such companies to trade with limited liability, but the
price of the privilege is that the limited capital to which alone the
creditors can look shall at least be a reality. It is therefore _ultra
vires_ for a limited company to issue its shares at a discount; but
there was nothing in the Companies Act 1862 which required that the
shares of a limited company, though they must be paid up in full, must
be paid up in cash. They might be paid "in meal or in malt," and it
accordingly became common for shares to be allotted in payment for
furniture, plate, advertisements or services. The result was that the
consideration was often illusory, shares being issued to be paid for in
some commodity which had no certain criterion of value. To remedy this
evil the legislature enacted in the Companies Act 1867, s. 25, that
every share in any company should be held subject to the payment of the
whole amount thereof in cash, unless otherwise determined by a contract
in writing filed with the registrar of joint stock companies at or
before the issue of the shares. This section not infrequently caused
hardship where shares had been honestly paid for in the equivalent of
cash, but owing to inadvertence no contract had been filed; and it was
repealed by the Companies Act 1900, and the old law restored. In
reverting to the earlier law, and allowing shares to be paid for in any
adequate consideration, the legislature has, however, exacted a
safeguard. It has required the company to file with the registrar of
joint stock companies a return stating, in the case of shares allotted
in whole or in part for a consideration other than cash, the number of
the shares so allotted, and the nature of the consideration--property,
services, &c.--for which they have been allotted.

Though every share carries with it the liability to pay up the full
amount in cash or its equivalent, the liability is only to pay when and
if the directors call for it to be paid up. A call must fix the time and
place for payment, otherwise it is bad.

Rescission of agreement.

When a person takes shares from a company on the faith of a prospectus
containing any false or fraudulent representations of fact material to
the contract, he is entitled to rescind the contract. The company cannot
keep a contract obtained by the misrepresentation or fraud of its
agents. This is an elementary principle of law. The misrepresentation,
for purposes of rescission, need not be fraudulent; it is sufficient
that it is false in fact: fraud or recklessness of assertion will give
the shareholder a further remedy by action of deceit, or under the
Directors' Liability Act 1890 (see _supra_); but, to entitle a
shareholder to rescind, he must show that he took the shares on the
faith or partly on the faith of the false representation: if not, it was
innocuous. A shareholder claiming to rescind must do so promptly. It is
too late to commence proceedings after a winding-up has begun.

Transfer of shares.

The shares or other interest of any member in a company are personal
estate and may be transferred in the manner provided by the regulations
of the company. As Lord Blackburn said, one of the chief objects when
joint stock companies were established was that the shares should be
capable of being easily transferred; but though every shareholder has a
prima facie right to transfer his shares, this right is subject to the
regulations of the company, and the company may and usually does by its
regulations require that a transfer shall receive the approval of the
board of directors before being registered,--the object being to secure
the company against having an insolvent or undesirable shareholder (the
nominee perhaps of a rival company) substituted for a solvent and
acceptable one. This power of the directors to refuse a transfer must
not, however, be exercised arbitrarily or capriciously. If it were, it
would amount to a confiscation of the shares. Directors, for instance,
cannot veto a transfer because they disapprove of the purpose for which
it is being made (e.g. to multiply votes), if there is no objection to
the transferee.

Blank transfers.

It is a common and convenient practice to deposit share or stock
certificates with bankers and others to secure an advance. When this is
done the share or stock certificate is usually accompanied by a blank
transfer--that is, a transfer executed by the shareholder borrower, but
with a blank left for the name of the transferee. The handing over by
the borrower of such blank transfer signed by him is an implied
authority to the banker, or other pledgee, if the loan is not paid, to
fill in the blank with his name and get himself registered as the owner.

Dividends.

A company can only pay dividends out of profits--which have been defined
as the "earnings of a concern after deducting the expenses of earning
them." To pay dividends out of capital is not only _ultra vires_ but
illegal, as constituting a return of capital to shareholders. Before
paying dividends, directors must take reasonable care to secure the
preparation of proper balance-sheets and estimates, and must exercise
their judgment as business men on the balance-sheets and estimates
submitted to them. If they fail to do this, and pay dividends out of
capital, they will not be held excused, unless the court should think
that they ought to be under the new discretion given to the court by ss.
32-34 of the Companies Act 1907 (Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, s.
279). The onus is on them to show that the dividends have been paid out
of profits. The court as a rule does not interfere with the discretion
of directors in the matter of paying dividends, unless they are doing
something _ultra vires_.

Auditors.

By the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, ss. 112, 113, incorporating
provisions of the act of 1900 (ss. 21-23), as amended by the act of 1907
(s. 19), the legislature has made strict provisions for the appointment
and remuneration of auditors by a company, and has defined their rights
and duties. Prior to the act of 1900 audit clauses, except in the case
of banking companies, were left to the articles of association and were
not matter of statutory obligation.

Private companies.

The "private company" may best be described as an incorporated
partnership. The term is statutorily defined--for the first time--by s.
37 of the Companies Act 1907 (s. 121 of the Consolidating Act of 1908).
Individual traders and trading firms have in recent years become much
more alive to the advantages offered by incorporation. They have
discovered that incorporation gives them the protection of limited
liability; that it prevents dislocation of a business by the death,
bankruptcy or lunacy of any of its members; that it enables a trader to
distribute among the members of his family interests in his business on
his decease through the medium of shares; that it facilitates borrowing
on debentures or debenture stock, and with a view to secure these
advantages thousands of traders have converted their businesses into
limited companies. To so large an extent has this been done that private
companies now form one-third of the whole number of companies
registered.

A private company does not appeal to the public to subscribe its
capital, but in the main features of its constitution a private company
differs little from a public one. It is only in one or two particulars
that special provisions are requisite. It is generally desired for
instance: (1) to keep all the shares among the members--the partners or
the family--and not to let them get into the hands of the public; and
(2) to give the principal shareholders, the original partners, a
paramount control over the management. For this purpose it is usual to
provide specially in the articles that no share shall be transferred to
a stranger so long as any member is willing to purchase it at a fair
value; that a member desirous of transferring his shares shall give
notice to the company; that the company shall offer the shares to the
other members; that if within a certain period the company finds a
purchaser the shares shall be transferred to him, and that in case of
dispute the value shall be settled by arbitration or shall be such a sum
as the auditor certifies to be in his opinion the fair value. So in
regard to the management it is common to provide that the owner or
owners of the business shall be entitled to hold office as directors for
a term of years or for life, provided he or they continue to hold a
certain number of shares; or an owner is empowered to authorize his
executors or trustees whilst holding a certain number of shares to
appoint directors. Directors holding office on these special terms are
described as "governing" or "permanent" or "life" directors. This union
of interest and management in the same persons gives a private company
an unquestionable advantage over a public company.

The so-called "one-man company" is merely a variety of the private
company. The fact that a company is formed by one man, with the aid of
six dummy subscribers, is not in itself (as was at one time supposed) a
fraud on the policy of the Companies Act, but it is occasionally used
for the purpose of committing a fraud, as where an insolvent trader
turns himself into a limited company in order to evade bankruptcy; and
it is to an abuse of this kind that the term "one-man company" owes its
opprobrious signification.

_Companies Limited by Guarantee._--The second class of limited companies
are those limited by guarantee, as distinguished from those limited by
shares. In the company limited by guarantee each member agrees, in the
event of a winding-up, to contribute a certain amount to the
assets,--£5, £1 or 10s.--whatever may be the amount of the guarantee.
The peculiarity of this form of company is that the interests of the
members of a guarantee company are not expressed in any terms of nominal
money value like the shares of other companies, a form of constitution
designed, as stated by Lord Thring, the draftsman of the Companies Act
1862, to give a superior elasticity to the company. The property of the
company simply belongs to the company in certain fractional amounts.
This makes it convenient for clubs, syndicates and other associations
which do not require the interest of members to be expressed in terms of
cash.

_Companies not for Gain._--Associations formed to promote commerce, art,
science, religion, charity or any other useful object may, with the
sanction of the Board of Trade, register under the Companies Act 1862,
with limited liability, but without the addition of the word "Limited,"
upon proving to the board that it is the intention of the association to
apply the profits or income of the association in promoting its objects,
and not in payment of dividends to members (C.A. 1867, s. 23). This
licence was made revocable by s. 42 of the Companies Act 1907
(Consolidation Act of 1908, ss. 19, 20). In lieu of the word "Company,"
the association may adopt as part of its name some such title as
chamber, club, college, guild, institute or society. The power given by
this section has proved very useful, and many kinds of associations have
availed themselves of it, such as medical institutes, law societies,
nursing homes, chambers of commerce, clubs, high schools,
archaeological, horticultural and philosophical societies. The guarantee
form (see _supra_) is well adapted for associations of this kind
intended as they usually are to be supported by annual subscriptions. No
such association can hold more than two acres of land without the
licence of the Board of Trade.

_Cost-Book Mining Companies._--These are in substance mining
partnerships. They derive their name from the fact of the partnership
agreement, the expenses and receipts of the mine, the names of the
shareholders, and any transfers of shares being entered in a
"cost-book." The affairs of the company are managed by an agent known as
a "purser," who from time to time makes calls on the members for the
expenses of working. A cost-book company is not bound to register under
the Companies Act 1862, but it may do so.

Winding-up.

Voluntary.

A company once incorporated under the Companies Act 1862 cannot be put
an end to except through the machinery of a winding-up, though the name
of a company which is commercially defunct may be struck off the
register of joint stock companies by the registrar (s. 242 of the
Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908, incorporating s. 7 of the act of
1880, as amended by s. 26 of the act of 1900). Winding-up is of two
kinds: (1) voluntary winding-up, either purely voluntary or carried on
under the supervision of the court; and (2) winding-up by the court. Of
these voluntary winding-up is by far the more common. Of the companies
that come to an end 90% are so wound up; and this is in accordance with
the policy of the legislature, evinced throughout the Companies Acts,
that shareholders should manage their own affairs--winding-up being one
of such affairs. A voluntary winding-up is carried out by the
shareholders passing a special resolution requiring the company to be
wound up voluntarily, or an extraordinary resolution (now defined by s.
182 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act 1908) to the effect that it has
been proved to the shareholders' satisfaction that the company cannot,
by reason of its liabilities, continue its business, and that it is
advisable to wind it up (C.A. 1862, s. 129). The resolution is generally
accompanied by the appointment of a liquidator. In a purely voluntary
winding-up there is a power given by s. 138 for the company or any
contributory to apply to the court in any matter arising in the
winding-up, but seemingly by an oversight of the legislature the same
right was not given to creditors. This was rectified by the Companies
Act 1900, s. 25. Section 27 of the Companies Act 1907 (s. 188 of the
Consolidation Act 1908) further provides for the liquidator under a
voluntary winding-up summoning a meeting of creditors to determine on
the choice of a liquidator. A creditor may also in a proper case obtain
an order for continuing the voluntary winding-up under the supervision
of the court. Such an order has the advantage of operating as a stay of
any actions or executions pending against the company. Except in these
respects, the winding-up remains a voluntary one. The court does not
actively intervene unless set in motion; but it requires the liquidator
to bring his accounts into chambers every quarter, so that it may be
informed how the liquidation is proceeding. When the affairs of the
company are fully wound up, the liquidator calls a meeting, lays his
accounts before the shareholders, and the company is dissolved by
operation of law three months after the date of the meeting (C.A. 1862,
ss. 142, 143).

By the court.

Irrespective of voluntary winding-up, the legislature has defined
certain events in which a company formed under the Companies Act 1862
may be wound up by the court. These events are: (1) when the company has
passed a resolution requiring the company to be wound up by the court;
(2) when the company does not commence its business within a year or
suspends it for a year; (3) when the members are reduced to less than
seven; (4) when the company is unable to pay its debts, and (5) whenever
the court is of opinion that it is just and equitable that the company
should be wound up (C.A. 1862, s. 79; s. 129 of the Consolidation Act
1908). A petition for the purpose may be presented either by a creditor,
a contributory or the company itself. Where the petition is presented by
a creditor who cannot obtain payment of his debt, a winding-up order is
_ex debito justitiae_ as against the company or shareholders, but not as
against the wishes of a majority of creditors. A winding-up order is not
to be refused because the company's assets are over mortgaged (Companies
Act 1907, s. 29; s. 141 of Consolidation Act 1908).

The procedure on the making of a winding-up order is now governed by ss.
7, 8, 9 of the Winding-up Act 1890. The official receiver, as
liquidator pro tem., requires a statement of the affairs of the company
verified by the directors, and on it reports to the court as to the
causes of the company's failure and whether further inquiry is
desirable. If he further reports that in his opinion fraud has been
committed in the promotion or formation of the company by a particular
person, the court may order such person to be publicly examined.

A liquidator's duty is to protect, collect, realize and distribute the
company's assets in due course of administration; and for this purpose
he advertises for creditors, makes calls on contributories, sues
debtors, takes misfeasance proceedings, if necessary, against directors
or promoters, and carries on the company's business--supposing the
goodwill to be an asset of value--with a view to selling it as a going
concern. He may be assisted, like a trustee in bankruptcy, by a
committee of inspection, composed of creditors and contributories.

When the affairs of the company have been completely wound up the court
is, by s. 111 of the Companies Act 1862 (s. 127 of the act of 1908), to
make an order that the company be dissolved from the date of such order,
and the company is dissolved accordingly. A company which has been
dissolved may, where necessary, on petition to the court be reinstated
on the register (Companies Act 1880, s. 1).

Reconstruction.

A large number of companies now wind up only to reconstruct. The reasons
for a reconstruction are generally either to raise fresh capital, or to
get rid of onerous preference shares, or to enlarge the scope of the
company's objects, which is otherwise impracticable owing to the
unalterability of the Memorandum of Association. Reconstructions are
carried out in one of three ways: (1) by sale and transfer of the
company's undertaking and assets to a new company, under a power to sell
contained in the company's memorandum of association, or (2) by sale and
transfer under s. 161 of the Companies Act 1862; or (3) by a scheme of
arrangement, sanctioned by the court, under the Joint Stock Companies
Arrangements Act 1870, as amended by the Companies Act 1907, s. 38 (C.A.
1908, s. 192).

The first of these modes is now the most in favour.

Wrongs by a company.

A company, though a mere legal abstraction, without mind or will, may,
it is now well settled, be liable in damages for malicious prosecution,
for nuisance, for fraud, for negligence, for trespass. The sense of the
thing is that the "company" is a _nomen collectivum_ for the members. It
is they who have put the directors there to carry on their business and
they must be answerable, collectively, for what is done negligently,
fraudulently or maliciously by their agents.

_2. Public Companies._

Besides trading companies there is another large class, exceeding in
their number even trading companies, which for shortness may be called
public companies, that is to say, companies constituted by special act
of parliament for the purpose of constructing and carrying on
undertakings of public utility, such as railways, canals, harbours,
docks, waterworks, gasworks, bridges, ferries, tramways, drainage,
fisheries or hospitals. The objects of such companies nearly always
involve an interference with the rights of private persons, often
necessitate the commission of a public nuisance, and require therefore
the sanction of the legislature. For this purpose a special act has to
be obtained. A private bill to authorize the undertaking is introduced
before one or other of the Houses of Parliament, considered in
committee, and either passed or rejected like a public bill. These
parliamentary (private bill) committees are tribunals acknowledging
certain rules of policy, taking evidence from witnesses and hearing
arguments from professional advocates. In many of these special acts,
dealing as they do with a similar subject matter, similar provisions are
required, and to avoid repetition and secure uniformity the legislature
has passed certain general acts--codes of law for particular subject
matters frequently recurring--which can be incorporated by reference in
any special act with the necessary modifications. Thus the Companies
Clauses Acts 1845, 1863 and 1869 supply the general powers and
provisions which are commonly inserted in the constitution of such
public company, regulating the distribution of capital, the transfer of
shares, payment of calls, borrowing and general meetings. The Lands
Clauses Consolidation Act 1845 supplies the machinery for the compulsory
taking of land incident to most undertakings of a public character. The
Railway Clauses Consolidation Act, the Waterworks Clauses Acts 1847 and
1863, the Gasworks Clauses Act 1847, and the Electric Lighting (Clauses)
Act 1899 are other codes of law designed for incorporation in special
acts creating companies for the construction of railways or the supply
of water, gas or electric light. A distinguishing feature of these
companies is that, being sanctioned by the legislature for undertakings
of public utility, the policy of the law will not allow them to be
broken up or destroyed by creditors. It gives creditors only a
charge--by a receiver--on the earnings of the undertaking--the "fruit of
the tree."

_3. British Companies Abroad._

The status of British companies trading abroad, so far as Germany,
France, Belgium, Greece, Italy and Spain are concerned, is expressly
recognized in a series of conventions entered into between those
countries and Great Britain. The value of the convention with France has
been much impaired by the interpretation put upon the words of it by the
court of cassation in _La Construction Lim_. According to this case the
nationality of a company depends not on its place of origin but on where
it has its centre of affairs, its principal establishment. The result is
that a company registered in Britain under the Companies Acts may be
transmuted by a French court into a French company in direct violation
of the convention. The convention with Germany, which is in similar
terms to that with France, has also been narrowed by judicial
construction. The "power of exercising all their rights" given by the
convention to British companies has been construed to mean that a
British company will be recognized as a corporate body in Germany, but
it does not follow from the terms of the convention that any British
company may as a matter of course establish a branch and carry on
business within the German empire. It must still get permission to
trade, permission to hold land. It must register itself in the communal
register. It must pay stamp duties.

Foreign companies may found an affiliated company or have a branch
establishment in Italy, provided they publish their memorandum and
articles and the names of their directors. Where no convention exists
the status of an immigrant corporation depends upon international
comity, which allows foreign corporations, as it does foreign persons,
to sue, to make contracts and hold real estate, in the same way as
domestic corporations or citizens; provided the stranger corporation
does not offend against the policy of the state in which it seeks to
trade.

There is, however, a growing practice now for states to impose by
express legislation conditions on foreign corporations coming to do
business within their territory. These conditions are mainly directed to
securing that the immigrant corporation shall make known its
constitution and shall be amenable to the jurisdiction of the courts of
the country where it trades. Thus, by the law of Western Australia--to
take a typical instance,--a foreign company is not to commence or carry
on business until it empowers some person to act as its attorney to sue
and be sued and has an office or place of business within the state, to
be approved of by the registrar, where all legal proceedings may be
served. New Zealand, Manitoba and many other states have adopted similar
precautions; and by the Companies Act 1907, s. 35; C.A. 1908, s. 274
foreign companies having a place of business within the United Kingdom
are required to file with the registrar of joint stock companies a copy
of the company's charter or memorandum and articles, a list of
directors, and the names and addresses of one or more persons authorized
to accept service of process. Special conditions of a more stringent
nature are often imposed in the case of particular classes of companies
of a quasi-public character, such as banking companies, building
societies or insurance companies. Regulations of this kind are
perfectly legitimate and necessary. They are in truth only an
application of the law of vagrancy to corporations, and have their
analogy in the restrictions now generally imposed by states on the
immigration of aliens.

_4. Company Law outside the United Kingdom._

_Australia._--Company law in Australia and in New Zealand follows very
closely the lines of company legislation in the United Kingdom.

In New South Wales the law is consolidated by Act No. 40 of 1899,
amended 1900 and 1906. In Victoria the law is contained in the Acts Nos.
1074 of 1890 and 355 of 1896; in Queensland in a series of Acts--No. 4
of 1863, No. 18 of 1899, No. 10 of 1891, No. 24 of 1892, No. 3 of 1893,
No. 19 of 1894 and No. 21 of 1896; in South Australia in No. 56 of 1892,
amended by No. 576 of 1893; in Tasmania by Nos. 22 of 1869, 19 of 1895
and 3 of 1896; in Western Australia by No. 8 of 1893, amended 1897 and
1898.

In New Zealand the law was consolidated in 1903.

_Canada._--The act governing joint stock companies in Canada is the
Companies Act 1902, amended 1904. It empowers the secretary of state by
letters patent to grant a charter to any number of persons not less than
five for any objects other than railway or telegraph lines, banking or
insurance.

Applicants must file an application--analogous to the British memorandum
of association--showing certain particulars--the purposes of
incorporation, the place of business, the amount of the capital stock,
the number of shares and the amount of each, the names and addresses of
the applicants, the amount of stock taken by each and the amount and
mode of payment. Other provisions may also be embodied. A company cannot
commence business until 10% of its authorized capital has been
subscribed and paid for. The word "limited" as part of the company's
name is--as in the case of British companies--to be conspicuously
exhibited and used in all documents. The directors are not to be less
than three or more than fifteen, and must be holders of stock. Directors
are jointly and severally liable to the clerks, labourers and servants
of the company for six months' wages. Borrowing powers may be taken by a
vote of holders of two-thirds in value of the subscribed stock of the
company.

_South Africa._--In Cape Colony the law is contained in No. 25 of 1892,
amended 1895 and 1906; it follows English law.

In Natal the law is contained in Nos. 10 of 1864, 18 of 1865, 19 of 1893
and 3 of 1896.

In the Orange Free State in Law Ch. 100 and Nos. 2 and 4 of 1892.

For the Transvaal see Nos. 5 of 1874, 6 of 1874, 1 of 1894 and 30 of
1904.

In Rhodesia companies are regulated by the Companies Ordinance 1895--a
combination of the Cape Companies Act 1892, and the British Companies
Acts 1862-1890.

_France._--There are two kinds of limited liability companies in
France--the _société en commandite_ and the _société anonyme_. The
_société en commandite_ corresponds in some respects to the British
private company or limited partnership, but with this difference, that
in the _société en commandite_ the managing partner is under unlimited
liability of creditors; the sleeping partner's liability is limited to
the amount of his capital. The French equivalent of the English ordinary
joint stock company is the _société anonyme_. The minimum number of
subscribers necessary to form such a company is (as in the case of a
British trading company) seven, but, unlike a British company, the
_société anonyme_ is not legally constituted unless the whole capital is
subscribed and one-fourth of each share paid up. Another precaution
unknown to British practice is that assets, not in money, brought into a
company are subject to verification of value by a general meeting. The
minimum nominal value of shares, where the company's capital is less
than 200,000 fcs., is 25 fcs.; where the capital is more than 200,000
fcs., 100 fcs. The _société_ is governed by articles which appoint the
directors, and there is one general meeting held every year. A _société
anonyme_ may, since 1902, issue preference shares. The doctrine that a
corporation never dies has no place in French law. A _société anonyme_
may come to an end.

_Germany._--In Germany the class of companies most nearly corresponding
to English companies limited by shares are "share companies"
(_Aktiengesellschaften_) and "commandite companies" with a share capital
(_Kommanditgesellschaften auf Aktien_). Since 1892 a new form of
association has come into existence known by the name of partnership
with limited liability (_Gesellschaften mit beschrankter Haftung_),
which has largely superseded the commandite company.

[Sidenote: The "share company."]

In forming this paid-up company certain preliminary steps have to be
taken before registration:--

1. The articles must be agreed on;

2. A managing board and a board of supervision must be appointed;

3. The whole of the share capital must be allotted and 25%, at least,
must be paid up in coin or legal tender notes;

4. Reports on the formation of the company must be made by certain
persons; and

5. Certain documents must be filed in the registry.

In all cases where shares are issued for any consideration, not being
payment in full in cash, or in which contracts for the purchase of
property have been entered into, the promoters must sign a declaration
in which they must state on what grounds the prices agreed to be given
for such property appear to be justified. In the great majority of cases
shares are issued in certificates to bearer. The amount of such a
share--to bearer--must as a general rule be not less than £50, but
registered shares of £10 may be issued. Balance sheets have to be
published periodically.

Limited partnerships.

Partnerships with limited liability may be formed by two or more
members. The articles of partnership must be signed by all the members,
and must contain particulars as to the amount of the capital and of the
individual shares. If the liability on any shares is not to be satisfied
in cash this also must be stated. The capital of a limited partnership
must amount to £1000. Shares must be registered. Insolvent companies in
Germany are subject to the bankruptcy law in the same manner as natural
persons.

For further information see a memorandum on German companies printed in
the appendix to the _Report of Lord Davey's Committee on the Amendment
of Company Law_, pp. 13-26.

_Italy._--Commercial companies in Italy are of three kinds:--(1) General
partnerships, in which the members are liable for all debts incurred;
(2) companies in _accomodita_, in which some members are liable to an
unlimited extent and others within certain limits; (3) joint stock
companies, in which the liability is limited to the capital of the
company and no member is liable beyond the amount of his holding. None
of these companies needs authority from the government for its
constitution; all that is needed is a written agreement brought before
the public in the ways indicated in the code (Art. 90 et seq.). In joint
stock companies the trustees (directors) must give security. They are
appointed by a general meeting for a period not exceeding four years
(Art. 124). The company is not constituted until the whole of its
capital is subscribed, and until three-tenths of the capital at least
has been actually paid up. When a company's capital is diminished by
one-third, the trustees must call the members together and consult as to
what is to be done.

An ordinary meeting is held once at least every year. Shares may not be
made payable "to bearer" until fully paid up (Art. 166). A company may
issue debentures if this is agreed to by a certain majority (Art. 172).
One-twentieth, at least, of the dividends of the company must be added
to the reserve fund, until this has become equal to one-fifth of the
company's capital (Art. 182). Three or five assessors--members or
non-members--keep watch over the way in which the company is carried on.

_United States._--In the United States the right to create corporations
is a sovereign right, and as such is exercisable by the several states
of the Union. The law of private corporations must therefore be sought
in some fifty collections or groups of statutory and case-made rules.
These collections or groups of rules differ in many cases essentially
from each other. The acts regulating business corporations generally
provide that the persons proposing to form a corporation shall sign and
acknowledge an instrument called the articles of association, setting
forth the name of the corporation, the object for which it is to be
formed, the principal place of business, the amount of its capital
stock, and the number of shares into which it is to be divided, and the
duration of its corporate existence. These articles are filed in the
office of the secretary of state or in designated courts of record, and
a certificate is then issued reciting that the provisions of the act
have been complied with, and thereupon the incorporators are vested with
corporate existence and the general powers incident thereto. This
certificate is the charter of the corporation. The power to make bylaws
is usually vested in the stockholders, but it may be conferred by the
certificate on the directors. Stockholders remain liable until their
subscriptions are fully paid. Nothing but money is considered payment of
capital stock except where property is purchased. Directors must usually
be stockholders.

The right of a state to forfeit a corporation's charter for misuser or
non-user of its franchises is an implied term of the grant of
incorporation. Corporations are liable for every wrong they commit, and
in such cases cannot set up by way of protection the doctrine of _ultra
vires_.

See for authorities _Commentaries on the Law of Private Corporations_,
by Seymour D. Thompson, LL.D., 6 vols.; Beach on _Corporations_, and
the _American Encyclopaedia of Law_. (E. MA.)

COMPARATIVE ANATOMY, a term employed to designate the study of the
structure of man as compared with that of lower animals, and sometimes
the study of lower animals in contra-distinction to human anatomy; the
term is now falling into desuetude, and lingers practically only in the
titles of books or in the designation of university chairs. The change
in terminology is chiefly the result of modern conceptions of zoology.
From the point of view of structure, man is one of the animals; all
investigations into anatomical structure must be comparative, and in
this work the subject is so treated throughout. See ANATOMY and ZOOLOGY.

COMPARETTI, DOMENICO (1835- ), Italian scholar, was born at Rome on the
27th of June 1835. He studied at the university of Rome, took his degree
in 1855 in natural science and mathematics, and entered his uncle's
pharmacy as assistant. His scanty leisure was, however, given to study.
He learned Greek by himself, and gained facility in the modern language
by conversing with the Greek students at the university. In spite of all
disadvantages, he not only mastered the language, but became one of the
chief classical scholars of Italy. In 1857 he published, in the
_Rheinisches Museum_, a translation of some recently discovered
fragments of Hypereides, with a dissertation on that orator. This was
followed by a notice of the annalist Granius Licinianus, and one on the
oration of Hypereides on the Lamian War. In 1859 he was appointed
professor of Greek at Pisa on the recommendation of the duke of
Sermoneta. A few years later he was called to a similar post at
Florence, remaining emeritus professor at Pisa also. He subsequently
took up his residence in Rome as lecturer on Greek antiquities and
greatly interested himself in the Forum excavations. He was a member of
the governing bodies of the academies of Milan, Venice, Naples and
Turin. The list of his writings is long and varied. Of his works in
classical literature, the best known are an edition of the _Euxenippus_
of Hypereides, and monographs on Pindar and Sappho. He also edited the
great inscription which contains a collection of the municipal laws of
Gortyn in Crete, discovered on the site of the ancient city. In the
_Kalewala and the Traditional Poetry of the Finns_ (English translation
by I. M. Anderton, 1898) he discusses the national epic of Finland and
its heroic songs, with a view to solving the problem whether an epic
could be composed by the interweaving of such national songs. He comes
to a negative conclusion, and applies this reasoning to the Homeric
problem. He treats this question again in a treatise on the so-called
Peisistratean edition of Homer (_La Commissione omerica di Pisistrato_,
1881). His _Researches concerning the Book of Sindib[=a]d_ have been
translated in the _Proceedings_ of the Folk-Lore Society. His _Vergil
in the Middle Ages_ (translated into English by E. F. Benecke, 1895)
traces the strange vicissitudes by which the great Augustan poet became
successively grammatical fetich, Christian prophet and wizard. Together
with Professor Alessandro d'Ancona, Comparetti edited a collection of
Italian national songs and stories (9 vols., Turin, 1870-1891), many of
which had been collected and written down by himself for the first time.

COMPASS (Fr. _compas_, ultimately from Lat. _cum_, with, and _passus_,
step), a term of which the evolution of the various meanings is obscure;
the general sense is "measure" or "measurement," and the word is used
thus in various derived meanings--area, boundary, circuit. It is also
more particularly applied to a mathematical instrument ("pair of
compasses") for measuring or for describing a circle, and to the
mariner's compass.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Compass Card.]

The mariner's compass, with which this article is concerned, is an
instrument by means of which the directive force of that great magnet,
the Earth, upon a freely-suspended needle, is utilized for a purpose
essential to navigation. The needle is so mounted that it only moves
freely in the horizontal plane, and therefore the horizontal component
of the earth's force alone directs it. The direction assumed by the
needle is not generally towards the geographical north, but diverges
towards the east or west of it, making a horizontal angle with the true
meridian, called the magnetic variation or declination; amongst mariners
this angle is known as the variation of the compass. In the usual
navigable waters of the world the variation alters from 30° to the east
to 45° to the west of the geographical meridian, being westerly in the
Atlantic and Indian oceans, easterly in the Pacific. The vertical plane
passing through the longitudinal axis of such a needle is known as the
magnetic meridian. Following the first chart of lines of equal variation
compiled by Edmund Halley in 1700, charts of similar type have been
published from time to time embodying recent observations and corrected
for the secular change, thus providing seamen with values of the
variation accurate to about 30' of arc. Possessing these data, it is
easy to ascertain by observation the effects of the iron in a ship in
disturbing the compass, and it will be found for the most part in every
vessel that the needle is deflected from the magnetic meridian by a
horizontal angle called the deviation of the compass; in some directions
of the ship's head adding to the known variation of the place, in other
directions subtracting from it. Local magnetic disturbance of the needle
due to magnetic rocks is observed on land in all parts of the world, and
in certain places extends to the land under the sea, affecting the
compasses on board the ships passing over it. The general direction of
these disturbances in the northern hemisphere is an attraction of the
north-seeking end of the needle; in the southern hemisphere, its
repulsion. The approaches to Cossack, North Australia; Cape St Francis,
Labrador; the coasts of Madagascar and Iceland, are remarkable for such
disturbance of the compass.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Admiralty Compass (Frame and Needles).]

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Thomson's (Lord Kelvin's) Compass (Frame and
Needles).]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Section of Thomson's Compass Bowl. C, aluminium
cap with sapphire centre; N, N', needles; P, pivot stem with pivot.]

The compass as we know it is the result of the necessities of
navigation, which have increased from century to century. It consists of
five principal parts--the card, the needles, the bowl, a jewelled cap
and the pivot. The card or "fly," formerly made of cardboard, now
consists of a disk either of mica covered with paper or of paper alone,
but in all cases the card is divided into points and degrees as shown in
fig. 1. The outer margin is divided into degrees with 0° at north and
south, and 90° at east and west; the 32 points with half and quarter
points are seen immediately within the degrees. The north point is
marked with _fleur de lis_, and the principal points, N.E., E., S.E.,
&c., with their respective names, whilst the intermediate points in the
figure have also their names engraved for present information. The arc
contained between any two points is 11° 15'. The mica card is generally
mounted on a brass framework, F F, with a brass cap, C, fitted with a
sapphire centre and carrying four magnetized needles, N, N, N, N, as in
fig. 2. The more modern form of card consists of a broad ring of paper
marked with degrees and points, as in fig. 1, attached to a frame like
that in fig. 3, where an outer aluminium ring, A A, is connected by 32
radial silk threads to a central disk of aluminium, in the centre of
which is a round hole designed to receive an aluminium cap with a highly
polished sapphire centre worked to the form of an open cone. To direct
the card eight short light needles, N N, are suspended by silk threads
from the outer ring. The magnetic axis of any system of needles must
exactly coincide with the axis passing through the north and south
points of the card. Single needles are never used, two being the least
number, and these so arranged that the moment of inertia about every
diameter of the card shall be the same. The combination of card, needles
and cap is generally termed "the card"; on the continent of Europe it is
called the "rose." The section of a compass bowl in fig. 4 shows the
mounting of a Thomson card on its pivot, which in common with the pivots
of most other compasses is made of brass, tipped with osmium-iridium,
which although very hard can be sharply pointed and does not corrode.
Fig. 4 shows the general arrangement of mounting all compass cards in
the bowl. In fig. 5 another form of compass called a liquid or spirit
compass is shown partly in section. The card nearly floats in a bowl
filled with distilled water, to which 35% of alcohol is added to prevent
freezing; the bowl is hermetically sealed with pure india-rubber, and a
corrugated expansion chamber is attached to the bottom to allow for the
expansion and contraction of the liquid. The card is a mica disk, either
painted as in fig. 1, or covered with linen upon which the degrees and
points are printed, the needles being enclosed in brass.

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Liquid Compass.

A, Bowl, partly in section. N, Hole for filling, with screw plug.
B, Expansion chamber. O, O, Magnetic needles.
D, The glass. P, Buoyant chamber.
G, Gimbal ring. Q, Iridium pivot.
L, Nut to expand chamber when R, Sapphire cap.
filling bowl. S, Mica card.]
M, Screw connector.

Great steadiness of card under severe shocks and vibrations, combined
with a minimum of friction in the cap and pivot, is obtained with this
compass. All compasses are fitted with a gimbal ring to keep the bowl
and card level under every circumstance of a ship's motion in a seaway,
the ring being connected with the binnacle or pedestal by means of
journals or knife edges. On the inside of every compass bowl a vertical
black line is drawn, called the "lubber's point," and it is imperative
that when the compass is placed in the binnacle the line joining the
pivot and the lubber's point be parallel to the keel of the vessel.
Thus, when a degree on the card is observed opposite the lubber's point,
the angle between the direction in which the ship is steering and the
north point of the compass or course is at once seen; 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. In every ship a position is selected for the
navigating or standard compass as free from neighbouring iron as
possible, and by this compass all courses are shaped and bearings taken.
It is also provided with an azimuth circle or mirror and a shadow pin or
style placed in the centre of the glass cover, by either of which the
variable angle between the compass north and true north, called the
"total error," or variation and deviation combined, can be observed. The
binnacles or pedestals for compasses are generally constructed of wood
about 45 in. high, and fitted to receive and alter at pleasure the
several magnet and soft iron correctors. They are also fitted with
different forms of suspension in which the compass is mounted to obviate
the mechanical disturbance of the card caused by the vibration of the
hull in ships driven by powerful engines.

The effects of the iron and steel used in the construction of ships upon
the compass occupied the attention of the ablest physicists of the 19th
century, with results which enable navigators to conduct their ships
with perfect safety. The hull of an iron or steel ship is a magnet, and
the distribution of its magnetism depends upon the direction of the
ship's head when building, this result being produced by induction from
the earth's magnetism, developed and impressed by the hammering of the
plates and frames during the process of building. The disturbance of the
compass by the magnetism of the hull is generally modified, sometimes
favourably, more often unfavourably, by the magnetized fittings of the
ship, such as masts, conning towers, deck houses, engines and boilers.
Thus in every ship the compass needle is more or less subject to
deviation differing in amount and direction for every azimuth of the
ship's head. This was first demonstrated by Commander Matthew Flinders
by experiments made in H.M.S. "Investigator" in 1800-1803, and in 1810
led that officer to introduce the practice of placing the ship's head on
each point of the compass, and noting the amount of deviation whether to
the east or west of the magnetic north, a process which is in full
exercise at the present day, and is called "swinging ship." When
speaking of the magnetic properties of iron it is usual to adopt the
terms "soft" and "hard." Soft iron is iron which becomes instantly
magnetized by induction when exposed to any magnetic force, but has no
power of retaining its magnetism. Hard iron is less susceptible of being
magnetized, but when once magnetized it retains its magnetism
permanently. The term "iron" used in these pages includes the "steel"
now commonly employed in shipbuilding. If an iron ship be swung when
upright for deviation, and the mean horizontal and vertical magnetic
forces at the compass positions be also observed in different parts of
the world, mathematical analysis shows that the deviations are caused
partly by the permanent magnetism of hard iron, partly by the transient
induced magnetism of soft iron both horizontal and vertical, and in a
lesser degree by iron which is neither magnetically hard nor soft, but
which becomes magnetized in the same manner as hard iron, though it
gradually loses its magnetism on change of conditions, as, for example,
in the case of a ship, repaired and hammered in dock, steaming in an
opposite direction at sea. This latter cause of deviation is called
sub-permanent magnetism. The horizontal directive force on the needle on
board is nearly always less than on land, sometimes much less, whilst in
armour-plated ships it ranges from .8 to .2 when the directive force on
land = 1.0. If the ship be inclined to starboard or to port additional
deviation will be observed, reaching a maximum on north and south
points, decreasing to zero on the east and west points. Each ship has
its own magnetic character, but there are certain conditions which are
common to vessels of the same type.

Instead of observing the deviation solely for the purposes of correcting
the indications of the compass when disturbed by the iron of the ship,
the practice is to subject all deviations to mathematical analysis with
a view to their mechanical correction. The whole of the deviations when
the ship is upright may be expressed nearly by five co-efficients, A, B,
C, D, E. Of these A is a deviation constant in amount for every
direction of the ship's head. B has reference to horizontal forces
acting in a longitudinal direction in the ship, and caused partly by the
permanent magnetism of hard iron, partly by vertical induction in
vertical soft iron either before or abaft the compass. C has reference
to forces acting in a transverse direction, and caused by hard iron. D
is due to transient induction in horizontal soft iron, the direction of
which passes continuously under or over the compass. E is due to
transient induction in horizontal soft iron unsymmetrically placed with
regard to the compass. When data of this character have been obtained
the compass deviations may be mechanically corrected to within
1°--always adhering to the principal that "like cures like." Thus the
part of B caused by the permanent magnetism of hard iron must be
corrected by permanent magnets horizontally placed in a fore and aft
direction; the other part caused by vertical soft iron by means of bars
of vertical soft iron, called Flinders bars, before or abaft the
compass. C is compensated by permanent magnets athwart-ships and
horizontal; D by masses of soft iron on both sides of the compass, and
generally in the form of cast-iron spheres, with their centres in the
same horizontal plane as the needles; E is usually too small to require
correction; A is fortunately rarely of any value, as it cannot be
corrected. The deviation observed when the ship inclines to either side
is due--(1) to hard iron acting vertically upwards or downwards; (2) to
vertical soft iron immediately below the compass; (3) to vertical
induction in horizontal soft iron when inclined. To compensate (1)
vertical magnets are used; (3) is partly corrected by the soft iron
correctors of D; (2) and the remaining part of (3) cannot be
conveniently corrected for more than one geographical position at a
time. Although a compass may thus be made practically correct for a
given time and place, the magnetism of the ship is liable to changes on
changing her geographical position, and especially so when steaming at
right angles or nearly so to the magnetic meridian, for then
sub-permanent magnetism is developed in the hull. Some vessels are more
liable to become sub-permanently magnetized than others, and as no
corrector has been found for this source of deviation the navigator must
determine its amount by observation. Hence, however carefully a compass
may be placed and subsequently compensated, the mariner has no safety
without constantly observing the bearings of the sun, stars or distant
terrestrial objects, to ascertain its deviation. The results of these
observations are entered in a compass journal for future reference when
fog or darkness prevails.

Every compass and corrector supplied to the ships of the British navy is
previously examined in detail at the Compass Observatory established by
the admiralty at Deptford. A trained observer acting under the
superintendent of compasses is charged with this important work. The
superintendent, who is a naval officer, has to investigate the magnetic
character of the ships, to point out the most suitable positions for the
compasses when a ship is designed, and subsequently to keep himself
informed of their behaviour from the time of the ship's first trial. A
museum containing compasses of various types invented during the 19th
century is attached to the Compass Observatory at Deptford.

The mariner's compass during the early part of the 19th century was
still a very imperfect instrument, although numerous inventors had
tried to improve it. In 1837 the Admiralty Compass Committee was
appointed to make a scientific investigation of the subject, and
propose a form of compass suitable alike for azimuth and steering
purposes. The committee reported in July 1840, and after minor
improvements by the makers the admiralty compass, the card of which is
shown in figs. 1 and 2, was adopted by the government. Until 1876,
when Sir William Thomson introduced his patent compass, this compass
was not only the regulation compass of the British navy, but was
largely used in other countries in the same or a modified form. The
introduction of powerful engines causing serious vibration to compass
cards of the admiralty type, coupled with the prevailing desire for
larger cards, the deviation of which could also be more conveniently
compensated, led to the gradual introduction of the Thomson compass.
Several important points were gained in the latter: the quadrantal
deviation could be finally corrected for all latitudes; frictional
error at the cap and pivot was reduced to a minimum, the average
weight of the card being 200 grains; the long free vibrational period
of the card was found to be favourable to its steadiness when the
vessel was rolling. The first liquid compass used in England was
invented by Francis Crow, of Faversham, in 1813. It is said that the
idea of a liquid compass was suggested to Crow by the experience of
the captain of a coasting vessel whose compass card was oscillating
wildly until a sea broke on board filling the compass bowl, when the
card became steady. Subsequent improvements were made by E. J. Dent,
and especially by E. S. Ritchie, of Boston, Massachusetts. In 1888 the
form of liquid compass (fig. 5) now solely used in torpedo boats and
torpedo boat destroyers was introduced. It has also proved to be the
most trustworthy compass under the shock of heavy gun fire at present
available. The deflector is an instrument designed to enable an
observer to reduce the deviations of the compass to an amount not
exceeding 2° during fogs, or at any time when bearings of distant
objects are not available. It is certain that if the directive forces
on the north, east, south and west points of a compass are equal,
there can be no deviation. With the deflector any inequality in the
directive force can be detected, and hence the power of equalizing the
forces by the usual soft iron and magnet correctors. Several kinds of
deflector have been invented, that of Lord Kelvin (Sir William
Thomson) being the simplest, but Dr Waghorn's is also very effective.
The use of the deflector is generally confined to experts.

_The Magnetism of Ships._--In 1814 Flinders first showed (see
Flinders's _Voyage_, vol. ii. appx. ii.) that the abnormal values of
the variation observed in the wood-built ships of his day was due to
deviation of the compass caused by the iron in the ship; that the
deviation was zero when the ship's head was near the north and south
points; that it attained its maximum on the east and west points, and
varied as the sine of the azimuth of the ship's head reckoned from the
zero points. He also described a method of correcting deviation by
means of a bar of vertical iron so placed as to correct the deviation
nearly in all latitudes. This bar, now known as a "Flinders bar," is
still in general use. In 1820 Dr T. Young (see Brande's _Quarterly
Journal_, 1820) investigated mathematically the magnetism of ships. In
1824 Professor Peter Barlow (1776-1862) introduced his correcting
plate of _soft_ iron. Trials in certain ships showed that their
magnetism consisted partly of hard iron, and the use of the plate was
abandoned. In 1835 Captain E. J. Johnson, R.N., showed from
experiments in the iron steamship "Garry Owen" that the vessel acted
on an external compass as a magnet. In 1838 Sir G. B. Airy
magnetically examined the iron steamship "Rainbow" at Deptford, and
from his mathematical investigations (see _Phil. Trans._, 1839)
deduced his method of correcting the compass by permanent magnets and
soft iron, giving practical rules for the same in 1840. Airy's and
Flinders's correctors form the basis of all compass correctors to this
day. In 1838 S. D. Poisson published his _Memoir on the Deviations of
the Compass caused by the Iron in a Vessel_. In this he gave equations
resulting from the hypothesis that the magnetism of a ship is partly
due to the permanent magnetism of hard iron and partly to the
transient induced magnetism of soft iron; that the latter is
proportional to the intensity of the inducing force, and that the
length of the needle is infinitesimally small compared to the distance
of the surrounding iron. From Poisson's equations Archibald Smith
deduced the formulae given in the _Admiralty Manual for Deviations of
the Compass_ (1st ed., 1862), a work which has formed the basis of
numerous other manuals since published in Great Britain and other
countries. In view of the serious difficulties connected with the
inclining of every ship, Smith's formulae for ascertaining and
providing for the correction of the heeling error with the ship
upright continue to be of great value to safe navigation. In 1855 the
Liverpool Compass Committee began its work of investigating the
magnetism of ships of the mercantile marine, resulting in three
reports to the Board of Trade, all of great value, the last being
presented in 1861.

See also MAGNETISM, and NAVIGATION; articles on Magnetism of Ships and
Deviations of the Compass, _Phil. Trans._, 1839-1883, _Journal United
Service Inst._, 1859-1889, _Trans. Inst. Nav. Archit._,
1860-1861-1862, _Report of Brit. Assoc._, 1862, _London Quarterly
Rev._, 1865; also _Admiralty Manual_, edit. 1862-1863-1869-1893-1900;
and Towson's _Practical Information on Deviations of the Compass_
(1886). (E. W. C.)

_History of the Mariner's Compass._

The discovery that a lodestone, or a piece of iron which has been
touched by a lodestone, will direct itself to point in a north and south
position, and the application of that discovery to direct the navigation
of ships, have been attributed to various origins. The Chinese, the
Arabs, the Greeks, the Etruscans, the Finns and the Italians have all
been claimed as originators of the compass. There is now little doubt
that the claim formerly advanced in favour of the Chinese is
ill-founded. In Chinese history we are told how, in the sixty-fourth
year of the reign of Hwang-ti (2634 B.C.), the emperor Hiuan-yuan, or
Hwang-ti, attacked one Tchi-yeou, on the plains of Tchou-lou, and
finding his army embarrassed by a thick fog raised by the enemy,
constructed a chariot (Tchi-nan) for indicating the south, so as to
distinguish the four cardinal points, and was thus enabled to pursue
Tchi-yeou, and take him prisoner. (Julius Klaproth, _Lettre à M. le
Baron Humboldt sur l'invention de la boussole_, Paris, 1834. See also
Mailla, _Histoire générale de la Chine_, tom. i. p. 316, Paris, 1777.)
But, as other versions of the story show, this account is purely
mythical. For the south-pointing chariots are recorded to have been
first devised by the emperor Hian-tsoung (A.D. 806-820); and there is no
evidence that they contained any magnet. There is no genuine record of a
Chinese marine compass before A.D. 1297, as Klaproth admits. No
sea-going ships were built in China before 139 B.C. The earliest
allusion to the power of the lodestone in Chinese literature occurs in a
Chinese dictionary, finished in A.D. 121, where the lodestone is defined
as "a stone with which an attraction can be given to a needle," but this
knowledge is no more than that existing in Europe at least five hundred
years before. Nor is there any nautical significance in a passage which
occurs in the Chinese encyclopaedia, _Poei-wen-yun-fou_, in which it is
stated that under the Tsin dynasty, or between A.D. 265 and 419, "there
were ships indicating the south."

The Chinese, Sir J. F. Davis informs us, once navigated as far as India,
but their most distant voyages at present extend not farther than Java
and the Malay Islands to the south (_The Chinese_, vol. iii. p. 14,
London, 1844). According to an Arabic manuscript, a translation of which
was published by Eusebius Renaudot (Paris, 1718), they traded in ships
to the Persian Gulf and Red Sea in the 9th century. Sir G. L. Staunton,
in vol. i. of his _Embassy to China_ (London, 1797), after referring to
the early acquaintance of the Chinese with the property of the magnet to
point southwards, remarks (p. 445), "The nature and the cause of the
qualities of the magnet have at all times been subjects of contemplation
among the Chinese. The Chinese name for the compass is _ting-nan-ching_,
or needle pointing to the south; and a distinguishing mark is fixed on
the magnet's southern pole, as in European compasses upon the northern
one." "The sphere of Chinese navigation," he tells us (p. 447), "is too
limited to have afforded experience and observation for forming any
system of laws supposed to govern the variation of the needle.... The
Chinese had soon occasion to perceive how much more essential the
perfection of the compass was to the superior navigators of Europe than
to themselves, as the commanders of the 'Lion' and 'Hindostan,' trusting
to that instrument, stood out directly from the land into the sea." The
number of points of the compass, according to the Chinese, is
twenty-four, which are reckoned from the south pole; the form also of
the instrument they employ is different from that familiar to Europeans.
The needle is peculiarly poised, with its point of suspension a little
below its centre of gravity, and is exceedingly sensitive; it is seldom
more than an inch in length, and is less than a line in thickness. "It
may be urged," writes Mr T. S. Davies, "that the different manner of
constructing the needle amongst the Chinese and European navigators
shows the independence of the Chinese of us, as theirs is the worse
method, and had they copied from us, they would have used the better
one" (Thomson's _British Annual_, 1837, p. 291). On the other hand, it
has been contended that a knowledge of the mariner's compass was
communicated by them directly or indirectly to the early Arabs, and
through the latter was introduced into Europe. Sismondi has remarked
(_Literature of Europe_, vol. i.) that it is peculiarly characteristic
of all the pretended discoveries of the middle ages that when the
historians mention them for the first time they treat them as things in
general use. Gunpowder, the compass, the Arabic numerals and paper, are
nowhere spoken of as discoveries, and yet they must have wrought a total
change in war, in navigation, in science, and in education. G.
Tiraboschi (_Storia della letteratura italiana_, tom. iv. lib. ii. p.
204, et seq., ed. 2., 1788), in support of the conjecture that the
compass was introduced into Europe by the Arabs, adduces their
superiority in scientific learning and their early skill in navigation.
He quotes a passage on the polarity of the lodestone from a treatise
translated by Albertus Magnus, attributed by the latter to Aristotle,
but apparently only an Arabic compilation from the works of various
philosophers. As the terms _Zoron_ and _Aphron_, used there to signify
the south and north poles, are neither Latin nor Greek, Tiraboschi
suggests that they may be of Arabian origin, and that the whole passage
concerning the lodestone may have been added to the original treatise by
the Arabian translators.

Dr W. Robertson asserts (_Historical Disquisition concerning Ancient
India_, p. 227) that the Arabs, Turks and Persians have no original name
for the compass, it being called by them _Bossola_, the Italian name,
which shows that the thing signified is foreign to them as well as the
word. The Rev. G. P. Badger has, however, pointed out (_Travels of
Ludovico di Varthema_, trans. J. W. Jones, ed. G. P. Badger, Hakluyt
Soc, 1863, note, pp. 31 and 32) that the name of Bushla or Busba, from
the Italian _Bussola_, though common among Arab sailors in the
Mediterranean, is very seldom used in the Eastern seas,--_Daïrah_ and
_Beit el-Ibrah_ (the Circle, or House of the Needle) being the ordinary
appellatives in the Red Sea, whilst in the Persian Gulf
_Kiblah-n[=a]meh_ is in more general use. Robertson quotes Sir J.
Chardin as boldly asserting "that the Asiatics are beholden to us for
this wonderful instrument, which they had from Europe a long time before
the Portuguese conquests. For, first, their compasses are exactly like
ours, and they buy them of Europeans as much as they can, scarce daring
to meddle with their needles themselves. Secondly, it is certain that
the old navigators only coasted it along, which I impute to their want
of this instrument to guide and instruct them in the middle of the
ocean.... I have nothing but argument to offer touching this matter,
having never met with any person in Persia or the Indies to inform me
when the compass was first known among them, though I made inquiry of
the most learned men in both countries. I have sailed from the Indies to
Persia in Indian ships, when no European has been aboard but myself. The
pilots were all Indians, and they used the forestaff and quadrant for
their observations. These instruments they have from us, and made by our
artists, and they do not in the least vary from ours, except that the
characters are Arabic. The Arabs are the most skilful navigators of all
the Asiatics or Africans; but neither they nor the Indians make use of
charts, and they do not much want them; some they have, but they are
copied from ours, for they are altogether ignorant of perspective." The
observations of Chardin, who flourished between 1643 and 1713, cannot be
said to receive support from the testimony of some earlier authorities.
That the Arabs must have been acquainted with the compass, and with the
construction and use of charts, at a period nearly two centuries
previous to Chardin's first voyage to the East, may be gathered from the
description given by Barros of a map of all the coast of India, shown to
Vasco da Gama by a Moor of Guzerat (about the 15th of July 1498), in
which the bearings were laid down "after the manner of the Moors," or
"with meridians and parallels very small (or close together), without
other bearings of the compass; because, as the squares of these
meridians and parallels were very small, the coast was laid down by
these two bearings of N. and S., and E. and W., with great certainty,
without that multiplication of bearings of the points of the compass
usual in our maps, which serves as the root of the others." Further, we
learn from Osorio that the Arabs at the time of Gama "were instructed in
so many of the arts of navigation, that they did not yield much to the
Portuguese mariners in the science and practice of maritime matters."
(See _The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama_, Hakluyt Soc, 1869; note to
chap. xv. by the Hon. H. E. J. Stanley, p. 138.) Also the Arabs that
navigated the Red Sea at the same period are shown by Varthema to have
used the mariner's chart and compass (_Travels_, p. 31).

Again, it appears that compasses of a primitive description, which can
hardly be supposed to have been brought from Europe, were employed in
the East Indies certainly as early as several years previous to the
close of the 16th century. In William Barlowe's _Navigator's Supply_,
published in 1597, we read:--"Some fewe yeeres since, it so fell out
that I had severall conferences with two East Indians which were brought
into England by master Candish [Thomas Cavendish], and had learned our
language: The one of them was of Mamillia [Manila] in the Isle of Luzon,
the other of Miaco in Japan. I questioned with them concerning their
shipping and manner of sayling. They described all things farre
different from ours, and shewed, that in steade of our Compas, they use
a magneticall needle of sixe ynches long, and longer, upon a pinne in a
dish of white _China_ earth filled with water; In the bottome whereof
they have two crosse lines, for the foure principall windes; the rest of
the divisions being reserved to the skill of their Pilots." Bailak
Kibdjaki, also, an Arabian writer, shows in his _Merchant's Treasure_, a
work given to the world in 1282, that the magnetized needle, floated on
water by means of a splinter of wood or a reed, was employed on the
Syrian seas at the time of his voyage from Tripoli to Alexandria (1242),
and adds:--"They say that the captains who navigate the Indian seas use,
instead of the needle and splinter, a sort of fish made out of hollow
iron, which, when thrown into the water, swims upon the surface, and
points out the north and south with its head and tail" (Klaproth,
_Lettre_, p. 57). E. Wiedemann, in _Erlangen Sitzungsberichte_ (1904, p.
330), translates the phrase given above as splinter of wood, by the term
wooden cross. Furthermore, although the sailors in the Indian vessels in
which Niccola de' Conti traversed the Indian seas in 1420 are stated to
have had no compass, still, on board the ship in which Varthema, less
than a century later, sailed from Borneo to Java, both the mariner's
chart and compass were used; it has been questioned, however, whether in
this case the compass was of Eastern manufacture (_Travels of
Varthema_, Introd. xciv, and p. 249). We have already seen that the
Chinese as late as the end of the 18th century made voyages with
compasses on which but little reliance could be placed; and it may
perhaps be assumed that the compasses early used in the East were mostly
too imperfect to be of much assistance to navigators, and were therefore
often dispensed with on customary routes. The Arab traders in the Levant
certainly used a floating compass, as did the Italians before the
introduction of the pivoted needle; the magnetized piece of iron being
floated upon a small raft of cork or reeds in a bowl of water. The
Italian name of _calamita_, which still persists, for the magnet, and
which literally signifies a frog, is doubtless derived from this
practice.

The simple water-compass is said to have been used by the Coreans so
late as the middle of the 18th century; and Dr T. Smith, writing in the
_Philosophical Transactions_ for 1683-1684, says of the Turks (p. 439),
"They have no genius for Sea-voyages, and consequently are very raw and
unexperienced in the art of Navigation, scarce venturing to sail out of
sight of land. I speak of the natural _Turks_, who trade either into the
_black Sea_ or some part of the _Morea_, or between _Constantinople_ and
_Alexandria_, and not of the Pyrats of _Barbary_, who are for the most
part Renegado's, and learnt their skill in Christendom. ... The Turkish
compass consists but of 8 points, the four Cardinal and the four
Collateral." That the value of the compass was thus, even in the latter
part of the 17th century, so imperfectly recognized in the East may
serve to explain how in earlier times that instrument, long after the
first discovery of its properties, may have been generally neglected by
navigators.

The Arabic geographer, Edrisi, who lived about 1100, is said by Boucher
to give an account, though in a confused manner, of the polarity of the
magnet (Hallam, _Mid. Ages_, vol. iii. chap. 9, part 2); but the
earliest definite mention as yet known of the use of the mariner's
compass in the middle ages occurs in a treatise entitled _De
utensilibus_, written by Alexander Neckam in the 12th century. He speaks
there of a needle carried on board ship which, being placed on a pivot,
and allowed to take its own position of repose, shows mariners their
course when the polar star is hidden. In another work, _De naturis
rerum_, lib. ii. c. 89, he writes,--"Mariners at sea, when, through
cloudy weather in the day which hides the sun, or through the darkness
of the night, they lose the knowledge of the quarter of the world to
which they are sailing, touch a needle with the magnet, which will turn
round till, on its motion ceasing, its point will be directed towards
the north" (W. Chappell, _Nature_, No. 346, June 15, 1876). The
magnetical needle, and its suspension on a stick or straw in water, are
clearly described in _La Bible Guiot_, a poem probably of the 13th
century, by Guiot de Provins, wherein we are told that through the
magnet (_la manette_ or _l'amanière_), an ugly brown stone to which iron
turns of its own accord, mariners possess an art that cannot fail them.
A needle touched by it, and floated by a stick on water, turns its point
towards the pole-star, and a light being placed near the needle on dark
nights, the proper course is known (_Hist. littéraire de la France_,
tom. ix. p. 199; Barbazan, _Fabliaux_, tom. ii. p. 328). Cardinal
Jacques de Vitry, bishop of Acon in Palestine, in his _History_ (cap.
89), written about the year 1218, speaks of the magnetic needle as "most
necessary for such as sail the sea";[1] and another French crusader, his
contemporary, Vincent de Beauvais, states that the adamant (lodestone)
is found in Arabia, and mentions a method of using a needle magnetized
by it which is similar to that described by Kibdjaki. In 1248 Hugo de
Bercy notes a change in the construction of compasses, which are now
supported on two floats in a glass cup. From quotations given by Antonio
Capmany (_Questiones Criticas_) from the _De contemplatione_ of Raimon
Lull, of the date 1272, it appears that the latter was well acquainted
with the use of the magnet at sea;[2] and before the middle of the 13th
century Gauthier d'Espinois alludes to its polarity, as if generally
known, in the lines:--

"Tous autresi comme l'aimant decoit [detourne]
L'aiguillette par force de vertu,
A ma dame tor le mont [monde] retenue
Qui sa beauté connoit et aperçoit."

Guido Guinizzelli, a poet of the same period, writes:--"In those parts
under the north are the mountains of lodestone, which give the virtue to
the air of attracting iron; but because it [the lodestone] is far off,
[it] wishes to have the help of a similar stone to make it [the virtue]
work, and to direct the needle towards the star."[3] Brunetto Latini
also makes reference to the compass in his encyclopaedia _Livres dou
trésor_, composed about 1260 (Livre i. pt. ii. ch. cxx.):--"Por ce
nagent li marinier à l'enseigne des estoiles qui i sont, que il apelent
tramontaines, et les gens qui sont en Europe et es parties decà nagent à
la tramontaine de septentrion, et li autre nagent à cele de midi. Et qui
n'en set la verité, praigne une pierre d'aimant, et troverez que ele a
ij faces: l'une qui gist vers l'une tramontaine, et l'autre gist vers
l'autre. Et à chascune des ij faces la pointe d'une aguille vers cele
tramontaine à cui cele face gist. Et por ce seroient li marinier deceu
se il ne se preissent garde" (p. 147, Paris edition, 1863). Dante
(_Paradiso_, xii. 28-30) mentions the pointing of the magnetic needle
toward the pole star. In Scandinavian records there is a reference to
the nautical use of the magnet in the _Hauksbók_, the last edition of
the _Landnámabók_ (Book of the Colonization of Iceland):--"Floki, son of
Vilgerd, instituted a great sacrifice, and consecrated three ravens
which should show him the way (to Iceland); for at that time no men
sailing the high seas had lodestones up in northern lands."

Haukr Erlendsson, who wrote this paragraph about 1300, died in 1334; his
edition was founded on material in two earlier works, that of Styrmir
Karason (who died 1245), which is lost, and that of Hurla Thordson (died
1284) which has no such paragraph. All that is certain is a knowledge of
the nautical use of the magnet at the end of the 13th century. From T.
Torfaeus we learn that the compass, fitted into a box, was already in
use among the Norwegians about the middle of the 13th century (_Hist.
rer. Norvegicarum_, iv. c. 4, p. 345, Hafniae, 1711); and it is probable
that the use of the magnet at sea was known in Scotland at or shortly
subsequent to that time, though King Robert, in crossing from Arran to
Carrick in 1306, as Barbour writing in 1375 informs us, "na nedill had
na stane," but steered by a fire on the shore. Roger Bacon (_Opus majus_
and _Opus minus_, 1266-1267) was acquainted with the properties of the
lodestone, and wrote that if set so that it can turn freely (swimming on
water) it points toward the poles; but he stated that this was not due
to the pole-star, but to the influence of the northern region of the
heavens.

The earliest unquestionable description of a pivoted compass is that
contained in the remarkable _Epistola de magnete_ of Petrus Peregrinus
de Maricourt, written at Lucera in 1269 to Sigerus de Foncaucourt.
(First printed edition Augsburg, 1558. See also Bertelli in
Boncompagni's _Bollettino di bibliografia_, t. i., or S. P. Thompson in
_Proc. British Academy_, vol. ii.) Of this work twenty-eight MSS. exist;
seven of them being at Oxford. The first part of the epistle deals
generally with magnetic attractions and repulsions, with the polarity of
the stone, and with the supposed influence of the poles of the heavens
upon the poles of the stone. In the second part Peregrinus describes
first an improved floating compass with fiducial line, a circle
graduated with 90 degrees to each quadrant, and provided with movable
sights for taking bearings. He then describes a new compass with a
needle thrust through a pivoted axis, placed in a box with transparent
cover, cross index of brass or silver, divided circle, and an external
"rule" or alhidade provided with a pair of sights. In the Leiden MS. of
this work, which for long was erroneously ascribed to one Peter Adsiger,
is a spurious passage, long believed to mention the variation of the
compass.

Prior to this clear description of a pivoted compass by Peregrinus in
1269, the Italian sailors had used the floating magnet, probably
introduced into this region of the Mediterranean by traders belonging to
the port of Amalfi, as commemorated in the line of the poet Panormita:--

"Prima dedit nautis usum magnetis Amalphis."

This opinion is supported by the historian Flavius Blondus in his
_Italia illustrata_, written about 1450, who adds that its certain
origin is unknown. In 1511 Baptista Pio in his _Commentary_ repeats the
opinion as to the invention of the use of the magnet at Amalfi as
related by Flavius. Gyraldus, writing in 1540 (_Libellus de re
nautica_), misunderstanding this reference, declared that this
observation of the direction of the magnet to the poles had been handed
down as discovered "by a certain Flavius." From this passage arose a
legend, which took shape only in the 17th century, that the compass was
invented in the year 1302 by a person to whom was given the fictitious
name of Flavio Gioja, of Amalfi.

From the above it will have been evident that, as Barlowe remarks
concerning the compass, "the lame tale of one Flavius at Amelphus, in
the kingdome of Naples, for to have devised it, is of very slender
probabilitie"; and as regards the assertion of Dr Gilbert, of Colchester
(_De magnete_, p. 4, 1600), that Marco Polo introduced the compass into
Italy from the East in 1260,[4] we need only quote the words of Sir H.
Yule (_Book of Marco Polo_):--"Respecting the mariner's compass and
gunpowder, I shall say nothing, as no one now, I believe, imagines Marco
to have had anything to do with their introduction."

When, and by whom, the compass card was added is a matter of conjecture.
Certainly the _Rosa Ventorum_, or _Wind-rose_, is far older than the
compass itself; and the naming of the eight principal "winds" goes back
to the Temple of the Winds in Athens built by Andronicus Cyrrhestes. The
earliest known wind-roses on the _portulani_ or sailing charts of the
Mediterranean pilots have almost invariably the eight principal points
marked with the initials of the principal winds, Tramontano, Greco,
Levante, Scirocco, Ostro, Africo (or Libeccio), Ponente and Maestro, or
with a cross instead of L, to mark the east point. The north point,
indicated in some of the oldest compass cards with a broad arrow-head or
a spear, as well as with a T for Tramontano, gradually developed by a
combination of these, about 1492, into a _fleur de lis_, still
universal. The cross at the east continued even in British compasses
till about 1700. Wind-roses with these characteristics are found in
Venetian and Genoese charts of early 14th century, and are depicted
similarly by the Spanish navigators. The naming of the intermediate
subdivisions making up the thirty-two points or rhumbs of the compass
card is probably due to Flemish navigators; but they were recognized
even in the time of Chaucer, who in 1391 wrote, "Now is thin Orisonte
departed in xxiiii partiez by thi azymutz, in significacion of xxiiii
partiez of the world: al be it so that ship men rikne thilke partiez in
xxxii" (_Treatise on the Astrolabe_, ed. Skeat, Early English Text Soc.,
London, 1872). The mounting of the card upon the needle or "flie," so as
to turn with it, is probably of Amalphian origin. Da Buti, the Dante
commentator, in 1380 says the sailors use a compass at the middle of
which is pivoted a wheel of light paper to turn on its pivot, on which
wheel the needle is fixed and the star (wind-rose) painted. The placing
of the card at the bottom of the box, fixed, below the needle, was
practised by the compass-makers of Nuremberg in the 16th century, and by
Stevinus of Bruges about 1600. The gimbals or rings for suspension
hinged at right-angles to one another, have been erroneously attributed
to Cardan, the proper term being _cardine_, that is hinged or pivoted.
The earliest description of them is about 1604. The term _binnacle_,
originally _bittacle_, is a corruption of the Portuguese abitacolo, to
denote the housing enclosing the compass, probably originating with the
Portuguese navigators.

The improvement of the compass has been but a slow process. _The Libel
of English Policie_, a poem of the first half of the 15th century, says
with reference to Iceland (chap. x.)--

"Out of Bristowe, and costes many one,
Men haue practised by nedle and by stone
Thider wardes within a litle while."

Hakluyt, _Principal Navigations_, p. 201 (London, 1599).

From this it would seem that the compasses used at that time by English
mariners were of a very primitive description. Barlowe, in his treatise
_Magnetical Advertisements_, printed in 1616 (p. 66), complains that
"the Compasse needle, being the most admirable and usefull instrument of
the whole world, is both amongst ours and other nations for the most
part, so bungerly and absurdly contrived, as nothing more." The form he
recommends for the needle is that of "a true circle, having his Axis
going out beyond the circle, at each end narrow and narrower, unto a
reasonable sharpe point, and being pure steele as the circle it selfe
is, having in the middest a convenient receptacle to place the capitell
in." In 1750 Dr Gowan Knight found that the needles of merchant-ships
were made of two pieces of steel bent in the middle and united in the
shape of a rhombus, and proposed to substitute straight steel bars of
small breadth, suspended edgewise and hardened throughout. He also
showed that the Chinese mode of suspending the needle conduces most to
sensibility. In 1820 Peter Barlow reported to the Admiralty that half
the compasses in the British Navy were mere lumber and ought to be
destroyed. He introduced a pattern having four or five parallel straight
strips of magnetized steel fixed under a card, a form which remained the
standard admiralty type until the introduction of the modern Thomson
(Kelvin) compass in 1876. (F. H. B.; S. P. T.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Adamas in India reperitur ... Ferrum occulta quadam natura ad se
trahit. Acus ferrea postquam adamantem contigerit, ad stellam
septentrionalem ... semper convertitur, unde valde necessarius est
navigantibus in mari.

[2] Sicut acus per naturam vertitur ad septentrionem dum sit tacta a
magnete.--Sicut acus nautica dirigit marinarios in sua navigatione.

[3] Ginguené, _Hist. lit. de l'Italie_, t. i. p. 413.

[4] "According to all the texts he returned to Venice in 1295 or, as
is more probable, in 1296."--Yule.

COMPASS PLANT, a native of the North American prairies, which takes its
name from the position assumed by the leaves. These turn their edges to
north and south, thus avoiding the excessive mid-day heat, while getting
the full benefit of the morning and evening rays. The plant is known
botanically as _Silphium laciniatum_, and belongs to the natural order
Compositae. Another member of the same order, _Lactuca Scariola_, which
has been regarded as the origin of the cultivated lettuce (_L. sativa_),
behaves in the same way when growing in dry exposed places; it is a
native of Europe and northern Asia which has got introduced into North
America.

COMPAYRE, JULES GABRIEL (1843- ), French educationalist, was born at
Albi. He entered the École Normale Supérieure in 1862 and became
professor of philosophy. In 1876 he was appointed professor in the
Faculty of Letters of Toulouse, and upon the creation of the École
normale d'institutrices at Fontenay aux Roses he became teacher of
pedagogy (1880). From 1881 to 1889 he was deputy for Lavaur in the
chamber, and took an active part in the discussions on public education.
Defeated at the elections of 1889, he was appointed rector of the
academy of Poitiers in 1890, and five years later to the academy of
Lyons. His principal publications are his _Histoire critique des
doctrines de l'éducation en France_ (1879); _Éléments d'éducation
civique_ (1881), a work placed on the index at Rome, but very widely
read in the primary schools of France; _Cours de pédagogie théorique et
pratique_ (1885, 13th ed., 1897); _The Intellectual and Moral
Development of the Child_, in English (2 vols., New York, 1896-1902);
and a series of monographs on _Les Grands Éducateurs_.

COMPENSATION (from Lat. _compensare_, to weigh one thing against
another), a term applied in English law to a number of different forms
of legal reparation; e.g. under the Forfeiture Act 1870 (s. 4), for loss
of property caused by felony, or--under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886--to
persons whose property has been stolen, destroyed or injured by rioters
(see RIOT). It is due, under the Agricultural Holdings Acts 1883-1906,
for agricultural improvements (see LANDLORD AND TENANT; cf. also
Allotments and Small Holdings), and under the Workmen's Compensation Act
1906 to workmen, in respect of accidents in the course of their
employment (see EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY); and under the Licensing Act 1904,
to the payments to be made on the extinction of licences to sell
intoxicants. The term "Compensation water" is used to describe the
water given from a reservoir in compensation for water abstracted from a
stream, under statutory powers, in connexion with public works (see
WATER SUPPLY). As to the use of the word "compensation" in horology, see
CLOCK; WATCH.

Compensation, in its most familiar sense, is however a _nomen juris_ for
the reparation or satisfaction made to the owners of property which is
taken by the state or by local authorities or by the promoters of
parliamentary undertakings, under statutory authority, for public
purposes. There are two main legal theories on which such appropriation
of private property is justified. The American may be taken as a
representative illustration of the one, and the English of the other.
Though not included in the definition of "eminent domain," the necessity
for compensation is recognized as incidental to that power. (See Eminent
Domain, under which the American law of compensation, and the closely
allied doctrine of _expropriation pour cause d'utilité_ publique of
French law, and the law of other continental countries, are discussed.)
The rule of English constitutional law, on the other hand, is that the
property of the citizen cannot be seized for purposes which are really
"public" without a fair pecuniary equivalent being given to him; and, as
the money for such compensation must come from parliament, the practical
result is that the seizure can only be effected under legislative
authority. An action for illegal interference with the property of the
subject is not maintainable against officials of the crown or government
sued in their official capacity or as an official body. But crown
officials may be sued in their individual capacity for such
interference, even if they acted with the authority of the government
(cp. _Raleigh_ v. _Goschen_ [1898], 1 Ch. 73).

_Law of England._--Down to 1845 every act authorizing the purchase of
lands had, in addition to a number of common form clauses, a variety of
special clauses framed with a view to meeting the particular
circumstances with which it dealt. In 1845, however, a statute based on
the recommendations of a select committee, appointed in the preceding
year, was passed; the object being to diminish the bulk of the special
acts, and to introduce uniformity into private bill legislation by
classifying the common form clauses, embodying them in general statutes,
and facilitating their incorporation into the special statutes by
reference. The statute by which this change was initiated was the Lands
Clauses Consolidation Act 1845; and the policy has been continued by a
series of later statutes which, together with the act of 1845, are now
grouped under the generic title of the Lands Clauses Acts.

The public purposes for which lands are taken are threefold. Certain
public departments, such as the war office and the admiralty, may
acquire lands for national purposes (see the Defence Acts 1842 to 1873;
and the Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1860, s. 7). Local authorities
are enabled to exercise similar powers for an enormous variety of
municipal purposes, e.g. the housing of the working classes, the
improvement of towns, and elementary and secondary education. Lastly,
the promoters of public undertakings of a commercial character, such as
railways and harbours, carry on their operations under statutes in which
the provisions of the Lands Clauses Acts are incorporated.

Lands may be taken under the Lands Clauses Acts either by agreement or
compulsorily. The first step in the proceedings is a "notice to treat,"
or intimation by the promoters of their readiness to purchase the land,
coupled with a demand for particulars as to the estate and the interests
in it. The landowner on whom the notice is served may meet it by
agreeing to sell, and the terms may then be settled by consent of the
parties themselves, or by arbitration, if they decide to have recourse
to that mode of adjusting the difficulty. If the property claimed is a
house, or other building or manufactory, the owner has a statutory right
to require the promoters by a counternotice to take the whole, even
although a part would serve their purpose. This rule, however, is, in
modern acts, often modified by special clauses. On receipt of the
counter-notice the promoters must either assent to the requirement
contained in it, or abandon their notice to treat. On the other hand,
if the landowner fails within twenty-one days after receipt of the
notice to treat to give the particulars which it requires, the promoters
may proceed to exercise their compulsory powers and to obtain assessment
of the compensation to be paid. As a general rule, it is a condition
precedent to the exercise of these powers by a company that the capital
of the undertaking should be fully subscribed. Compensation, under the
Lands Clauses Acts, is assessed in four different modes:--(1) by
justices, where the claim does not exceed £50, or a claimant who has no
greater interest than that of a tenant for a year, or from year to year,
is required to give up possession before the expiration of his tenancy;
(2) by arbitration (a) when the claim exceeds £50, and the claimant
desires arbitration, and the interest is not a yearly tenancy, (b) when
the amount has been ascertained by a surveyor, and the claimant is
dissatisfied, (c) when superfluous lands are to be sold, and the parties
entitled to pre-emption and the promoters cannot agree as to the price.
(Lands become "superfluous" if taken compulsorily on an erroneous
estimate of the area needed, or if part only was needed and the owner
compelled the promoters under the power above mentioned to take the
whole, or in cases of abandonment); (3) by a jury, when the claim
exceeds £50, and (a) the claimant does not signify his desire for
arbitration, or no award has been made within the prescribed time, or
(b) the claimant applies in writing for trial by jury; (4) by surveyors,
nominated by justices, where the owner is under disability, or does not
appear at the appointed time, or the claim is in respect of commonable
rights, and a committee has not been appointed to treat with the
promoters.

Promoters are not allowed without the consent of the owner to enter upon
lands which are the subject of proceedings under the Lands Clauses Acts,
except for the purpose of making a survey, unless they have executed a
statutory bond and made a deposit, at the Law Courts Branch of the Bank
of England, as security for the performance of the conditions of the
bond.

_Measure of Value._--(1) Where land is taken, the basis on which
compensation is assessed is the commercial value of the land to the
owner at the date of the notice to treat. Potential value may be taken
into account, and also good-will of the property in a business. This
rule, however, excludes any consideration of the principle of
"betterment." (2) Where land, although not taken, is "injuriously
affected" by the works of the promoters, compensation is payable for
loss or damage resulting from any act, legalized by the promoters'
statutory powers, which would otherwise have been actionable, or caused
by the execution (not the use) of the works authorized by the
undertaking.

The following examples of how land may be "injuriously affected," so as
to give a right to compensation under the acts, may be given:--narrowing
or obstructing a highway which is the nearest access to the lands in
question; interference with a right of way; substantial interference
with ancient lights; noise of children outside a board school.

_Scotland and Ireland._--The Lands Clauses Act 1845 extends to Ireland.
There is a Scots enactment similar in character (Lands Clauses
[Scotland] Act 1845). The principles and practice of the law of
compensation are substantially the same throughout the United Kingdom.

_India and the British Colonies._--Legislation analogous to the Lands
Clauses Acts is in force in India (Land Acquisition Act 1894 [Act I of
1894]) and in most of the colonies (see western Australia, Lands
Resumption Act 1894 [58 Vict. No. 33], Victoria, Lands Compensation Act
1890 [54 Vict. No. 1109]; New Zealand, Public Works Act 1894 [58 Vict.
No. 42]; Ontario [Revised Stats. 1897, c. 37]).

AUTHORITIES.--_English Law_: Balfour Browne and Allan, _Compensation_
(2nd ed., London, 1903); Cripps, _Compensation_ (5th edition, London,
1905); Hudson, _Compensation_ (London, 1906); Boyle and Waghorn,
_Compensation_ (London, 1903); Lloyd, _Compensation_ (6th ed. by
Brooks, London, 1895); Clifford, _Private Bill Legislation_, London,
1885 (vol. i.), 1887 (vol. ii.) _Scots Law_: Deas, _Law of Railways in
Scotland_ (ed. by Ferguson; Edinburgh, 1897); Rankine, _Law of
Landownership_ (3rd ed., 1891). (A. W. R.)

COMPIÈGNE, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in
the department of Oise, 52 m. N.N.E. of Paris on the Northern railway
between Paris and St Quentin. Pop. (1906) 14,052. The town, which is a
favourite summer resort, stands on the north-west border of the forest
of Compiègne and on the left bank of the Oise, less than 1 m. below its
confluence with the Aisne. The river is crossed by a bridge built in the
reign of Louis XV. The Rue Solférino, a continuation of the bridge
ending at the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, is the busy street of the town;
elsewhere, except on market days, the streets are quiet. The hôtel de
ville, with a graceful façade surmounted by a lofty belfry, is in the
late Gothic style of the early 16th century and was completed in modern
times. Of the churches, St Antoine (13th and 16th centuries) with some
fine Renaissance stained glass, and St Jacques (13th and 15th
centuries), need alone be mentioned. The remains of the ancient abbey of
St Corneille are used as a military storehouse. Compiègne, from a very
early period until 1870, was the occasional residence of the French
kings. Its palace, one of the most magnificent structures of its kind,
was erected, chiefly by Louis XV. and Louis XVI., on the site of a
château of King Charles V. of France. It now serves as an art museum. It
has two façades, one overlooking the Place du Palais and the town, the
other, more imposing, facing towards a fine park and the forest, which
is chiefly of oak and beech and covers over 36,000 acres. Compiègne is
the seat of a subprefect, and has tribunals of first instance and of
commerce, a communal college, library and hospital. The industries
comprise boat-building, rope-making, steam-sawing, distilling and the
manufacture of chocolate, machinery and sacks and coarse coverings, and
at Margny, a suburb, there are manufactures of chemicals and felt hats.
Asparagus is cultivated in the environs. There is considerable trade in
timber and coal, chiefly river-borne.

Compiègne, or as it is called in the Latin chronicles, Compendium, seems
originally to have been a hunting-lodge of the early Frankish kings. It
was enriched by Charles the Bald with two castles, and a Benedictine
abbey dedicated to Saint Corneille, the monks of which retained down to
the 18th century the privilege of acting for three days as lords of
Compiègne, with full power to release prisoners, condemn the guilty, and
even inflict sentence of death. It was in Compiègne that King Louis I.
the Debonair was deposed in 833; and at the siege of the town in 1430
Joan of Arc was taken prisoner by the English. A monument to her faces
the hôtel de ville. In 1624 the town gave its name to a treaty of
alliance concluded by Richelieu with the Dutch; and it was in the palace
that Louis XV. gave welcome to Marie Antoinette, that Napoleon I.
received Marie Louise of Austria, that Louis XVIII. entertained the
emperor Alexander of Russia, and that Leopold I., king of the Belgians,
was married to the princess Louise. In 1814 Compiègne offered a stubborn
resistance to the Prussian troops. Under Napoleon III. it was the annual
resort of the court during the hunting season. From 1870 to 1871 it was
one of the headquarters of the German army.

COMPLEMENT (Lat. _complementum_, from _complere_, to fill up), that
which fills up or completes anything, e.g. the number of men necessary
to man a ship. In geometry, the complement of an angle is the difference
between the angle and a right angle; the complements of a parallelogram
are formed by drawing parallel to adjacent sides of a parallelogram two
lines intersecting on a diagonal; four parallelograms are thus formed,
and the two not about the diagonal of the original parallelogram are the
complements of the parallelogram. In analysis, a complementary function
is a partial solution to a differential equation (q.v.); complementary
operators are reciprocal or inverse operators, i.e. two operations A and
B are complementary when both operating on the same figure or function
leave it unchanged. A "complementary colour" is one which produces white
when mixed with another (see COLOUR). In Spanish the word _cumplimento_
was used in a particular sense of the fulfilment of the duties of polite
behaviour and courtesy, and it came through the French and Italian forms
into use in English, with a change in spelling to "compliment," with the
sense of an act of politeness, especially of a polite expression of
praise, or of social regard and greetings. The word "comply," meaning
to act in accordance with wishes, orders or conditions, is also derived
from the same origin, but in sense is connected with "ply" or "pliant,"
from Lat. _plicare_, to bend, with the idea of subserviently yielding to
the wishes of another.

COMPLUVIUM (from Lat. _compluere_, to flow together, i.e. in reference
to the rain being collected and falling through), in architecture, the
Latin term for the open space left in the roof of the atrium of a Roman
house for lighting it and the rooms round (see CAVAEDIUM).

COMPOSITAE, the name given to the largest natural order of flowering
plants, containing about one-tenth of the whole number and characterized
by the crowding of the flowers into heads. The order is cosmopolitan,
and the plants show considerable variety in habit. The great majority,
including most British representatives, are herbaceous, but in the
warmer parts of the world shrubs and arborescent forms also occur; the
latter are characteristic of the flora of oceanic islands. In herbaceous
plants the leaves are often arranged in a rosette on a much shortened
stem, as in dandelion, daisy and others; when the stem is elongated the
leaves are generally alternate. The root is generally thickened,
sometimes, as in dahlia, tuberous; root and stem contain oil passages,
or, as in lettuce and dandelion, a milky white latex. The flowers are
crowded in heads (_capitula_) which are surrounded by an involucre of
green bracts,--these protect the head of flowers in the bud stage,
performing the usual function of a calyx. The enlarged top of the axis,
the receptacle, is flat, convex or conical, and the flowers open in
centripetal succession. In many cases, as in the sunflower or daisy, the
outer or ray-florets are larger and more conspicuous than the inner, or
disk-florets; in other cases, as in dandelion, the florets are all
alike. Ray-florets when present are usually pistillate, but neuter in
some genera (as _Centaurea_); the disk-florets are hermaphrodite. The
flower is epigynous; the calyx is sometimes absent, or is represented by
a rim on the top of the ovary, or takes the form of hairs or bristles
which enlarge in the fruiting stage to form the pappus by means of which
the seed is dispersed. The corolla, of five united petals, is regular
and tubular in shape as in the disk-florets, or irregular when it is
either strap-shaped (ligulate), as in the ray-florets of daisy, &c., or
all the florets of dandelion, or more rarely two-lipped. The five
stamens are attached to the interior of the corolla-tube; the filaments
are free; the anthers are joined (syngenesious) to form a tube round the
single style, which ends in a pair of stigmas. The inferior ovary
contains one ovule (attached to the base of the chamber), and ripens to
form a dry one-seeded fruit; the seed is filled with the straight
embryo.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.

1. Flower head of Marigold. 3. Head of fruits, nat. size.
2. Same in vertical section. 4. A single fruit.]

The flower-heads are an admirable example of an adaptation for
pollination by aid of insects. The crowding of the flowers in heads
ensures the pollination of a large number as the result of a single
insect visit. Honey is secreted at the base of the style, and is
protected from rain or dew and the visits of short-lipped insects by the
corolla-tube, the length of which is correlated with the length of
proboscis of the visiting insect. When the flower opens, the two stigmas
are pressed together below the tube formed by the anthers, the latter
split on the inside, and the pollen fills the tube; the style gradually
lengthens and carries the pollen out of the anther tube, and finally the
stigmas spread and expose their receptive surface which has hitherto
been hidden, the two being pressed together. Thus the life history of
the flower falls into two stages, an earlier or male and a later or
female. This favours cross-pollination as compared with
self-pollination. In many cases there is a third stage, as in dandelion,
where the stigmas finally curl back so that they touch any pollen grains
which have been left on the style, thus ensuring self-pollination if
cross-pollination has not been effected.

The devices for distribution of the fruit are very varied. Frequently
there is a hairy or silky pappus forming a tuft of hairs, as in thistle
or coltsfoot, or a parachute-like structure as in dandelion; these
render the fruit sufficiently light to be carried by the wind. In
_Bidens_ the pappus consists of two or more stiff-barbed bristles which
cause the fruit to cling to the coats of animals. Occasionally, as in
sunflower or daisy, the fruits bear no special appendage and remain on
the head until jerked off.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Flowering shoot of Cornflower. 1. Disk-floret in
vertical section.]

Compositae are generally considered to represent the most highly
developed order of flowering plants. By the massing of the flowers in
heads great economy is effected in the material required for one flower,
as conspicuousness is ensured by the association; economy of time on the
part of the pollinating insect is also effected, as a large number of
flowers are visited at one time. The floral mechanism is both simple and
effective, favouring cross-pollination, but ensuring self-pollination
should that fail. The means of seed-distribution are also very
effective.

A few members of the order are of economic value, e.g. _Lactuca_
(lettuce; q.v.), _Cichorium_ (chicory; q.v.), _Cynara_ (artichoke and
cardoon; q.v.), _Helianthus_ (Jerusalem artichoke). Many are cultivated
as garden or greenhouse plants, such as _Solidago_ (golden rod),
_Ageratum_, Aster (q.v.) (Michaelmas daisy), _Helichrysum_
(everlasting), _Zinnia, Rudbeckia, Helianthus_ (sunflower), _Coreopsis_,
Dahlia (q.v.), _Tagetes_ (French and African marigold), _Gaillardia,
Achillea_ (yarrow), _Chrysanthemum, Pyrethrum_ (feverfew; now generally
included under _Chrysanthemum_), _Tanacetum_ (tansy), _Arnica,
Doronicum, Cineraria Calendula_ (common marigold) (fig. 1), _Echinops_
(globe thistle), _Centaurea_ (cornflower) (fig. 2). Some are of
medicinal value, such as _Anthemis_ (chamomile), _Artemisia_ (wormwood),
_Tussilago_ (coltsfoot), _Arnica_. Insect powder is prepared from
species of _Pyrethrum_.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Groundsel (_Senecio vulgaris_).

1. Disk-floret. 3. Ray-floret.
2. Same cut vertically. 4. Fruit with pappus.]

The order is divided into two suborders:--_Tubuliflorae_, characterized
by absence of latex, and the florets of the disk being not ligulate, and
_Liguliflorae_, characterized by presence of latex and all the florets
being ligulate. The first suborder contains the majority of the genera,
and is divided into a number of tribes, characterized by the form of the
anthers and styles, the presence or absence of scales on the receptacle,
and the similarity or otherwise of the florets of one and the same head.
The order is well represented in Britain, in which forty-two genera are
native. These include some of the commonest weeds, such as dandelion
(_Taraxacum Dens-leonis_), daisy (_Bellis perennis_), groundsel (fig. 3)
(_Senecio vulgaris_) and ragwort (_S. Jacobaea_); coltsfoot (_Tussilago
Farfara_) is one of the earliest plants to flower, and other genera are
_Chrysanthemum_ (ox-eye daisy and corn-marigold), _Arctium_ (burdock),
_Centaurea_ (knapweed and cornflower), _Carduus_ and _Cnicus_
(thistles), _Hieracium_ (hawkweed), _Sonchus_ (sow-thistle), _Achillea_
(yarrow, or milfoil, and sneezewort), _Eupatorium_ (hemp-agrimony),
_Gnaphalium_ (cudweed), _Erigeron_ (fleabane), _Solidago_ (golden-rod),
_Anthemis_ (may-weed and chamomile), _Cichorium_ (chicory), _Lapsana_
(nipplewort), _Crepis_ (hawk's-beard), _Hypochaeris_ (cat's-ear), and
_Tragopogon_ (goat's-beard).

COMPOSITE ORDER, in architecture, a compound of the Ionic and Corinthian
orders (see ORDER), the chief characteristic of which is found in the
capital (q.v.), where a double row of acanthus leaves, similar to those
carved round the Corinthian capital, has been added under the Ionic
volutes. The richer decoration of the Ionic capital had already been
employed in those of the Erechtheum, where the necking was carved with
the palmette or honeysuckle. Similar decorated Ionic capitals were found
in the forum of Trajan. The earliest example of the Composite capital is
found in the arch of Titus at Rome. The entablature was borrowed from
that of the Corinthian order.

COMPOSITION (Lat. _compositio_, from _componere_, to put together), the
action of putting together and combining, and the product of such
action. There are many applications of the word. In philology it is used
of the putting together of two distinct words to form a single word; and
in grammar, of the combination of words into sentences, and sentences
into periods, and then applied to the result of such combination, and to
the art of producing a work in prose or verse, or to the work itself. In
music "composition" is used both of the art of combining musical sounds
in accordance with the rules of musical form, and, more generally, of
the whole art of creation or invention. The name "composer" is thus
particularly applied to the musical creator in general. In the other
fine arts the word is more strictly used of the balanced arrangement of
the parts of a picture, of a piece of sculpture or a building, so that
they should form one harmonious whole. The word also means an agreement
or an adjustment of differences between two or more parties, and is thus
the best general term to describe the agreement, often called by the
equivalent German word "Ausgleich," between Austria and Hungary in 1867.
A more particular use is the legal one, for an agreement by which a
creditor agrees to take from his debtor a sum less than his debt in
satisfaction of the whole (see BANKRUPTCY). In logic "composition" is
the name given to a fallacy of equivocation, where what is true
distributively of each member of a class is inferred to be true of the
whole class collectively. The fallacy of "division" is the converse of
this, where what is true of a term used collectively is inferred to be
true of its several parts. A common source of these errors in reasoning
is the confusion between the collective and distributive meanings of the
word "all." Composition, often shortened to "compo," is the name given
to many materials compounded of more than one substance, and is used in
various trades and manufactures, as in building, for a mixture, such as
stucco, cement and plaster, for covering walls, &c., often made to
represent stone or marble; a similar moulded compound is employed to
represent carved wood.

COMPOUND (from Lat. _componere_, to combine or put together), a
combination of various elements, substances or ingredients, so as to
form one composite whole. A "chemical compound" is a substance which can
be resolved into simple constituents, as opposed to an element which
cannot be so resolved (see CHEMISTRY); a word is said to be a "compound"
when it is made up of different words or parts of different words. The
term is also used in an adjectival form with many applications; a
"compound engine" is one where the expansion of the steam is effected in
two or more stages (see STEAM-ENGINE); in zoology, the "compound eye"
possessed by insects and crustacea is one which is made up of several
_ocelli_ or simple eyes, set together so that the whole has the
appearance of being faceted (see EYE); in botany, the "compound leaf"
has two or more separate blades on a common leaf-stalk; in surgery, in a
"compound fracture" the skin is broken as well as the bone, and there is
a communication between the two. There are many mathematical and
arithmetical uses of the term, particularly of those forms of addition,
multiplication, division and subtraction which deal with quantities of
more than one denomination. Compound interest is interest paid upon
interest, the accumulation of interest forming, as it were, a secondary
principal. The verb "to compound" is used of the arrangement or
settlement of differences, and especially of an agreement made to accept
or to pay part of a debt in full discharge of the whole, and thus of the
arrangement made by an insolvent debtor with his creditors (see
BANKRUPTCY); similarly of the substitution of one payment for annual or
other periodic payments,--thus subscriptions, university or other dues,
&c., may be "compounded"; a particular instance of this is the system of
"compounding" for rates, where the occupier of premises pays an
increased rent, and the owner makes himself responsible for the payment
of the rates. The householder who thus compounds with the owner of the
premises he occupies is known as a "compound householder." The payment
of poor rate forming part of the qualification necessary for the
parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom, various statutes, leading
up to the Compound Householders Act 1851, have enabled such occupiers to
claim to be placed on the rate. In law, to compound a felony is to agree
with the felon not to prosecute him for his crime, in return for
valuable consideration, or, in the case of a theft, on return of the
goods stolen. Such an agreement is a misdemeanour and is punishable with
fine and imprisonment.

The name "compounders" was given during the reign of William III. of
England to the members of a Jacobite faction, who were prepared to
restore James II. to the throne, on the condition of an amnesty and an
undertaking to preserve the constitution. Until 1853, in the university
of Oxford, those possessing private incomes of a certain amount paid
special dues for their degrees, and were known as Grand and Petty
Compounders.

The corruption "compound" (from the Malay _kampung_ or _kampong_, a
quarter of a village) is the name applied to the enclosed ground,
whether garden or waste, which surrounds an Anglo-Indian house. In India
the European quarter, as a rule, is separate from the native quarter,
and consists of a number of single houses, each standing in a compound,
sometimes many acres in extent.

COMPOUND PIER, the architectural term given to a clustered column or
pier which consists of a centre mass or newel, to which engaged or
semi-detached shafts have been attached, in order to perform, or to
suggest the performance of, certain definite structural objects, such as
to carry arches of additional orders, or to support the transverse or
diagonal ribs of a vault, or the tie beam of an important roof. In these
cases, though performing different functions, the drums of the pier are
often cut out of one stone. There are, however, cases where the shafts
are detached from the pier and coupled to it by armulets at regular
heights, as in the Early English period.

COMPRADOR (a Portuguese word used in the East, derived from the Lat.
_comparare_, to procure), originally a native servant in European
households in the East, but now the name given to the native managers in
European business houses in China, and also to native contractors
supplying ships in the Philippines and elsewhere in the East.

COMPRESSION, in astronomy, the deviation of a heavenly body from the
spherical form, called also the "ellipticity." It is numerically
expressed by the ratio of the differences of the axes to the major axis
of the spheroid. The compression or "flattening" of the earth is about
1/298, which means that the ratio of the equatorial to the polar axis is
298:297 (see Earth, Figure of the). In engineering the term is applied
to the arrangement by which the exhaust valve of a steam-engine is made
to close, shutting a portion of the exhaust steam in the cylinder,
before the stroke of the piston is quite complete. This steam being
compressed as the stroke is completed, a cushion is formed against which
the piston does work while its velocity is being rapidly reduced, and
thus the stresses in the mechanism due to the inertia of the
reciprocating parts are lessened. This compression, moreover, obviates
the shock which would otherwise be caused by the admission of the fresh
steam for the return stroke. In internal combustion engines it is a
necessary condition of economy to compress the explosive mixture before
it is ignited: in the Otto cycle, for instance, the second stroke of the
piston effects the compression of the charge which has been drawn into
the cylinder by the first forward stroke.

COMPROMISE (pronounced _cómpr[)o]mize_; through Fr. from Lat.
_compromittere_), a term, meaning strictly a joint agreement, which has
come to signify such a settlement as involves a mutual adjustment, with
a surrender of part of each party's claim. From the element of danger
involved has arisen an invidious sense of the word, imputing discredit,
so that being "compromised" commonly means injured in reputation.

COMPROMISE MEASURES OF 1850, in American history, a series of measures
the object of which was the settlement of five questions in dispute
between the pro-slavery and anti-slavery factions in the United States.
Three of these questions grew out of the annexation of Texas and the
acquisition of western territory as a result of the Mexican War. The
settlers who had flocked to California after the discovery of gold in
1848 adopted an anti-slavery state constitution on the 13th of October
1849, and applied for admission into the Union. In the second place it
was necessary to form a territorial government for the remainder of the
territory acquired from Mexico, including that now occupied by Nevada
and Utah, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. The
fundamental issue was in regard to the admission of slavery into, or the
exclusion of slavery from, this region. Thirdly, there was a dispute
over the western boundary of Texas. Should the Rio Grande be the line of
division north of Mexico, or should an arbitrary boundary be established
farther to the eastward; in other words, should a considerable part of
the new territory be certainly opened to slavery as a part of Texas, or
possibly closed to it as a part of the organized territorial section?
Underlying all of these issues was of course the great moral and
political problem as to whether slavery was to be confined to the
south-eastern section of the country or be permitted to spread to the
Pacific. The two questions not growing out of the Mexican War were in
regard to the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia,
and the passage of a new fugitive slave law.

Congress met on the 3rd of December 1849. Neither faction was strong
enough in both houses to carry out its own programme, and it seemed for
a time that nothing would be done. On the 29th of January 1850 Henry
Clay presented the famous resolution which constituted the basis of the
ultimate compromise. His idea was to combine the more conservative
elements of both sections in favour of a settlement which would concede
the Southern view on two questions, the Northern view on two, and
balance the fifth. Daniel Webster supported the plan in his great speech
of the 7th of March, although in doing so he alienated many of his
former admirers. Opposed to the conservatives were the extremists of the
North, led by William H. Seward and Salmon P. Chase, and those of the
South, led by Jefferson Davis. Most of the measures were rejected and
the whole plan seemed likely to fail, when the situation was changed by
the death of President Taylor and the accession of Millard Fillmore on
the 9th of July 1850. The influence of the administration was now thrown
in favour of the compromise. Under a tacit understanding of the
moderates to vote together, five separate bills were passed, and were
signed by the president between 9th and 20th September 1850. California
was admitted as a free state, and the slave trade was abolished in the
District of Columbia; these were concessions to the North. New Mexico
(then including the present Arizona) and Utah were organized without any
prohibition of slavery (each being left free to decide for or against,
on admission to statehood), and a rigid fugitive slave law was enacted;
these were concessions to the South. Texas (q.v.) was compelled to give
up much of the western land to which it had a good claim, and received
in return $10,000,000.

This legislation had several important results. It helped to postpone
secession and Civil War for a decade, during which time the North-West
was growing more wealthy and more populous, and was being brought into
closer relations with the North-East. It divided the Whigs into "Cotton
Whigs" and "Conscience Whigs," and in time led to the downfall of the
party. In the third place, the rejection of the Wilmot Proviso and the
acceptance (as regards New Mexico and Utah) of "Squatter Sovereignty"
meant the adoption of a new principle in dealing with slavery in the
territories, which, although it did not apply to the same territory, was
antagonistic to the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The sequel was the
repeal of the Missouri Compromise in the Kansas-Nebraska Bill of 1854.
Fourthly, the enforcement of the fugitive slave law aroused a feeling of
bitterness in the North which helped eventually to bring on the war, and
helped to make it, when it came, quite as much an anti-slavery crusade
as a struggle for the preservation of the Union. Finally, although Clay
for his support of the compromises and Seward and Chase for their
opposition have gained in reputation, Webster has been selected as the
special target for hostile criticism. The Compromise Measures are
sometimes spoken of collectively as the Omnibus Bill, owing to their
having been grouped originally--when first reported (May 8) to the
Senate--into one bill.

The best account of the above Compromises is to be found in J. F.
Rhodes, _History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850_,
vol. i. (New York, 1896). (W. R. S.*)

COMPSA (mod. _Conza_), an ancient city of the Hirpini, near the sources
of the Aufidus, on the boundary of Lucania and not far from that of
Apulia, on a ridge 1998 ft. above sea-level. It was betrayed to Hannibal
in 216 B.C. after the defeat of Cannae, but recaptured two years later.
It was probably occupied by Sulla in 89 B.C., and was the scene of the
death of T. Annius Milo in 48 B.C. Most authorities (cf. Hülsen in
Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, Stuttgart, 1901, iv. 797) refer Caes.
_Bell. civ._ iii. 22, and Plin. _Hist. Nat._ ii. 147, to this place,
supposing the MSS. to be corrupt. The usual identification of the site
of Milo's death with Cassano on the Gulf of Taranto must therefore be
rejected. In imperial times, as inscriptions show, it was a
_municipium_, but it lay far from any of the main high-roads. There are
no important ancient remains.

COMPTON, HENRY (1632-1713), English divine, was the sixth and youngest
son of the second earl of Northampton. He was educated at Queen's
College, Oxford, and then travelled in Europe. After the restoration of
Charles II. he became cornet in a regiment of horse, but soon quitted
the army for the church. After a further period of study at Cambridge
and again at Oxford, he held various livings. He was made bishop of
Oxford in 1674, and in the following year was translated to the see of
London. He was also appointed a member of the Privy Council, and
entrusted with the education of the two princesses--Mary and Anne. He
showed a liberality most unusual at the time to Protestant dissenters,
whom he wished to reunite with the established church. He held several
conferences on the subject with the clergy of his diocese; and in the
hope of influencing candid minds by means of the opinions of unbiassed
foreigners, he obtained letters treating of the question (since printed
at the end of Stillingfleet's _Unreasonableness of Separation_) from Le
Moyne; professor of divinity at Leiden, and the famous French Protestant
divine, Jean Claude. But to Roman Catholicism he was strongly opposed.
On the accession of James II. he consequently lost his seat in the
council and his deanery in the Chapel Royal; and for his firmness in
refusing to suspend John Sharp, rector of St Giles's-in-the-Fields,
whose anti-papal writings had rendered him obnoxious to the king, he was
himself suspended. At the Revolution Compton embraced the cause of
William and Mary; he performed the ceremony of their coronation; his old
position was restored to him; and among other appointments, he was
chosen as one of the commissioners for revising the liturgy. During the
reign of Anne he remained a member of the privy council, and was one of
the commissioners appointed to arrange the terms of the union of England
and Scotland; but, to his bitter disappointment, his claims to the
primacy were twice passed over. He died at Fulham on the 7th of July
1713. He had conspicuous defects both in spirit and intellect, but was
benevolent and philanthropic. He was a successful botanist. He
published, besides several theological works, _A Translation from the
Italian of the Life of Donna Olympia Maladichini, who governed the
Church during the time of Pope Innocent X., which was from the year 1644
to 1655_ (1667), and _A Translation from the French of the Jesuits'
Intrigues_ (1669).

COMPTROLLER, the title of an official whose business primarily was to
examine and take charge of accounts, hence to direct or control, e.g.
the English comptroller of the household, comptroller and
auditor-general (head of the exchequer and audit department),
comptroller-general of patents, &c., comptroller-general (head of the
national debt office). On the other hand, the word is frequently spelt
_controller_, as in controller of the navy, controller or head of the
stationery office. The word is used in the same sense in the United
States, as comptroller of the treasury, an official who examines
accounts and signs drafts, and comptroller of the currency, who
administers the law relating to the national banks.

COMPURGATION (from Lat. _compurgare_, to purify completely), a mode of
procedure formerly employed in ecclesiastical courts, and derived from
the canon law (_compurgatio canonica_), by which a clerk who was accused
of crime was required to make answers on the oath of himself and a
certain number of other clerks (compurgators) who would swear to his
character or innocence. The term is more especially applied to a
somewhat similar procedure, the old Teutonic or Anglo-Saxon mode of
trial by oath-taking or oath-helping (see JURY).

COMTE, AUGUSTE [ISIDORE AUGUSTE MARIE FRANÇOIS XAVIER] (1798-1857),
French Positive philosopher, was born on the 19th of January 1798 at
Montpellier, where his father was a receiver-general of taxes for the
district. He was sent for his earliest instruction to the school of the
town, and in 1814 was admitted to the École Polytechnique. His youth
was marked by a constant willingness to rebel against merely official
authority; to genuine excellence, whether moral or intellectual, he was
always ready to pay unbounded deference. That strenuous application
which was one of his most remarkable gifts in manhood showed itself in
his youth, and his application was backed or inspired by superior
intelligence and aptness. After he had been two years at the École
Polytechnique he took a foremost part in a mutinous demonstration
against one of the masters; the school was broken up, and Comte like the
other scholars was sent home. To the great dissatisfaction of his
parents, he resolved to return to Paris (1816), and to earn his living
there by giving lessons in mathematics. Benjamin Franklin was the
youth's idol at this moment. "I seek to imitate the modern Socrates," he
wrote to a school friend, "not in talents, but in way of living. You
know that at five-and-twenty he formed the design of becoming perfectly
wise and that he fulfilled his design. I have dared to undertake the
same thing, though I am not yet twenty." Though Comte's character and
aims were as far removed as possible from Franklin's type, neither
Franklin nor any man that ever lived could surpass him in the heroic
tenacity with which, in the face of a thousand obstacles, he pursued his
own ideal of a vocation.

For a moment circumstances led him to think of seeking a career in
America, but a friend who preceded him thither warned him of the purely
practical spirit that prevailed in the new country. "If Lagrange were to
come to the United States, he could only earn his livelihood by turning
land surveyor." So Comte remained in Paris, living as he best could on
something less than £80 a year, and hoping, when he took the trouble to
break his meditations upon greater things by hopes about himself, that
he might by and by obtain an appointment as mathematical master in a
school. A friend procured him a situation as tutor in the house of
Casimir Périer. The salary was good, but the duties were too
miscellaneous, and what was still worse, there was an end of the
delicious liberty of the garret. After a short experience of three weeks
Comte returned to neediness and contentment. He was not altogether
without the young man's appetite for pleasure; yet when he was only
nineteen we find him wondering, amid the gaieties of the carnival of
1817, how a gavotte or a minuet could make people forget that thirty
thousand human beings around them had barely a morsel to eat.

Towards 1818 Comte became associated as friend and disciple with
Saint-Simon, who was destined to exercise a very decisive influence upon
the turn of his speculation. In after years he so far forgot himself as
to write of Saint-Simon as a depraved quack, and to deplore his
connexion with him as purely mischievous. While the connexion lasted he
thought very differently. Saint-Simon is described as the most estimable
and lovable of men, and the most delightful in his relations; he is the
worthiest of philosophers. Even at the very moment when Comte was
congratulating himself on having thrown off the yoke, he honestly admits
that Saint-Simon's influence has been of powerful service in his
philosophic education. "I certainly," he writes to his most intimate
friend, "am under great personal obligations to Saint-Simon; that is to
say, he helped in a powerful degree to launch me in the philosophical
direction that I have now definitely marked out for myself, and that I
shall follow without looking back for the rest of my life." Even if
there were no such unmistakable expressions as these, the most cursory
glance into Saint-Simon's writings is enough to reveal the thread of
connexion between the ingenious visionary and the systematic thinker. We
see the debt, and we also see that when it is stated at the highest
possible, nothing has really been taken either from Comte's claims as a
powerful original thinker, or from his immeasurable pre-eminence over
Saint-Simon in intellectual grasp and vigour and coherence. As high a
degree of originality may be shown in transformation as in invention, as
Molière and Shakespeare have proved in the region of dramatic art. In
philosophy the conditions are not different. _Il faut prendre son bien
où on le trouve._

It is no detriment to Comte's fame that some of the ideas which he
recombined and incorporated in a great philosophic structure had their
origin in ideas that were produced almost at random in the incessant
fermentation of Saint-Simon's brain. Comte is in no true sense a
follower of Saint-Simon, but it was undoubtedly Saint-Simon who launched
him, to take Comte's own word, by suggesting the two starting-points of
what grew into the Comtist system--first, that political phenomena are
as capable of being grouped under laws as other phenomena; and second,
that the true destination of philosophy must be social, and the true
object of the thinker must be the reorganization of the moral, religious
and political systems. We can readily see what an impulse these
far-reaching conceptions would give to Comte's meditations. There were
conceptions of less importance than these, in which it is impossible not
to feel that it was Saint-Simon's wrong or imperfect idea that put his
young admirer on the track to a right and perfected idea. The subject is
not worthy of further discussion. That Comte would have performed some
great intellectual achievement, if Saint-Simon had never been born, is
certain. It is hardly less certain that the great achievement which he
did actually perform was originally set in motion by Saint-Simon's
conversation, though it was afterwards directly filiated with the
fertile speculations of A. R. J. Turgot and Condorcet. Comte thought
almost as meanly of Plato as he did of Saint-Simon, and he considered
Aristotle the prince of all true thinkers; yet their vital difference
about Ideas did not prevent Aristotle from calling Plato master.

After six years the differences between the old and the young
philosopher grew too marked for friendship. 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. The occasion of the breach between them (1824) was an
attempt on Saint-Simon's part to print a production of Comte's as if it
were in some sort connected with Saint-Simon's schemes of social
reorganization. Not only was the breach not repaired, but long
afterwards Comte, as we have said, with painful ungraciousness took to
calling the encourager of his youth by very hard names.

Marriage.

In 1825 Comte married a Mdlle Caroline Massin. His marriage was one of
those of which "magnanimity owes no account to prudence," and it did not
turn out prosperously. His family were strongly Catholic and royalist,
and they were outraged by his refusal to have the marriage performed
other than civilly. They consented, however, to receive his wife, and
the pair went on a visit to Montpellier. Madame Comte conceived a
dislike to the circle she found there, and this was the too early
beginning of disputes which lasted for the remainder of their union. In
the year of his marriage we find Comte writing to the most intimate of
his correspondents:--"I have nothing left but to concentrate my whole
moral existence in my intellectual work, a precious but inadequate
compensation; and so I must give up, if not the most dazzling, still the
sweetest part of my happiness." He tried to find pupils to board with
him, but only one pupil came, and he was soon sent away for lack of
companions. "I would rather spend an evening," wrote the needy
enthusiast, "in solving a difficult question, than in running after some
empty-headed and consequential millionaire in search of a pupil." A
little money was earned by an occasional article in _Le Producteur_, in
which he began to expound the philosophic ideas that were now maturing
in his mind. He announced a course of lectures (1826), which it was
hoped would bring money as well as fame, and which were to be the first
dogmatic exposition of the Positive Philosophy. A friend had said to
him, "You talk too freely, your ideas are getting abroad, and other
people use them without giving you the credit; put your ownership on
record." The lectures attracted hearers so eminent as Humboldt the
cosmologist, Poinsot the geometer and Blainville the physiologist.

Serious illness.

Unhappily, after the third lecture of the course, Comte had a severe
attack of cerebral derangement, brought on by intense and prolonged
meditation, acting on a system that was already irritated by the chagrin
of domestic discomfort. He did not recover his health for more than a
year, and as soon as convalescence set in he was seized by so profound
a melancholy at the disaster which had thus overtaken him, that he threw
himself into the Seine. Fortunately he was rescued, and the shock did
not stay his return to mental soundness. One incident of this painful
episode is worth mentioning. Lamennais, then in the height of his
Catholic exaltation, persuaded Comte's mother to insist on her son being
married with the religious ceremony, and as the younger Madame Comte
apparently did not resist, the rite was duly performed, in spite of the
fact that Comte was at the time raving mad. Philosophic assailants of
Comtism have not always resisted the temptation to recall the
circumstance that its founder was once out of his mind. As has been
justly said, if Newton once suffered a cerebral attack without
forfeiting our veneration for the _Principia_, Comte may have suffered
in the same way, and still not have forfeited our respect for Positive
Philosophy and Positive Polity.

Official work.

In 1828 the lectures were renewed, and in 1830 was published the first
volume of the _Course of Positive Philosophy_. The sketch and ground
plan of this great undertaking had appeared in 1826. The sixth and last
volume was published in 1842. The twelve years covering the publication
of the first of Comte's two elaborate works were years of indefatigable
toil, and they were the only portion of his life in which he enjoyed a
certain measure, and that a very modest measure, of material prosperity.
In 1833 he was appointed examiner of the boys who in the various
provincial schools aspired to enter the École Polytechnique at Paris.
This and two other engagements as a teacher of mathematics secured him
an income of some £400 a year. He made M. Guizot, then Louis Philippe's
minister, the important proposal to establish a chair of general history
of the sciences. If there are four chairs, he argued, devoted to the
history of philosophy, that is to say, the minute study of all sorts of
dreams and aberrations through the ages, surely there ought to be at
least one to explain the formation and progress of our real knowledge?
This wise suggestion, still unfulfilled, was at first welcomed,
according to Comte's own account, by Guizot's philosophic instinct, and
then repulsed by his "metaphysical rancour."

Meanwhile Comte did his official work conscientiously, sorely as he
grudged the time which it took from the execution of the great object of
his thoughts. "I hardly know if even to you," he writes to his wife, "I
dare disclose the sweet and softened feeling that comes over me when I
find a young man whose examination is thoroughly satisfactory. Yes,
though you may smile, the emotion would easily stir me to tears if I
were not carefully on my guard." Such sympathy with youthful hope, in
union with industry and intelligence, shows that Comte's dry and austere
manner veiled the fires of a generous social emotion. It was this which
made him add to his labours the burden of delivering every year from
1831 to 1848 a course of gratuitous lectures on astronomy for a popular
audience. The social feeling that inspired this disinterested act showed
itself in other ways. He suffered imprisonment rather than serve in the
national guard; his position was that though he would not take arms
against the new monarchy of July, yet being a republican he would take
no oath to defend it. The only amusement that Comte permitted himself
was a visit to the opera. In his youth he had been a playgoer, but he
shortly came to the conclusion that tragedy is a stilted and bombastic
art, and after a time comedy interested him no more than tragedy. For
the opera he had a genuine passion, which he gratified as often as he
could, until his means became too narrow to afford even that single
relaxation.

Of his manner and personal appearance we have the following account from
one who was his pupil:--"Daily as the clock struck eight on the horologe
of the Luxembourg, while the ringing hammer on the bell was yet audible,
the door of my room opened, and there entered a man, short, rather
stout, almost what one might call sleek, freshly shaven, without vestige
of whisker or moustache. He was invariably dressed in a suit of the most
spotless black, as if going to a dinner party; his white neck-cloth was
fresh from the laundress's hands, and his hat shining like a racer's
coat. He advanced to the arm-chair prepared for him in the centre of the
writing-table, laid his hat on the left-hand corner; his snuff-box was
deposited on the same side beside the quire of paper placed in readiness
for his use, and dipping the pen twice into the ink-bottle, then
bringing it to within an inch of his nose to make sure it was properly
filled, he broke silence: 'We have said that the chord AB,' &c. For
three-quarters of an hour he continued his demonstration, making short
notes as he went on, to guide the listener in repeating the problem
alone; then, taking up another cahier which lay beside him, he went over
the written repetition of the former lesson. He explained, corrected or
commented till the clock struck nine; then, with the little finger of
the right hand brushing from his coat and waistcoat the shower of
superfluous snuff which had fallen on them, he pocketed his snuff-box,
and resuming his hat, he as silently as when he came in made his exit by
the door which I rushed to open for him."

Completion of "Positive Philosophy."

In 1842, as we have said, the last volume of the _Positive Philosophy_
was given to the public. Instead of that contentment which we like to
picture as the reward of twelve years of meritorious toil devoted to the
erection of a high philosophic edifice, Comte found himself in the midst
of a very sea of small troubles, of that uncompensated kind that harass
without elevating, and waste a man's spirit without softening or
enlarging it. First, the jar of temperament between Comte and his wife
had become so unbearable that they separated (1842). We know too little
of the facts to allot blame to either of them. In spite of one or two
disadvantageous facts in her career, Madame Comte seems to have
uniformly comported herself towards her husband with an honourable
solicitude for his well-being. Comte made her an annual allowance, and
for some years after the separation they corresponded on friendly terms.
Next in the list of the vexations was a lawsuit with his publisher. The
publisher had inserted in the sixth volume a protest against a certain
footnote, in which Comte had used some hard words about Arago. Comte
threw himself into the suit with an energy worthy of Voltaire and won
it. Third, and worst of all, he had prefixed a preface to the sixth
volume, in which he went out of his way to rouse the enmity of the men
on whom depended his annual re-election to the post of examiner for the
Polytechnic school. The result was that he lost the appointment, and
with it one-half of his very modest income. This was the occasion of an
episode, which is of more than merely personal interest.

J. S. Mill.

Before 1842 Comte had been in correspondence with J. S. Mill, who had
been greatly impressed by Comte's philosophic ideas; Mill admits that
his own _System of Logic_ owes many valuable thoughts to Comte, and
that, in the portion of that work which treats of the logic of the moral
sciences, a radical improvement in the conceptions of logical method was
derived from the _Positive Philosophy_. Their correspondence, which was
full and copious, turned principally upon the two great questions of the
equality between men and women, and of the expediency and constitution
of a sacerdotal or spiritual order. When Comte found himself straitened,
he confided the entire circumstances to Mill. As might be supposed by
those who know the affectionate anxiety with which Mill regarded the
welfare of any one whom he believed to be doing good work in the world,
he at once took pains to have Comte's loss of income made up to him,
until Comte should have had time to repair that loss by his own
endeavour. Mill persuaded Grote, Molesworth, and Raikes Currie to
advance the sum of £240. At the end of the year (1845) Comte had taken
no steps to enable himself to dispense with the aid of the three
Englishmen. Mill applied to them again, but with the exception of Grote,
who sent a small sum, they gave Comte to understand that they expected
him to earn his own living. Mill had suggested to Comte that he should
write articles for the English periodicals, and expressed his own
willingness to translate any such articles from the French. Comte at
first fell in with the plan, but he speedily surprised and disconcerted
Mill by boldly taking up the position of "high moral magistrate," and
accusing the three defaulting contributors of a scandalous falling away
from righteousness and a high mind. Mill was chilled by these
pretensions; and the correspondence came to an end. There is something
to be said for both sides. Comte, regarding himself as the promoter of a
great scheme for the benefit of humanity, might reasonably look for the
support of his friends in the fulfilment of his designs. But Mill and
the others were fully justified in not aiding the propagation of a
doctrine in which they might not wholly concur. Comte's subsequent
attitude of censorious condemnation put him entirely in the wrong.

From 1845 to 1848 Comte lived as best he could, as well as made his wife
her allowance, on an income of £200 a year. His little account books of
income and outlay, with every item entered down to a few hours before
his death, are accurate and neat enough to have satisfied an ancient
Roman householder. In 1848, through no fault of his own, his salary was
reduced to £80. Littré and others, with Comte's approval, published an
appeal for subscriptions, and on the money thus contributed Comte
subsisted for the remaining nine years of his life. By 1852 the subsidy
produced as much as £200 a year. It is worth noticing that Mill was one
of the subscribers, and that Littré continued his assistance after he
had been driven from Comte's society by his high pontifical airs. We are
sorry not to be able to record any similar trait of magnanimity on
Comte's part. His character, admirable as it is for firmness, for
intensity, for inexorable will, for iron devotion to what he thought the
service of mankind, yet offers few of those softening qualities that
make us love good men and pity bad ones.

Literary method.

It is best to think of him only as the intellectual worker, pursuing in
uncomforted obscurity the laborious and absorbing task to which he had
given up his whole life. His singularly conscientious fashion of
elaborating his ideas made the mental strain more intense than even so
exhausting a work as the abstract exposition of the principles of
positive science need have been. He did not write down a word until he
had first composed the whole matter in his mind. When he had thoroughly
meditated every sentence, he sat down to write, and then, such was the
grip of his memory, the exact order of his thoughts came back to him as
if without an effort, and he wrote down precisely what he had intended
to write, without the aid of a note or a memorandum, and without check
or pause. For example, he began and completed in about six weeks a
chapter in the _Positive Philosophy_ (vol. v. ch. 55) which would fill
forty pages of this Encyclopaedia. When we reflect that the chapter is
not narrative, but an abstract exposition of the guiding principles of
the movements of several centuries, with many threads of complex thought
running along side by side all through the speculation, then the
circumstances under which it was reduced to literary form are really
astonishing. It is hardly possible, however, to share the admiration
expressed by some of Comte's disciples for his style. We are not so
unreasonable as to blame him for failing to make his pages picturesque
or thrilling; we do not want sunsets and stars and roses and ecstasy;
but there is a certain standard for the most serious and abstract
subjects. When compared with such philosophic writing as Hume's,
Diderot's, Berkeley's, then Comte's manner is heavy, laboured,
monotonous, without relief and without light. There is now and then an
energetic phrase, but as a whole the vocabulary is jejune; the sentences
are overloaded; the pitch is flat. A scrupulous insistence on making his
meaning clear led to an iteration of certain adjectives and adverbs,
which at length deadened the effect beyond the endurance of all but the
most resolute students. Only the interest of the matter prevents one
from thinking of Rivarol's ill-natured remark upon Condorcet, that he
wrote with opium on a page of lead. The general effect is impressive,
not by any virtues of style, for we do not discern one, but by reason of
the magnitude and importance of the undertaking, and the visible
conscientiousness and the grasp with which it is executed. It is by
sheer strength of thought, by the vigorous perspicacity with which he
strikes the lines of cleavage of his subject, that he makes his way
into the mind of the reader; in the presence of gifts of this power we
need not quarrel with an ungainly style.

Hygiène cérébrale.

Comte pursued one practice which ought to be mentioned in connexion with
his personal history, the practice of what he style _hygiène cérébrale_.
After he had acquired what he considered to be a sufficient stock of
material, and this happened before he had completed the _Positive
Philosophy_, he abstained from reading newspapers, reviews, scientific
transactions and everything else, except two or three poets (notably
Dante) and the _Imitatio Christi_. It is true that his friends kept him
informed of what was going on in the scientific world. Still this
partial divorce of himself from the record of the social and scientific
activity of his time, though it may save a thinker from the deplorable
evils of dispersion, moral and intellectual, accounts in no small
measure for the exaggerated egoism, and the absence of all feeling for
reality, which marked Comte's later days.

Madame de Vaux.

In 1845 Comte made the acquaintance of Madame Clotilde de Vaux, a lady
whose husband had been sent to the galleys for life. Very little is
known about her qualities. She wrote a little piece which Comte rated so
preposterously as to talk about George Sand in the same sentence; it is
in truth a flimsy performance, though it contains one or two gracious
thoughts. There is true beauty in the saying--"_It is unworthy of a
noble nature to diffuse its pain._" Madame de Vaux's letters speak well
for her good sense and good feeling, and it would have been better for
Comte's later work if she had survived to exert a wholesome restraint on
his exaltation. Their friendship had only lasted a year when she died
(1846), but the period was long enough to give her memory a supreme
ascendancy in Comte's mind. Condillac, Joubert, Mill and other eminent
men have shown what the intellectual ascendancy of a woman can be. Comte
was as inconsolable after Madame de Vaux's death as D'Alembert after the
death of Mademoiselle L'Espinasse. Every Wednesday afternoon he made a
reverential pilgrimage to her tomb, and three times every day he invoked
her memory in words of passionate expansion. His disciples believe that
in time the world will reverence Comte's sentiment about Clotilde de
Vaux, as it reveres Dante's adoration of Beatrice--a parallel that Comte
himself was the first to hit upon. Yet we cannot help feeling that it is
a grotesque and unseemly anachronism to apply in grave prose, addressed
to the whole world, those terms of saint and angel which are touching
and in their place amid the trouble and passion of the great mystic
poet. Whatever other gifts Comte may have had--and he had many of the
rarest kind,--poetic imagination was not among them, any more than
poetic or emotional expression was among them. His was one of those
natures whose faculty of deep feeling is unhappily doomed to be
inarticulate, and to pass away without the magic power of transmitting
itself.

Positive Polity.

Comte lost no time, after the completion of his _Course of Positive
Philosophy_, in proceeding with the _System of Positive Polity_, for
which the earlier work was designed to be a foundation. The first volume
was published in 1851, and the fourth and last in 1854. In 1848, when
the political air was charged with stimulating elements, he founded the
Positive Society, with the expectation that it might grow into a reunion
as powerful over the new revolution as the Jacobin Club had been in the
revolution of 1789. The hope was not fulfilled, but a certain number of
philosophic disciples gathered round Comte, and eventually formed
themselves, under the guidance of the new ideas of the latter half of
his life, into a kind of church, for whose use was drawn up the
_Positivist Calendar_ (1849), in which the names of those who had
advanced civilization replaced the titles of the saints. Gutenberg and
Shakespeare were among the patrons of the thirteen months in this
calendar. In the years 1849, 1850 and 1851 Comte gave three courses of
lectures at the Palais Royal. They were gratuitous and popular, and in
them he boldly advanced the whole of his doctrine, as well as the direct
and immediate pretensions of himself and his system. The third course
ended in the following uncompromising terms--"In the name of the Past
and of the Future, the servants of Humanity--both its philosophical and
its practical servants--come forward to claim as their due the general
direction of this world. Their object is to constitute at length a real
Providence in all departments,--moral, intellectual and material.
Consequently they exclude once for all from political supremacy all the
different servants of God--Catholic, Protestant or Deist--as being at
once behindhand and a cause of disturbance." A few weeks after this
invitation, a very different person stepped forward to constitute
himself a real Providence.

In 1852 Comte published the _Catechism of Positivism_. In the preface to
it he took occasion to express his approval of Louis Napoleon's _coup
d'état_ of the 2nd of December,--"a fortunate crisis which has set aside
the parliamentary system and instituted a dictatorial republic."
Whatever we may think of the political sagacity of such a judgment, it
is due to Comte to say that he did not expect to see his dictatorial
republic transformed into a dynastic empire, and, next, that he did
expect from the Man of December freedom of the press and of public
meeting. His later hero was the emperor Nicholas, "the only statesman in
Christendom,"--as unlucky a judgment as that which placed Dr Francia in
the Comtist Calendar.

Death.

In 1857 he was attacked by cancer, and died peaceably on the 5th of
September of that year. The anniversary is celebrated by ceremonial
gatherings of his French and English followers, who then commemorate the
name and the services of the founder of their religion. By his will he
appointed thirteen executors who were to preserve his rooms at 10 rue
Monsieur-le-Prince as the headquarters of the new religion of Humanity.

Comte's philosophic consistency.

Early writing.

In proceeding to give an Outline of Comte's system, we shall consider
the _Positive Polity_ as the more or less legitimate sequel of the
_Positive Philosophy_, notwithstanding the deep gulf which so eminent a
critic as J. S. Mill insisted upon fixing between the earlier and the
later work. There may be, as we think there is, the greatest difference
in their value, and the temper is not the same, nor the method. But the
two are quite capable of being regarded, and for the purposes of an
account of Comte's career ought to be regarded, as an integral whole.
His letters when he was a young man of one-and-twenty, and before he had
published a word, show how strongly present the social motive was in his
mind, and in what little account he should hold his scientific works, if
he did not perpetually think of their utility for the species. "I feel,"
he wrote, "that such scientific reputation as I might acquire would give
more value, more weight, more useful influence to my political sermons."
In 1822 he published a _Plan of the Scientific Works necessary to
reorganize Society_. In this he points out that modern society is
passing through a great crisis, due to the conflict of two opposing
movements,--the first, a disorganizing movement owing to the break-up of
old institutions and beliefs; the second, a movement towards a definite
social state, in which all means of human prosperity will receive their
most complete development and most direct application. How is this
crisis to be dealt with? What are the undertakings necessary in order to
pass successfully through it towards an organic state? The answer to
this is that there are two series of works. The first is theoretic or
spiritual, aiming at the development of a new principle of co-ordinating
social relations, and the formation of the system of general ideas which
are destined to guide society. The second work is practical or temporal;
it settles the distribution of power, and the institutions that are most
conformable to the spirit of the system which has previously been
thought out in the course of the theoretic work. As the practical work
depends on the conclusions of the theoretical, the latter must obviously
come first in order of execution.

In 1826 this was pushed farther in a most remarkable piece called
_Considerations on the Spiritual Power_--the main object of which is to
demonstrate the necessity of instituting a spiritual power, distinct
from the temporal power and independent of it. In examining the
conditions of a spiritual power proper for modern times, he indicates in
so many terms the presence in his mind of a direct analogy between his
proposed spiritual power and the functions of the Catholic clergy at the
time of its greatest vigour and most complete independence,--that is to
say, from about the middle of the 11th century until towards the end of
the 13th. He refers to de Maistre's memorable book, _Du Pape_, as the
most profound, accurate and methodical account of the old spiritual
organization, and starts from that as the model to be adapted to the
changed intellectual and social conditions of the modern time. In the
_Positive Philosophy_, again (vol. v. p. 344), he distinctly says that
Catholicism, reconstituted as a system on new intellectual foundations,
would finally preside over the spiritual reorganization of modern
society. Much else could be quoted to the same effect. If unity of
career, then, means that Comte, from the beginning designed the
institution of a spiritual power, and the systematic reorganization of
life, it is difficult to deny him whatever credit that unity may be
worth, and the credit is perhaps not particularly great. Even the
readaptation of the Catholic system to a scientific doctrine was plainly
in his mind thirty years before the final execution of the _Positive
Polity_, though it is difficult to believe that he foresaw the religious
mysticism in which the task was to land him. A great analysis was to
precede a great synthesis, but it was the synthesis on which Comte's
vision was centred from the first. Let us first sketch the nature of the
analysis. Society is to be reorganized on the base of knowledge. What is
the sum and significance of knowledge? That is the question which
Comte's first master-work professes to answer.

Law of the Three States.

The _Positive Philosophy_ opens with the statement of a certain law of
which Comte was the discoverer, and which has always been treated both
by disciples and dissidents as the key to his system. This is the Law of
the Three States. It is as follows. Each of our leading conceptions,
each branch of our knowledge, passes successively through three
different phases; there are three different ways in which the human mind
explains phenomena, each way following the other in order. These three
stages are the Theological, the Metaphysical and the Positive.
Knowledge, or a branch of knowledge, is in the Theological state, when
it supposes the phenomena under consideration to be due to immediate
volition, either in the object or in some supernatural being. In the
Metaphysical state, for volition is substituted abstract force residing
in the object, yet existing independently of the object; the phenomena
are viewed as if apart from the bodies manifesting them; and the
properties of each substance have attributed to them an existence
distinct from that substance. In the Positive state, inherent volition
or external volition and inherent force or abstraction personified have
both disappeared from men's minds, and the explanation of a phenomenon
means a reference of it, by way of succession or resemblance, to some
other phenomenon,--means the establishment of a relation between the
given fact and some more general fact. In the Theological and
Metaphysical state men seek a cause or an essence; in the Positive they
are content with a law. To borrow an illustration from an able English
disciple of Comte:--"Take the phenomenon of the sleep produced by opium.
The Arabs are content to attribute it to the 'will of God.' Molière's
medical student accounts for it by a _soporific principle_ contained in
the opium. The modern physiologist knows that he cannot account for it
at all. He can simply observe, analyse and experiment upon the phenomena
attending the action of the drug, and classify it with other agents
analogous in character."--(_Dr Bridges._)

The first and greatest aim of the Positive Philosophy is to advance the
study of society into the third of the three stages,--to remove social
phenomena from the sphere of theological and metaphysical conceptions,
and to introduce among them the same scientific observation of their
laws which has given us physics, chemistry, physiology. Social physics
will consist of the conditions and relations of the facts of society,
and will have two departments,--one, statical, containing the laws of
order; the other dynamical, containing the laws of progress. While
men's minds were in the theological state, political events, for
example, were explained by the will of the gods, and political authority
based on divine right. In the metaphysical state of mind, then, to
retain our instance, political authority was based on the sovereignty of
the people, and social facts were explained by the figment of a falling
away from a state of nature. When the positive method has been finally
extended to society, as it has been to chemistry and physiology, these
social facts will be resolved, as their ultimate analysis, into
relations with one another, and instead of seeking causes in the old
sense of the word, men will only examine the conditions of social
existence. When that stage has been reached, not merely the greater
part, but the whole, of our knowledge will be impressed with one
character, the character, namely, of positivity or scientificalness; and
all our conceptions in every part of knowledge will be thoroughly
homogeneous. The gains of such a change are enormous. The new
philosophical unity will now in its turn regenerate all the elements
that went to its own formation. The mind will pursue knowledge without
the wasteful jar and friction of conflicting methods and mutually
hostile conceptions; education will be regenerated; and society will
reorganize itself on the only possible solid base--a homogeneous
philosophy.

Classification of sciences.

The _Positive Philosophy_ has another object besides the demonstration
of the necessity and propriety of a science of society. This object is
to show the sciences as branches from a single trunk,--is to give to
science the ensemble or spirit or generality hitherto confined to
philosophy, and to give to philosophy the rigour and solidity of
science. Comte's special object is a study of social physics, a science
that before his advent was still to be formed; his second object is a
review of the methods and leading generalities of all the positive
sciences already formed, so that we may know both what system of inquiry
to follow in our new science, and also where the new science will stand
in relation to other knowledge.

The first step in this direction is to arrange scientific method and
positive knowledge in order, and this brings us to another cardinal
element in the Comtist system, the classification of the sciences. In
the front of the inquiry lies one main division, that, namely, between
speculative and practical knowledge. With the latter we have no concern.
Speculative or theoretic knowledge is divided into abstract and
concrete. The former is concerned with the laws that regulate phenomena
in all conceivable cases: the latter is concerned with the application
of these laws. Concrete science relates to objects or beings; abstract
science to events. The former is particular or descriptive; the latter
is general. Thus, physiology is an abstract science; but zoology is
concrete. Chemistry is abstract; mineralogy is concrete. It is the
method and knowledge of the abstract sciences that the Positive
Philosophy has to reorganize in a great whole.

Comte's principle of classification is that the dependence and order of
scientific study follows the dependence of the phenomena. Thus, as has
been said, it represents both the objective dependence of the phenomena
and the subjective dependence of our means of knowing them. The more
particular and complex phenomena depend upon the simpler and more
general. The latter are the more easy to study. Therefore science will
begin with those attributes of objects which are most general, and pass
on gradually to other attributes that are combined in greater
complexity. Thus, too, each science rests on the truths of the sciences
that precede it, while it adds to them the truths by which it is itself
constituted. Comte's series or hierarchy is arranged as follows:--(1)
Mathematics (that is, number, geometry, and mechanics), (2) Astronomy,
(3) Physics, (4) Chemistry, (5) Biology, (6) Sociology. Each of the
members of this series is one degree more special than the member before
it, and depends upon the facts of all the members preceding it, and
cannot be fully understood without them. It follows that the crowning
science of the hierarchy, dealing with the phenomena of human society,
will remain longest under the influence of theological dogmas and
abstract figments, and will be the last to pass into the positive stage.
You cannot discover the relations of the facts of human society without
reference to the conditions of animal life; you cannot understand the
conditions of animal life without the laws of chemistry; and so with the
rest.

The double key of positive philosophy.

This arrangement of the sciences, and the Law of the Three States, are
together explanatory of the course of human thought and knowledge. They
are thus the double key of Comte's systematization of the philosophy of
all the sciences from mathematics to physiology, and his analysis of
social evolution, which is the base of sociology. Each science
contributes its philosophy. The co-ordination of all these partial
philosophies produces the general Positive Philosophy. "Thousands had
cultivated science, and with splendid success; not one had conceived the
philosophy which the sciences when organized would naturally evolve. A
few had seen the necessity of extending the scientific method to all
inquiries, but no one had seen how this was to be effected.... The
Positive Philosophy is novel as a philosophy, not as a collection of
truths never before suspected. Its novelty is the organization of
existing elements. Its very principle implies the absorption of all that
great thinkers had achieved; while incorporating their results it
extended their methods.... What tradition brought was the results; what
Comte brought was the organization of these results. He always claimed
to be the founder of the Positive Philosophy. That he had every right to
such a title is demonstrable to all who distinguish between the positive
sciences and the philosophy which co-ordinated the truths and methods of
these sciences into a doctrine."--_G. H. Lewes._

Criticism on Comte's classification.

Comte's classification of the sciences has been subjected to a vigorous
criticism by Herbert Spencer. Spencer's two chief points are these:--(1)
He denies that the principle of the development of the sciences is the
principle of decreasing generality; he asserts that there are as many
examples of the advent of a science being determined by increasing
generality as by increasing speciality. (2) He holds that any grouping
of the sciences in a succession gives a radically wrong idea of their
genesis and their interdependence; no true filiation exists; no science
develops itself in isolation; no one is independent, either logically or
historically. Littré, by far the most eminent of the scientific
followers of Comte, concedes a certain force to Spencer's objections,
and makes certain secondary modifications in the hierarchy in
consequence, while still cherishing his faith in the Comtist theory of
the sciences. J. S. Mill, while admitting the objections as good, if
Comte's arrangement pretended to be the only one possible, still holds
the arrangement as tenable for the purpose with which it was devised. G.
H. Lewes asserts against Spencer that the arrangement in a series is
necessary, on grounds similar to those which require that the various
truths constituting a science should be systematically co-ordinated
although in nature the phenomena are intermingled.

The first three volumes of the _Positive Philosophy_ contain an
exposition of the partial philosophies of the five sciences that precede
sociology in the hierarchy. Their value has usually been placed very low
by the special followers of the sciences concerned; they say that the
knowledge is second-hand, is not coherent, and is too confidently taken
for final. The Comtist replies that the task is philosophic; and is not
to be judged by the minute accuracies of science. In these three volumes
Comte took the sciences roughly as he found them. His eminence as a man
of science must be measured by his only original work in that
department,--the construction, namely, of the new science of society.
This work is accomplished in the last three volumes of the _Positive
Philosophy_, and the second and third volumes of the _Positive Polity_.
The Comtist maintains that even if these five volumes together fail in
laying down correctly and finally the lines of the new science, still
they are the first solution of a great problem hitherto unattempted.
"Modern biology has got beyond Aristotle's conception; but in the
construction of the biological science, not even the most
unphilosophical biologist would fail to recognize the value of
Aristotle's attempt. So for sociology. Subsequent sociologists may have
conceivably to remodel the whole science, yet not the less will they
recognize the merit of the first work which has facilitated their
labours."--_Congreve._

Sociological conceptions.

Method.

We shall now briefly describe Comte's principal conceptions in
sociology, his position in respect to which is held by himself, and by
others, to raise him to the level of Descartes or Leibnitz. Of course
the first step was to approach the phenomena of human character and
social existence with the expectation of finding them as reducible to
general laws as the other phenomena of the universe, and with the hope
of exploring these laws by the same instruments of observation and
verification as had done such triumphant work in the case of the latter.
Comte separates the collective facts of society and history from the
individual phenomena of biology; then he withdraws these collective
facts from the region of external volition, and places them in the
region of law. The facts of history must be explained, not by
providential interventions, but by referring them to conditions inherent
in the successive stages of social existence. This conception makes a
science of society possible. What is the method? It comprises, besides
observation and experiment (which is, in fact, only the observation of
abnormal social states), a certain peculiarity of verification. We begin
by deducing every well-known historical situation from the series of its
antecedents. Thus we acquire a body of empirical generalizations as to
social phenomena, and then we connect the generalizations with the
positive theory of human nature. A sociological demonstration lies in
the establishment of an accordance between the conclusions of historical
analysis and the preparatory conceptions of biological theory. As Mill
puts it:--"If a sociological theory, collected from historical evidence,
contradicts the established general laws of human nature; if (to use M.
Comte's instances) it implies, in the mass of mankind, any very decided
natural bent, either in a good or in a bad direction; if it supposes
that the reason, in average human beings, predominates over the desires,
or the disinterested desires over the personal,--we may know that
history has been misinterpreted, and that the theory is false. On the
other hand, if laws of social phenomena, empirically generalized from
history, can, when once suggested, be affiliated to the known laws of
human nature; if the direction actually taken by the developments and
changes of human society, can be seen to be such as the properties of
man and of his dwelling-place made antecedently probable, the empirical
generalizations are raised into positive laws, and sociology becomes a
science." The result of this method, is an exhibition of the events of
human experience in co-ordinated series that manifest their own
graduated connexion.

Next, as all investigation proceeds from that which is known best to
that which is unknown or less well known, and as, in social states, it
is the collective phenomenon that is more easy of access to the observer
than its parts, therefore we must consider and pursue all the elements
of a given social state together and in common. The social organization
must be viewed and explored as a whole. There is a nexus between each
leading group of social phenomena and other leading groups; if there is
a change in one of them, that change is accompanied by a corresponding
modification of all the rest. "Not only must political institutions and
social manners, on the one hand, and manners and ideas, on the other, be
always mutually connected; but further, this consolidated whole must be
always connected by its nature with the corresponding state of the
integral development of humanity, considered in all its aspects of
intellectual, moral and physical activity."--_Comte._

Decisive Importance of Intellectual development.

Is there any one element which communicates the decisive impulse to all
the rest,--any predominating agency in the course of social evolution?
The answer is that all the other parts of social existence are
associated with, and drawn along by, the contemporary condition of
intellectual development. The Reason is the superior and preponderant
element which settles the direction in which all the other faculties
shall expand. "It is only through the more and more marked influence of
the reason over the general conduct of man and of society, that the
gradual march of our race has attained that regularity and persevering
continuity which distinguish it so radically from the desultory and
barren expansion of even the highest animal orders, which share, and
with enhanced strength, the appetites, the passions, and even the
primary sentiments of man." The history of intellectual development,
therefore, is the key to social evolution, and the key to the history of
intellectual development is the Law of the Three States.

Among other central thoughts in Comte's explanation of history are
these:--The displacement of theological by positive conceptions has been
accompanied by a gradual rise of an industrial régime out of the
military régime;--the great permanent contribution of Catholicism was
the separation which it set up between the temporal and the spiritual
powers;--the progress of the race consists in the increasing
preponderance of the distinctively human elements over the animal
elements;--the absolute tendency of ordinary social theories will be
replaced by an unfailing adherence to the relative point of view, and
from this it follows that the social state, regarded as a whole, has
been as perfect in each period as the co-existing condition of humanity
and its environment would allow.

The elaboration of these ideas in relation to the history of the
civilization of the most advanced portion of the human race occupies two
of the volumes of the _Positive Philosophy_, and has been accepted by
very different schools as a masterpiece of rich, luminous, and
far-reaching suggestion. Whatever additions it may receive, and whatever
corrections it may require, this analysis of social evolution will
continue to be regarded as one of the great achievements of human
intellect.

Social dynamics in the Positive Polity.

The third volume of the _Positive Polity_ treats of social dynamics, and
takes us again over the ground of historic evolution. It abounds with
remarks of extraordinary fertility and comprehensiveness; but it is
often arbitrary; and its views of the past are strained into coherence
with the statical views of the preceding volume. As it was composed in
rather less than six months, and as the author honestly warns us that he
has given all his attention to a more profound co-ordination, instead of
working out the special explanations more fully, as he had promised, we
need not be surprised if the result is disappointing to those who had
mastered the corresponding portion of the _Positive Philosophy_. Comte
explains the difference between his two works. In the first his "chief
object was to discover and demonstrate the laws of progress, and to
exhibit in one unbroken sequence the collective destinies of mankind,
till then invariably regarded as a series of events wholly beyond the
reach of explanation, and almost depending on arbitrary will. The
present work, on the contrary, is addressed to those who are already
sufficiently convinced of the certain existence of social laws, and
desire only to have them reduced to a true and conclusive system."

The Positivist system.

The Religion of humanity.

The main principles of the Comtian system are derived from the _Positive
Polity_ and from two other works,--the _Positivist Catechism: a Summary
Exposition of the Universal Religion, in Twelve Dialogues between a
Woman and a Priest of Humanity_; and, second, _The Subjective Synthesis_
(1856), which is the first and only volume of a work upon mathematics
announced at the end of the _Positive Philosophy_. The system for which
the _Positive Philosophy_ is alleged to have been the scientific
preparation contains a Polity and a Religion; a complete arrangement of
life in all its aspects, giving a wider sphere to Intellect, Energy and
Feeling than could be found in any of the previous organic
types,--Greek, Roman or Catholic-feudal. Comte's immense superiority
over such prae-Revolutionary utopians as the Abbé Saint Pierre, no less
than over the group of post-revolutionary Utopians, is especially
visible in this firm grasp of the cardinal truth that the improvement of
the social organism can only be effected by a moral development, and
never by any changes in mere political mechanism, or any violences in
the way of an artificial redistribution of wealth. A moral
transformation must precede any real advance. The aim, both in public
and private life, is to secure to the utmost possible extent the
victory of the social feeling over self-love, or Altruism over
Egoism.[1] This is the key to the regeneration of social existence, as
it is the key to that unity of individual life which makes all our
energies converge freely and without wasteful friction towards a common
end. What are the instruments for securing the preponderance of
Altruism? Clearly they must work from the strongest element in human
nature, and this element is Feeling or the Heart. Under the Catholic
system the supremacy of Feeling was abused, and the Intellect was made
its slave. Then followed a revolt of Intellect against Sentiment. The
business of the new system will be to bring back the Intellect into a
condition, not of slavery, but of willing ministry to the Feelings. The
subordination never was, and never will be, effected except by means of
a religion, and a religion, to be final, must include a harmonious
synthesis of all our conceptions of the external order of the universe.
The characteristic basis of a religion is the existence of a Power
without us, so superior to ourselves as to command the complete
submission of our whole life. This basis is to be found in the Positive
stage, in Humanity, past, present and to come, conceived as the Great
Being.

"A deeper study of the great universal order reveals to us at length
the ruling power within it of the true Great Being, whose destiny it
is to bring that order continually to perfection by constantly
conforming to its laws, and which thus best represents to us that
system as a whole. This undeniable Providence, the supreme dispenser
of our destinies, becomes in the natural course the common centre of
our affections, our thoughts, and our actions. Although this Great
Being evidently exceeds the utmost strength of any, even of any
collective, human force, its necessary constitution and its peculiar
function endow it with the truest sympathy towards all its servants.
The least amongst us can and ought constantly to aspire to maintain
and even to improve this Being. This natural object of all our
activity, both public and private, determines the true general
character of the rest of our existence, whether in feeling or in
thought; which must be devoted to love, and to know, in order rightly
to serve, our Providence, by a wise use of all the means which it
furnishes to us. Reciprocally this continued service, whilst
strengthening our true unity, renders us at once both happier and
better."

Remarks on the religion.

The exaltation of Humanity into the throne occupied by the Supreme Being
under monotheistic systems made all the rest of Comte's construction
easy enough. Utility remains the test of every institution, impulse,
act; his fabric becomes substantially an arch of utilitarian
propositions, with an artificial Great Being inserted at the top to keep
them in their place. The Comtist system is utilitarianism crowned by a
fantastic decoration. Translated into the plainest English, the position
is as follows: "Society can only be regenerated by the greater
subordination of politics to morals, by the moralization of capital, by
the renovation of the family, by a higher conception of marriage and so
on. These ends can only be reached by a heartier development of the
sympathetic instincts. The sympathetic instincts can only be developed
by the Religion of Humanity." Looking at the problem in this way, even a
moralist who does not expect theology to be the instrument of social
revival, might still ask whether the sympathetic instincts will not
necessarily be already developed to their highest point, before people
will be persuaded to accept the religion, which is at the bottom hardly
more than sympathy under a more imposing name. However that may be, the
whole battle--into which we shall not enter--as to the legitimateness of
Comtism as a religion turns upon this erection of Humanity into a Being.
The various hypotheses, dogmas, proposals, as to the family, to capital,
&c., are merely propositions measurable by considerations of utility and
a balance of expediencies. Many of these proposals are of the highest
interest, and many of them are actually available; but there does not
seem to be one of them of an available kind, which could not equally
well be approached from other sides, and even incorporated in some
radically antagonistic system. Adoption, for example, as a practice for
improving the happiness of families and the welfare of society, is
capable of being weighed, and can in truth only be weighed, by
utilitarian considerations, and has been commended by men to whom the
Comtist religion is naught. The singularity of Comte's construction, and
the test by which it must be tried, is the transfer of the worship and
discipline of Catholicism to a system in which "the conception of God is
superseded" by the abstract idea of Humanity, conceived as a kind of
Personality.

And when all is said, the invention does not help us. We have still to
settle what _is_ for the good of Humanity, and we can only do that in
the old-fashioned way. There is no guidance in the conception. No
effective unity can follow from it, because you can only find out the
right and wrong of a given course by summing up the advantages and
disadvantages, and striking a balance, and there is nothing in the
Religion of Humanity to force two men to find the balance on the same
side. The Comtists are no better off than other utilitarians in judging
policy, events, conduct.

The worship and discipline.

The particularities of the worship, its minute and truly ingenious
re-adaptations of sacraments, prayers, reverent signs, down even to the
invocation of a New Trinity, need not detain us. They are said, though
it is not easy to believe, to have been elaborated by way of Utopia. If
so, no Utopia has ever yet been presented in a style so little
calculated to stir the imagination, to warm the feelings, to soothe the
insurgency of the reason. It is a mistake to present a great body of
hypotheses--if Comte meant them for hypotheses--in the most dogmatic and
peremptory form to which language can lend itself. And there is no more
extraordinary thing in the history of opinion than the perversity with
which Comte has succeeded in clothing a philosophic doctrine, so
intrinsically conciliatory as his, in a shape that excites so little
sympathy and gives so much provocation. An enemy defined Comtism as
Catholicism _minus_ Christianity, to which an able champion retorted by
calling it Catholicism _plus_ Science. Comte's Utopia has pleased the
followers of the Catholic, just as little as those of the scientific,
spirit.

The priesthood.

The elaborate and minute systematization of life, proper to the religion
of Humanity, is to be directed by a priesthood. The priests are to
possess neither wealth nor material power; they are not to command, but
to counsel; their authority is to rest on persuasion, not on force. When
religion has become positive, and society industrial, then the influence
of the church upon the state becomes really free and independent, which
was not the case in the middle ages. The power of the priesthood rests
upon special knowledge of man and nature; but to this intellectual
eminence must also be added moral power and a certain greatness of
character, without which force of intellect and completeness of
attainment will not receive the confidence they ought to inspire. The
functions of the priesthood are of this kind:--To exercise a systematic
direction over education; to hold a consultative influence over all the
important acts of actual life, public and private; to arbitrate in cases
of practical conflict; to preach sermons recalling those principles of
generality and universal harmony which our special activities dispose us
to ignore; to order the due classification of society; to perform the
various ceremonies appointed by the founder of the religion. The
authority of the priesthood is to rest wholly on voluntary adhesion, and
there is to be perfect freedom of speech and discussion. This provision
hardly consists with Comte's congratulations to the tsar Nicholas on the
"wise vigilance" with which he kept watch over the importation of
Western books.

Women.

From his earliest manhood Comte had been powerfully impressed by the
necessity of elevating the condition of women. (See remarkable passage
in his letters to M. Valat, pp. 84-87.) His friendship with Madame de
Vaux had deepened the impression, and in the reconstructed society women
are to play a highly important part. They are to be carefully excluded
from public action, but they are to do many more important things than
things political. To fit them for their functions, they are to be raised
above material cares, and they are to be thoroughly educated. The
family, which is so important an element of the Comtist scheme of
things, exists to carry the influence of woman over man to the highest
point of cultivation. Through affection she purifies the activity of
man. "Superior in power of affection, more able to keep both the
intellectual and the active powers in continual subordination to
feeling, women are formed as the natural intermediaries between Humanity
and man. The Great Being confides specially to them its moral
Providence, maintaining through them the direct and constant cultivation
of universal affection, in the midst of all the distractions of thought
or action, which are for ever withdrawing men from its influence....
Beside the uniform influence of every woman on every man, to attach him
to Humanity, such is the importance and the difficulty of this ministry
that each of us should be placed under the special guidance of one of
these angels, to answer for him, as it were, to the Great Being. This
moral guardianship may assume three types,--the mother, the wife and the
daughter; each having several modifications, as shown in the concluding
volume. Together they form the three simple modes of solidarity, or
unity with contemporaries,--obedience, union and protection--as well as
the three degrees of continuity between ages, by uniting us with the
past, the present and the future. In accordance with my theory of the
brain, each corresponds with one of our three altruistic
instincts--veneration, attachment and benevolence."

Conclusion.

How the positive method of observation and verification of real facts
has landed us in this, and much else of the same kind, is extremely hard
to guess. Seriously to examine an encyclopaedic system, that touches
life, society and knowledge at every point, is evidently beyond the
compass of such an article as this. There is in every chapter a whole
group of speculative suggestions, each of which would need a long
chapter to itself to elaborate or to discuss. There is at least one
biological speculation of astounding audacity, that could be examined in
nothing less than a treatise. Perhaps we have said enough to show that
after performing a great and real service to thought Comte almost
sacrificed his claims to gratitude by the invention of a system that, as
such, and independently of detached suggestions, is markedly retrograde.
But the world will take what is available in Comte, while forgetting
that in his work which is as irrational in one way as Hegel is in
another.

See also the article POSITIVISM.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Works, Editions and Translations: Cours de philosophie
positive_ (6 vols., Paris, 1830-1842; 2nd ed. with preface by E.
Littré, Paris, 1864; 5th ed., 1893-1894; Eng. trans. Harriet
Martineau, 2 vols., London, 1853; 3 vols. London and New York, 1896);
_Discours sur l'esprit positif_ (Paris, 1844; Eng. trans. with
explanation E. S. Beesley, 1905); _Ordre et progrès_ (ib. 1848);
_Discours sur l'ensemble de positivisme_ (1848, Eng. trans. J. H.
Bridges, London, 1852); _Système de politique positive, ou Traité de
sociologie_ (4 vols., Paris, 1852-1854; ed. 1898; Eng. trans. with
analysis and explanatory summary by Bridges, F. Harrison, E. S.
Beesley and others, 1875-1879); _Catéchisme positiviste_ (Paris, 1852;
3rd ed., 1890; Eng. trans. R. Congreve, Lond. 1858, 3rd ed., 1891);
_Appel aux Conservateurs_ (Paris, 1855 and 1898); _Synthèse
subjective_ (1856 and 1878); _Essai de philos. mathématique_ (Paris,
1878); P. Descours and H. Gordon Jones, _Fundamental Principles of
Positive Philos._ (trans. 1905), with biog. preface by E. S. Beesley.
The Letters of Comte have been published as follows:--the letters to
M. Valat and J. S. Mill, in _La Critique philosophique_ (1877);
correspondence with Mde. de Vaux (ib., 1884); _Correspondance inédite
d'Aug. Comte_ (1903 foll.); _Lettres inédites de J. S. Mill à Aug.
Comte publ. avec les résponses de Comte_ (1899).

_Criticism._--J. S. Mill, _Auguste Comte and Positivism_; J. H.
Bridges' reply to Mill, _The Unity of Comte's Life and Doctrines_
(1866); Herbert Spencer's essay on the _Genesis of Science_ and
pamphlet on _The Classification of the Sciences_; Huxley's "Scientific
Aspects of Positivism," in his _Lay Sermons_; R. Congreve, _Essays
Political, Social and Religious_ (1874); J. Fiske, _Outlines of Cosmic
Philosophy_ (1874); G. H. Lewes, _History of Philosophy_, vol. ii.;
Edward Caird, _The Social Philosophy and Religion of Comte_ (Glasgow,
1885); Hermann Gruber, _Aug. Comte der Begründer des Positivismus.
Sein Leben und seine Lehre_ (Freiburg, 1889) and _Der Positivismus vom
Tode Aug. Comtes bis auf unsere Tage, 1857-1891_ (Freib. 1891); L.
Lévy-Bruhl, _La Philosophie d'Aug. Comte_ (Paris, 1900); H. D. Hutton,
_Comte's Theory of Man's Future_ (1877), _Comte, the Man and the
Founder_ (1891), _Comte's Life and Work_ (1892); E. de Roberty, _Aug.
Comte et Herbert Spencer_ (Paris, 1894); J. Watson, _Comte, Mill and
Spencer. An outline of Philos._ (1895 and 1899); Millet, _La
Souveraineté d'après Aug. Comte_ (1905); L. de Montesquieu Fezensac,
_Le Système politique d'Aug. Comte_ (1907); G. Dumas, _Psychologie de
deux Messies positivistes_ (1905). (J. Mo.; X.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] For Comte's place in the history of ethical theory see ETHICS.

COMUS (from [Greek: kômos], revel, or a company of revellers), in the
later mythology of the Greeks, the god of festive mirth. In classic
mythology the personification does not exist; but Comus appears in the
[Greek: Eikónes], or _Descriptions of Pictures_, of Philostratus, a
writer of the 3rd century A.D. as a winged youth, slumbering in a
standing attitude, his legs crossed, his countenance flushed with wine,
his head--which is sunk upon his breast--crowned with dewy flowers, his
left hand feebly grasping a hunting spear, his right an inverted torch.
Ben Jonson introduces Comus, in his masque entitled _Pleasure reconciled
to Virtue_ (1619), as the portly jovial patron of good cheer, "First
father of sauce and deviser of jelly." In the _Comus, sive Phagesiposia
Cimmeria; Somnium_ (1608, and at Oxford, 1634), a moral allegory by a
Dutch author, Hendrik van der Putten, or Erycius Puteanus, the
conception is more nearly akin to Milton's, and Comus is a being whose
enticements are more disguised and delicate than those of Jonson's
deity. But Milton's Comus is a creation of his own. His story is one

"Which never yet was heard in tale or song
From old or modern bard, in hall or bower."

Born from the loves of Bacchus and Circe, he is "much like his father,
but his mother more"--a sorcerer, like her, who gives to travellers a
magic draught that changes their human face into the "brutal form of
some wild beast," and, hiding from them their own foul disfigurement,
makes them forget all the pure ties of life, "to roll with pleasure in a
sensual sty."

COMYN, JOHN (d. c. 1300), Scottish baron, was a son of John Comyn (d.
1274), justiciar of Galloway, who was a nephew of the constable of
Scotland, Alexander Comyn, earl of Buchan (d. 1289), and of the powerful
and wealthy Walter Comyn, earl of Mentieth (d. 1258). With his uncle the
earl of Buchan, the elder Comyn took a prominent part in the affairs of
Scotland during the latter part of the 13th century, and he had
interests and estates in England as well as in his native land. He
fought for Henry III. at Northampton and at Lewes, and was afterwards
imprisoned for a short time in London. The younger Comyn, who had
inherited the lordship of Badenoch from his great-uncle the earl of
Mentieth, was appointed one of the guardians of Scotland in 1286, and
shared in the negotiations between Edward I. and the Scots in 1289 and
1290. When Margaret, the Maid of Norway, died in 1290, Comyn was one of
the claimants for the Scottish throne, but he did not press his
candidature, and like the other Comyns urged the claim of John de
Baliol. After supporting Baliol in his rising against Edward I., Comyn
submitted to the English king in 1296; he was sent to reside in England,
but returned to Scotland shortly before his death.

Comyn's son, JOHN COMYN (d. 1306), called the "red Comyn," is more
famous. Like his father he assisted Baliol in his rising against Edward
I., and he was for some time a hostage in England. Having been made
guardian of Scotland after the battle of Falkirk in 1298 he led the
resistance to the English king for about five years, and then early in
1304 made an honourable surrender. Comyn is chiefly known for his
memorable quarrel with Robert the Bruce. The origin of the dispute is
uncertain. Doubtless the two regarded each other as rivals; Comyn may
have refused to join in the insurrection planned by Bruce. At all events
the pair met at Dumfries in January 1306; during a heated altercation
charges of treachery were made, and Comyn was stabbed to death either by
Bruce or by his followers.

Another member of the Comyn family who took an active part in Scottish
affairs during these troubled times is JOHN COMYN, earl of Buchan (d. c.
1313). This earl, a son of Earl Alexander, was constable of Scotland,
and was first an ally and then an enemy of Robert the Bruce.

CONACRE (a corruption of corn-acre), in Ireland, a system of letting
land, mostly in small patches, and usually for the growth of potatoes as
a kind of return instead of wages. It is now practically obsolete.

CONANT, THOMAS JEFFERSON (1802-1891), American Biblical scholar, was
born at Brandon, Vermont, on the 13th of December 1802. Graduating at
Middlebury College in 1823, he became tutor in the Columbian University
(now George Washington University) from 1825 to 1827, professor of
Greek, Latin and German at Waterville College (now Colby College) from
1827 to 1833, professor of biblical literature and criticism in Hamilton
(New York) Theological Institute from 1835 to 1851, and professor of
Hebrew and of Biblical exegesis in Rochester Theological Seminary from
1851 to 1857. From 1857 to 1875 he was employed by the American Bible
Union on the revision of the New Testament (1871). He married in 1830
Hannah O'Brien Chaplin (1809-1865), who was herself the author of _The
Earnest Man_, a biography of Adoniram Judson (1855), and of _The History
of the English Bible_ (1859), besides being her husband's able assistant
in his Hebrew studies. He died in Brooklyn, New York, on the 30th of
April 1891. Conant was the foremost Hebrew scholar of his time in
America. His treatise, _The Meaning and Use of "Baptizein"
Philologically and Historically Investigated_ (1860), an "appendix to
the revised version of the Gospel by Matthew," is a valuable summary of
the evidence for Baptist doctrine. He translated and edited Gesenius's
_Hebrew Grammar_ (1839; 1877), and published revised versions with notes
of _Job_ (1856), _Genesis_ (1868), _Psalms_ (1871), _Proverbs_ (1872),
_Isaiah_ i.-xiii. 22 (1874), and _Historical Books of the Old Testament,
Joshua to II. Kings_ (1884).

CONATION (from Lat. _conari_, to attempt, strive), a psychological term,
originally chosen by Sir William Hamilton (_Lectures on Metaphysics_,
pp. 127 foll.), used generally of an attitude of mind involving a
tendency to take _action_, e.g. when one decides to remove an object
which is causing a painful sensation, or to try to interrupt an
unpleasant train of thought. This use of the word tends to lay emphasis
on the mind as self-determined in relation to external objects. Another
less common use of the word is to describe the pleasant or painful
sensations which accompany muscular activity; the _conative_ phenomena,
thus regarded, are psychic changes brought about by external causes.

The chief difficulty in connexion with Conation is that of
distinguishing it from Feeling, a term of very vague significance both
in technical and in common usage. Thus the German psychologist F.
Brentano holds that no real distinction can be made. He argues that the
mental process from sorrow or dissatisfaction, through hope for a change
and courage to act, up to the voluntary determination which issues in
action, is a single homogeneous whole (_Psychologie_, pp. 308-309). The
mere fact, however, that the series is continuous is no ground for not
distinguishing its parts; if it were so, it would be impossible to
distinguish by separate names the various colours in the solar spectrum,
or indeed perception from conception. A more material objection,
moreover, is that, in point of fact, the feeling of pleasure or pain
roused by a given stimulus is specifically different from, and indeed
may not be followed by, the determination to modify or remove it.
Pleasure and pain, i.e. hedonic sensation _per se_, are essentially
distinct from appetition and aversion; the pleasures of hearing music or
enjoying sunshine are not in general accompanied by any volitional
activity. It is true that painful sensations are generally accompanied
by definite aversion or a tendency to take action, but the cases of
positive pleasure are amply sufficient to support a distinction.
Therefore, though in ordinary language such phrases as "feeling
aversion" are quite legitimate, accurate psychology compels us to
confine "feeling" to states of consciousness in which no conative
activity is present, i.e. to the psychic phenomena of pleasure or pain
considered in and by themselves. The study of such phenomena is
specifically described as Hedonics (Gr. [Greek: hêdonê], pleasure) or
Algedonics (Gr. [Greek: algêdôn], pain); the latter term was coined by
H. R. Marshall (in _Pain, Pleasure and Aesthetics_, 1894), but has not
been generally used.

The problem of conation is closely related to that of Attention (q.v.),
which indeed, regarded as active consciousness, implies conation (G. T.
Ladd, _Psychology_, 1894, p. 213). Thus, whenever the mind deliberately
focusses itself upon a particular object, there is implied a psychic
effort (for the relation between Attention and Conation, see G. F.
Stout, _Analytic Psychology_, book i. chap. vi.). All conscious action,
and in a less degree even unconscious or reflex action, implies
attention; when the mind "attends" to any given external object, the
organ through the medium of which information regarding that object is
conveyed to the mind is set in motion. (See PSYCHOLOGY.)

CONCA, SEBASTIANO (1679-1764), Italian painter of the Florentine school,
was born at Gaeta, and studied at Naples under Francesco Solimena. In
1706, along with his brother Giovanni, who acted as his assistant, he
settled at Rome, where for several years he worked in chalk only, to
improve his drawing. He was patronized by the Cardinal Ottoboni, who
introduced him to Clement XI.; and a Jeremiah painted in the church of
St John Lateran was rewarded by the pope with knighthood and by the
cardinal with a diamond cross. His fame grew quickly, and he received
the patronage of most of the crowned heads of Europe. He painted till
near the day of his death, and left behind him an immense number of
pictures, mostly of a brilliant and showy kind, which are distributed
among the churches of Italy. Of these the Probatica, or Pool of Siloam,
in the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, at Siena, is considered the
finest.

CONCARNEAU, a fishing port of western France in the department of
Finistère, 14 m. by road S.E. of Quimper. Pop. (1906) 7887. The town
occupies a picturesque situation on an inlet opening into the Bay of La
Forêt. The old portion stands on an island, and is surrounded by
ramparts, parts of which are believed to date from the 14th century. It
is an important centre of the sardine, mackerel and lobster fisheries.
Sardine-preserving, boat-building and the manufacture of sardine-boxes
are carried on.

CONCEPCIÓN, a province of southern Chile, lying between the provinces of
Maule and Ñuble on the N. and Bio-Bio on the S., and extending from the
Pacific to the Argentine boundary. Its outline is very irregular, the
Itata river forming its northern boundary, and the Bio-Bio and one of
its tributaries a part of its southern boundary. Area (estimated) 3252
sq. m.; pop. (1895) 188,190. Concepción is the most important province
of southern Chile because of its advantageous commercial position,
fertility and productive industries. Its coast is indented by two large
well-sheltered bays, Talcahuano and Arauco, the former having the ports
of Talcahuano, Penco and El Tomé, and the latter Coronel and Lota. Its
railway communications are good, and the Bio-Bio, which crosses its S.W.
corner, has 100 m. of navigable channel. The province produces wheat and
manufactures flour for export; its wines are reputed the best in Chile,
cattle are bred in large numbers, wool is produced, and considerable
timber is shipped. Near the coast are extensive deposits of coal, which
is shipped from Lota and Coronel, the former being the site of the most
productive coal-mine in South America. The climate is mild and the
rainfall is abundant. Large copper-smelting and glass works have been
established at Lota because of its coal resources. The valley of the
Itata is largely devoted to vine cultivation, and the port of this
district, El Tomé, is noted for its wine vaults and trade. It also
possesses a small woollen factory. The principal towns are on the coast
and had in 1895 the following populations: Talcahuano, 10,431; Lota,
9797 (largely operatives in the mines and smelting works); Coronel,
4575; and El Tomé, 3977.

CONCEPCIÓN, a city of southern Chile, capital of a province and
department of the same name, on the right bank of the Bio-Bio river, 7
m. above its mouth, and 355 m. S.S.W. of Santiago by rail. Pop. (1895)
39,837; (1902, estimated) 49,351. It is the commercial centre of a rich
agricultural region, but because of obstructions at the mouth of the
Bio-Bio its trade passes in great part through the port of Talcahuano, 8
m. distant by rail. The small port of Penco, situated on the same bay
and 10 m. distant by rail, also receives a part of the trade because of
official restrictions at Talcahuano. Concepción is one of the southern
termini of the Chilean central railway, by which it is connected with
Santiago to the N., with Valdivia and Puerto Montt to the S., and with
the port of Talcahuano. Another line extends southward through the
Chilean coal-producing districts to Curanilhué, crossing the Bio-Bio by
a steel viaduct 6000 ft. long on 62 skeleton piers; and a short line of
10 m. runs northward to Penco. The Bio-Bio is navigable above the city
for 100 m. and considerable traffic comes through this channel. The
districts tributary to Concepción produce wheat, wine, wool, cattle,
coal and timber, and among the industrial establishments of the city are
flour mills, furniture and carriage factories, distilleries and
breweries. The city is built on a level plain but little above the
sea-level, and is laid out in regular squares with broad streets. It is
an episcopal see with a cathedral and several fine churches, and is the
seat of a court of appeal. The city was founded by Pedro de Valdivia in
1550, and received the singular title of "La Concepción del Nuevo
Extremo." It was located on the bay of Talcahuano where the town of
Penco now stands, about 9 m. from its present site, but was destroyed by
earthquakes in 1570, 1730 and 1751, and was then (1755) removed to the
margin of the Bio-Bio. In 1835 it was again laid in ruins, a graphic
description of which is given by Charles Darwin in _The Voyage of H.M.S.
Beagle_. The city was twice burned by the Araucanians during their long
struggle against the Spanish colonists.

CONCEPCIÓN, or VILLA CONCEPCIÓN, the principal town and a river port of
northern Paraguay, on the Paraguay river, 138 m. (234 m. by river) N. of
Asunción, and about 345 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1895, estimate)
10,000, largely Indians and mestizos. It is an important commercial
centre, and a port of call for the river steamers trading with the
Brazilian town of Corumbá, Matto Grosso. It is the principal point for
the exportation of Paraguay tea, or "yerba maté" (_Ilex paraguayensis_).
The town has a street railway and telephone service, a national college,
a public school, a market, and some important commercial establishments.
The neighbouring country is sparsely settled and produces little except
forest products. Across the river, in the Paraguayan Chaco, is an
English missionary station, whose territory extends inland among the
Indians for many miles.

CONCEPT[1] (Lat. _conceptus_, a thought, from _concipere_, to take
together, combine in thought; Ger. _Begriff_), in philosophy, a term
applied to a general idea derived from and considered apart from the
particulars observed by the senses. The mental process by which this
idea is obtained is called abstraction (q.v.). By the comparison, for
instance, of a number of boats, the mind abstracts a certain common
quality or qualities in virtue of which the mind affirms the general
idea of "boat." Thus the connotation of the term "boat," being the sum
of those qualities in respect of which all boats are regarded as alike,
whatever their individual peculiarities may be, is described as a
"concept." The psychic process by which a concept is affirmed is called
"Conception," a term which is often loosely used in a concrete sense for
"Concept" itself. It is also used even more loosely as synonymous in the
widest sense with "idea," "notion." Strictly, however, it is contrasted
with "perception," and implies the mental reconstruction and combination
of sense-given data. Thus when one carries one's thoughts back to a
series of events, one constructs a psychic whole made up of parts which
take definite shape and character by their mutual interrelations. This
process is called _conceptual synthesis_, the possibility of which is a
_sine qua non_ for the exchange of information by speech and writing. It
should be noticed that this (very common) psychological interpretation
of "conception" differs from the metaphysical or general philosophical
definition given above, in so far as it includes mental presentations in
which the universal is not specifically distinguished from the
particulars. Some psychologists prefer to restrict the term to the
narrower use which excludes all mental states in which particulars are
cognized, even though the universal be present also.

In biology conception is the coalescence of the male and female
generative elements, producing pregnancy.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The word "conceit" in its various senses ("idea," "plan," "fancy,"
"imagination," and, by modern extension, an overweening sense of one's
own value) is likewise derived ultimately from the Latin _concipere_.
It appears to have been formed directly from the English derivative
"conceive" on the analogy of "deceit" from "deceive." According to the
_New English Dictionary_ there is no intermediate form in Old French.

CONCEPTUALISM (from "Concept"), in philosophy, a term applied by modern
writers to a scholastic theory of the nature of universals, to
distinguish it from the two extremes of Nominalism and Realism. The
scholastic philosophers took up the old Greek problem as to the nature
of true reality--whether the general idea or the particular object is
more truly real. Between Realism which asserts that the _genus_ is more
real than the _species_, and that particulars have no reality, and
Nominalism according to which _genus_ and _species_ are merely names
(_nomina, flatus vocis_), Conceptualism takes a mean position. The
conceptualist holds that universals have a real existence, but only in
the mind, as the concepts which unite the individual things: e.g. there
is in the mind a general notion or idea of boats, by reference to which
the mind can decide whether a given object is, or is not, a boat. On the
one hand "boat" is something more than a mere sound with a purely
arbitrary conventional significance; on the other it has, apart from
particular things to which it applies, no reality; its reality is purely
abstract or conceptual. This theory was enunciated by Abelard in
opposition to Roscellinus (nominalist) and William of Champeaux
(realist). He held that it is only by becoming a predicate that the
class-notion or general term acquires reality. Thus similarity
(_conformitas_) is observed to exist between a number of objects in
respect of a particular quality or qualities. This quality becomes real
as a mental concept when it is predicated of all the objects possessing
it ("quod de pluribus natum est praedicari"). Hence Abelard's theory is
alternatively known as Sermonism (_sermo_, "predicate"). His statement
of this position oscillates markedly, inclining sometimes towards the
nominalist, sometimes towards the realist statement, using the arguments
of the one against the other. Hence he is described by some as a
realist, by others as a nominalist. When he comes to explain that
objective similarity in things which is represented by the class-concept
or general term, he adopts the theological Platonic view that the ideas
which are the archetypes of the qualities exist in the mind of God. They
are, therefore, _ante rem, in re_ and _post rem_, or, as Avicenna stated
it, _universalia ante multiplicitatem, in multiplicitate, post
multiplicitatem_. (See LOGIC, METAPHYSICS.)

CONCERT (through the French from Lat. CON-, with, and _certare_, to
strive), a term meaning, in general, co-operation, agreement or union;
the more specific usages being, in music, for a public performance by
instrumentalists, vocalists or both combined, and in diplomacy, for an
understanding or agreement for common action between two or more states,
whether defined by treaty or not. The term "Concert of Europe" has been
commonly applied, since the congress of Vienna (1814-1815), to the
European powers consulting or acting together in questions of common
interest. (See ALLIANCE and EUROPE: _HISTORY_.)

CONCERTINA, or MELODION (Fr. _concertina_, Ger. _Ziehharmonica_ or
_Bandoneon_), a wind instrument of the seraphine family with free reeds,
forming a link in the evolution of the harmonium from the mouth organ,
intermediate links being the cheng and the accordion. The concertina
consists of two hexagonal or rectangular keyboards connected by a long
expansible bellows of many folds similar to that of the accordion. The
keyboards are furnished with rows of knobs, which, on being pressed down
by the fingers, open valves admitting the air compressed by the bellows
to the free reeds, which are thus set in vibration. These free reeds
consist of narrow tongues of brass riveted by one end to the inside
surface of the keyboard, and having their free ends slightly bent, some
outwards, some inwards, the former actuated by suction when the bellows
are expanded, the latter by compression. The pitch of the note depends
upon the length and thickness of the reeds, reduction of the length
tending to sharpen the pitch of the note, while reduction of the
thickness lowers it. The bellows being unprovided with a valve can only
draw in and emit the air through the reed valves. In order to produce
the sound, the concertina is held horizontally between the hands, the
bellows being by turns compressed and expanded. The English concertina,
invented and patented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1829, the year of the
reputed invention of the accordion (q.v.), is constructed with a double
action, the same note being produced on compressing and expanding the
bellows, whereas in the German concertina or accordion two different
notes are given out. Concertinas are made in complete families--treble,
tenor, bass and double bass, having a combined total range of nearly
seven octaves. The compass is as follows:--

[Illustration: Treble concertina, double action]

[Illustration: Tenor concertina, single action]

[Illustration: Bass concertina, single action]

[Illustration: Double bass concertina, single action]

The timbre of the concertina is penetrating but soft, and capable of the
most delicate gradations of tone. This quality is due to a law of
acoustics governing the vibration of free reeds by means of which
_fortes_ and _pianos_ are obtained by varying the pressure of the wind,
as is also the case with the double reed or the single or beating reed,
while the pressure of the reed with the lips combined with greater
pressure of wind produces the harmonic overtones which are not given out
by free reeds. The English concertina possesses one peculiarity which
renders it unsuitable for playing with instruments tuned according to
the law of equal temperament, such as the pianoforte, harmonium or
melodion, i.e. it has enharmonic intervals between G# and A# and between
D[flat] and E[flat]. The German concertina is not constructed according
to this system; its compass extends down to C or even B[flat], but it is
not provided with double action. It is possible on the English
concertina to play diatonic and chromatic passages or arpeggios in
legato or staccato style with rapidity, shakes single and double in
thirds; it is also possible to play in parts as on the pianoforte or
organ and to produce very rich chords. Concertos were written for
concertina with orchestra by Molique and Regondi, a sonata with piano by
Molique, while Tschaikowsky scored in his second orchestral suite for
four accordions.

The aeola, constructed by the representatives of the original firm of
Wheatstone, is a still more artistically developed concertina, having
among other improvements steel reeds instead of brass, which increase
the purity and delicacy of the timbre.

See also ACCORDION; CHENG; HARMONIUM; Free-Reed Vibrator. (K. S.)

CONCERTO (Lat. _concertus_, from _certare_, to strive, also confused
with _concentus_), in music, a term which appears as early as the
beginning of the 17th century, at first as a title of no very definite
meaning, but which early acquired a sense justified by its etymology and
became applied chiefly to compositions in which unequal instrumental or
vocal forces are brought into opposition.

Although by Bach's time the concerto as a polyphonic instrumental form
was thoroughly established, the term frequently appears in the autograph
title-pages of his church cantatas, even when the cantata contains no
instrumental prelude. Indeed, so entirely does the actual concerto form,
as Bach understands it, depend upon the opposition of masses of tone
unequal in volume with a compensating inequality in power of commanding
attention, that Bach is able to rewrite an instrumental movement as a
chorus without the least incongruity of style. A splendid example of
this is the first chorus of a university festival cantata, _Vereinigte
Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten_, the very title of which ("united
contest of turn-about strings") is a perfect definition of the earlier
form of _concerto grosso_, in which the chief mass of the orchestra was
opposed, not to a mere solo instrument, but to a small group called the
_concertino_, or else the whole work was for a large orchestral mass in
which tutti passages alternate with passages in which the whole
orchestra is dispersed in every possible kind of grouping. But the
special significance of this particular chorus is that it is arranged
from the second movement of the first Brandenburg concerto; and that
while the orchestral material is unaltered except for transposition of
key, enlargement of force and substitution of trumpets and drums for the
original horns, the whole chorus part has been evolved from the solo
part for a kit violin (_violino piccolo_). This admirably illustrates
Bach's grasp of the true idea of a concerto, namely, that whatever the
relations may be between the forces in respect of volume or sound, the
whole treatment of the form must depend upon the healthy relation of
function between that force which commands more and that which commands
less attention. _Ceteris paribus_ the individual, suitably placed, will
command more attention than the crowd, whether in real life, drama or
instrumental music. And in music the human voice, with human words, will
thrust any orchestral force into the background, the moment it can make
itself heard at all. Hence it is not surprising that the earlier
concerto forms should show the closest affinity (not only in general
aesthetic principle, but in many technical details) with the form of the
vocal aria, as matured by Alessandro Scarlatti. And the treatment of the
orchestra is, _mutatis mutandis_, exactly the same in both. The
orchestra is entrusted with a highly pregnant and short summary of the
main contents of the movement, and the solo, or the groups corresponding
thereto, will either take up this material or first introduce new themes
to be combined with it, and, in short, enter into relations with the
orchestra very like those between the actors and the chorus in Greek
drama. If the aria before Mozart may be regarded as a single large
melody expanded by the device of the ritornello so as to give full
expression to the power of a singer against an instrumental
accompaniment, so the polyphonic concerto form may be regarded as an
expansion of the aria form to a scale worthy of the larger and purely
instrumental forces employed, and so rendered capable of absorbing large
polyphonic and other types of structure incompatible with the lyric idea
of the aria. The _da capo_ form, by which the aria had attained its full
dimensions through the addition of a second strain in foreign keys
followed by the original strain _da capo_, was absorbed by the
polyphonic concerto on an enormous scale, both in first movements and
finales (see Bach's Klavier concerto in E, Violin concerto in E, first
movement), while for slow movements the _ground bass_ (see VARIATIONS),
diversified by changes of key (Klavier concerto in D minor), the more
melodic types of binary form, sometimes with the repeats ornamentally
varied or inverted (Concerto for 3 klaviers in D minor, Concerto for
klavier, flute and violin in A minor), and in finales the _rondo_ form
(Violin concerto in E major, Klavier concerto in F minor) and the binary
form (3rd Brandenburg concerto) may be found.

When conceptions of musical form changed and the modern sonata style
arose, the peculiar conditions of the concerto gave rise to problems the
difficulty of which only the highest classical intellects could
appreciate or solve. The number and contrast of the themes necessary to
work out a first movement of a sonata are far too great to be contained
within the single musical sentence of Bach's and Handel's ritornello,
even when it is as long as the thirty bars of Bach's Italian concerto (a
work in which every essential of the polyphonic concerto is reproduced
on the harpsichord by means of the contrasts between its full register
on the lower of its two keyboards and its solo stops on both). Bach's
sons had taken shrewd steps in forming the new style; and Mozart, as a
boy, modelled himself closely on Johann Christian Bach, and by the time
he was twenty was able to write concerto ritornellos that gave the
orchestra admirable opportunity for asserting its character and resource
in the statement in charmingly epigrammatic style of some five or six
sharply contrasted themes, afterwards to be worked out with additions by
the solo with the orchestra's co-operation and intervention. As the
scale of the works increases the problem becomes very difficult, because
the alternation between solo and tutti easily produces a sectional type
of structure incompatible with the high degree of organization required
in first movements; yet frequent alternation is evidently necessary, as
the orchestral solo is audible only above a very subdued orchestral
accompaniment, and it would be highly inartistic to use the orchestra
for no other purpose. Hence in the classical concerto the ritornello is
never abandoned, in spite of the enormous dimensions to which the sonata
style expanded it. And though from the time of Mendelssohn onwards most
composers have seemed to regard it as a conventional impediment easily
abandoned, it may be doubted whether any modern concerto, except the
four magnificent examples of Brahms, and Dr Joachim's Hungarian
concerto, possesses first movements in which the orchestra seems to
enjoy breathing space. And certainly in the classical concerto the entry
of the solo instrument, after the long opening tutti, is always dramatic
in direct proportion to its delay. The great danger in handling so long
an orchestral prelude is that the work may for some minutes be
indistinguishable from a symphony and thus the entry of the solo may be
unexpected without being inevitable. This is especially the case if the
composer has treated his opening tutti like the exposition of a sonata
movement, and made a deliberate transition from his first group of
themes to a second group in a complementary key, even if the transition
is only temporary, as in Beethoven's C minor concerto. Mozart keeps his
whole tutti in the tonic, relieved only by his mastery of sudden
subsidiary modulation; and so perfect is his marshalling of his
resources that in his hands a tutti a hundred bars long passes by with
the effect of a splendid pageant, of which the meaning is evidently
about to be revealed by the solo. After the C minor concerto, Beethoven
grasped the true function of the opening tutti and enlarged it to his
new purposes. With an interesting experiment of Mozart's before him, he,
in his G major concerto, _Op. 53_, allowed the solo player to state the
opening theme, making the orchestra enter _pianissimo_ in a foreign key,
a wonderful incident which has led to the absurd statement that he
"abolished the opening tutti," and that Mendelssohn in so doing has
"followed his example." In this concerto he also gave considerable
variety of key to the opening tutti by the use of an important theme
which executes a considerable series of modulations, an entirely
different thing from a deliberate modulation from material in one key to
material in another. His fifth and last pianoforte concerto, in E flat,
commonly called the "Emperor," begins with a rhapsodical introduction of
extreme brilliance for the solo player, followed by a tutti of unusual
length which is confined to the tonic major and minor with a strictness
explained by the gorgeous modulations with which the solo subsequently
treats the second subject. In this concerto Beethoven also dispenses
with the only really conventional feature of the form, namely, the
_cadenza_, a custom elaborated from the operatic aria, in which the
singer was allowed to extemporize a flourish on a pause near the end. A
similar pause was made in the final ritornello of a concerto, and the
soloist was supposed to extemporize what should be equivalent to a
symphonic coda, with results which could not but be deplorable unless
the player (or cadenza writer) were either the composer himself, or
capable of entering into his intentions, like Joachim, who has written
the finest extant cadenza of classical violin concertos.

Brahms's first concerto in D minor, _Op. 15_, was the result of an
immense amount of work, and, though on a mass of material originally
intended for a symphony, was nevertheless so perfectly assimilated into
the true concerto form that in his next essay, the violin concerto, _Op.
77_, he had no more to learn, and was free to make true innovations. He
succeeds in presenting the contrasts even of remote keys so immediately
that they are serviceable in the opening tutti and give the form a wider
range in definitely functional key than any other instrumental music.
Thus in the opening tutti of the D minor concerto the second subject is
announced in B flat minor. In the B flat pianoforte concerto, _Op. 83_,
it appears in D minor, and in the double concerto, _Op. 102_, for violin
and violoncello in A minor it appears in F major. In none of these cases
is it in the key in which the solo develops it, and it is reached with
a directness sharply contrasted with the symphonic deliberation with
which it is approached in the solo. In the violin concerto, _Op. 77_,
Brahms develops a counterplot in the opposition between solo and
orchestra, inasmuch as after the solo has worked out its second subject
the orchestra bursts in, not with the opening ritornello, but with its
own version of the material with which the solo originally entered. In
other words we have now not only the development by the solo of material
stated by the orchestra but also a counter-development by the orchestra
of material stated by the solo. This concerto is, on the other hand,
remarkable as being the last in which a blank space is left for a
cadenza, Brahms having in his friend Joachim a kindred spirit worthy of
such trust. In the pianoforte concerto in B flat, and in the double
concerto,[1] _Op. 102_, the idea of an introductory statement in which
the solo takes part before the opening tutti is carried out on a large
scale, and in the double concerto both first and second subjects are
thus suggested. It is unnecessary to speak of the other movements of
concerto form, as the sectional structure that so easily results from
the opposition between solo and orchestra is not of great disadvantage
to slow movements and finales, which accordingly do not show important
differences from the ordinary types of symphonic and chamber music. The
scherzo, on the other hand, is normally of too small a range of contrast
for successful adaptation to concerto form, and the solitary great
example of its use is the second movement of Brahms's B flat pianoforte
concerto.

Nothing is more easy to handle with inartistic or pseudo-classic
effectiveness than the opposition between a brilliant solo player and an
orchestra; and, as the inevitable tendency of even the most artistic
concerto has been to exhaust the resources of the solo instrument in the
increased difficulty of making a proper contrast between solo and
orchestra, so the technical difficulty of concertos has steadily
increased until even in classical times it was so great that the
orthodox definition of a concerto is that it is "an instrumental
composition designed to show the skill of an executant, and one which is
almost invariably accompanied by orchestra." This idea is in flat
violation of the whole history and aesthetics of the form, which can
never be understood by means of a study of averages. In art the average
is always false, and the individual organization of the greatest
classical works is the only sound basis for generalizations, historic or
aesthetic. (D. F. T.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Double and triple concertos are concertos with two or three solo
players. A concerto for several solo players is called a concertante.

CONCH (Lat. _concha_, Gr. [Greek: konchê]), a shell, particularly one of
a mollusc; hence the term "conchology," the science which deals with
such shells, more used formerly when molluscs were studied and
classified according to the shell formation; the word is chiefly now
used for the collection of shells (see MOLLUSCA, and such articles as
GASTROPODA, MALACOSTRACA, &c.). Large spiral conchs have been from early
times used as a form of trumpet, emitting a very loud sound. They are
used in the West Indies and the South Sea Islands. The Tritons of
ancient mythology are represented as blowing such "wreathed horns." In
anatomy, the term _concha_ or "conch" is used of the external ear, or of
the hollowed central part leading to the meatus; and, in architecture,
it is sometimes given to the half dome over the semicircular apse of the
basilica. In late Roman work at Baalbek and Palmyra and in Renaissance
buildings shells are frequently carved in the heads of circular niches.
A low class of the negro or other inhabitants of the Bahamas and the
Florida Keys are sometimes called "Conches" or "Conks" from the
shell-fish which form their staple food.

CONCHOID (Gr. [Greek: konchê], shell, and [Greek: eidos], form), a plane
curve invented by the Greek mathematician Nicomedes, who devised a
mechanical construction for it and applied it to the problem of the
duplication of the cube, the construction of two mean proportionals
between two given quantities, and possibly to the trisection of an angle
as in the 8th lemma of Archimedes. Proclus grants Nicomedes the credit
of this last application, but it is disputed by Pappus, who claims that
his own discovery was original. The conchoid has been employed by later
mathematicians, notably Sir Isaac Newton, in the construction of various
cubic curves.

[Illustration]

The conchoid is generated as follows:--Let O be a fixed point and BC a
fixed straight line; draw any line through O intersecting BC in P and
take on the line PO two points X, X', such that PX = PX' = a constant
quantity. Then the locus of X and X' is the conchoid. The conchoid is
also the locus of any point on a rod which is constrained to move so
that it always passes through a fixed point, while a fixed point on the
rod travels along a straight line. To obtain the equation to the curve,
draw AO perpendicular to BC, and let AO = a; let the constant quantity
PX = PX' = b. Then taking O as pole and a line through O parallel to BC
as the initial line, the polar equation is r = a cosec [theta] ± b, the
upper sign referring to the branch more distant from O. The cartesian
equation with A as origin and BC as axis of x is x²y² = (a + y)² (b² -
y²). Both branches belong to the same curve and are included in this
equation. Three forms of the curve have to be distinguished according to
the ratio of a to b. If a be less than b, there will be a node at O and
a loop below the initial point (curve 1 in the figure); if a equals b
there will be a cusp at O (curve 2); if a be greater than b the curve
will not pass through O, but from the cartesian equation it is obvious
that O is a conjugate point (curve 3). The curve is symmetrical about
the axis of y and has the axis of x for its asymptote.

CONCIERGE (a French word of unknown origin; the Latinized form was
_concergius_ or _concergerius_), originally the guardian of a house or
castle, in the middle ages a court official who was the custodian of a
royal palace. In Paris, when the _Palais de la Cité_ ceased about 1360
to be a royal residence and became the seat of the courts of justice,
the _Conciergerie_ was turned into a prison. In modern usage a
"concierge" is a hall-porter or janitor.

CONCINI, CONCINO (d. 1617), COUNT DELLA PENNA, MARSHAL D'ANCRE, Italian
adventurer, minister of King Louis XIII. of France, was a native of
Florence. He came to France in the train of Marie de' Medici, and
married the queen's lady-in-waiting, Leonora Dori, known as Galigai. The
credit which his wife enjoyed with the queen, his wit, cleverness and
boldness made his fortune. In 1610 he had purchased the marquisate of
Ancre and the position of first gentleman-in-waiting. Then he obtained
successively the governments of Amiens and of Normandy, and in 1614 the
bâton of marshal. From then first minister of the realm, he abandoned
the policy of Henry IV., compromised his wise legislation, allowed the
treasury to be pillaged, and drew upon himself the hatred of all
classes. The nobles were bitterly hostile to him, particularly Condé,
with whom he negotiated the treaty of Loudun in 1616, and whom he had
arrested in September 1616. This was done on the advice of Richelieu,
whose introduction into politics was favoured by Concini. But Louis
XIII., incited by his favourite Charles d'Albert, due de Luynes, was
tired of Concini's tutelage. The baron de Vitry received in the king's
name the order to imprison him. Apprehended on the bridge of the Louvre,
Concini was killed by the guards on the 24th of April 1617. Leonora was
accused of sorcery and sent to the stake in the same year.

In 1767 appeared at Brescia a _De Concini vita_, by D. Sandellius. On
the rôle of Concini see the _Histoire de France_, published under the
direction of E. Lavisse, vol. vi. (1905), by Mariéjol.

CONCLAVE (Lat. _conclave_, from _cum_, together, and _clavis_, a key),
strictly a room, or set of rooms, locked with a key; in this sense the
word is now obsolete in English, though the _New English Dictionary_
gives an example of its use so late as 1753. Its present loose
application to any private or close assembly, especially ecclesiastical,
is derived from its technical application to the assembly of cardinals
met for the election of the pope, with which this article is concerned.

Conclave is the name applied to that system of strict seclusion to which
the electors of the pope have been and are submitted, formerly as a
matter of necessity, and subsequently as the result of a legislative
enactment; hence the word has come to be used of the electoral assembly
of the cardinals. This system goes back only as far as the 12th century.

_Election of the Popes in Antiquity._--The very earliest episcopal
nominations, at Rome as elsewhere, seem without doubt to have been made
by the direct choice of the founders of the apostolic Christian
communities. But this exceptional method was replaced at an early date
by that of election. At Rome the method of election was the same as in
other towns: the Roman clergy and people and the neighbouring bishops
each took part in it in their several capacities. The people would
signify their approbation or disapprobation of the candidates more or
less tumultuously, while the clergy were, strictly speaking, the
electoral body, met to elect for themselves a new head, and the bishops
acted as presidents of the assembly and judges of the election. The
choice had to meet with general consent; but we can well imagine that in
an assembly of such size, in which the candidates were acclaimed rather
than elected by counting votes, the various functions were not very
distinct, and that persons of importance, whether clerical or lay, were
bound to influence the elections, and sometimes decisively. Moreover,
this form of election lent itself to cabals; and these frequently gave
rise to quarrels, sometimes involving bloodshed and schisms, i.e. the
election of antipopes, as they were later called. Such was the case at
the elections of Cornelius (251), Damasus (366), Boniface (418),
Symmachus (498), Boniface II. (530) and others. The remedy for this
abuse was found in having recourse, more or less freely, to the support
of the civil power. The emperor Honorius upheld Boniface against his
competitor Eulalius, at the same time laying down that cases of
contested election should henceforth be decided by a fresh election; but
this would have been a dangerous method and was consequently never
applied. Theodoric upheld Symmachus against Laurentius because he had
been elected first and by a greater majority. The accepted fact soon
became law, and John II. recognized (532) the right of the Ostrogothic
court of Ravenna to ratify the pontifical elections. Justinian succeeded
to this right together with the kingdom which he had destroyed; he
demanded, together with the payment of a tribute of 3000 golden
_solidi_, that the candidate elected should not receive the episcopal
consecration till he had obtained the confirmation of the emperor. Hence
arose long vacancies of the See, indiscreet interference in the
elections by the imperial officials, and sometimes cases of simony and
venality. This bondage became lighter in the 7th century, owing rather
to the weakening of the imperial power than to any resistance on the
part of the popes.

_9th to 12th Centuries._--From the emperors of the East the power
naturally passed to those of the West, and it was exercised after 824 by
the descendants of Charlemagne, who claimed that the election should not
proceed until the arrival of their envoys. But this did not last long;
at the end of the 9th century, Rome, torn by factions, witnessed the
scandal of the posthumous condemnation of Formosus. This deplorable
state of affairs lasted almost without interruption till the middle of
the 11th century. When the emperors were at Rome, they presided over the
elections; when they were away, the rival factions of the barons, the
Crescentii and the Alberici especially, struggled for the spiritual
power as they did for the temporal. During this period were seen cases
of popes imposed by a faction rather than elected, and then, at the
mercy of sedition, deposed, poisoned and thrown into prison, sometimes
to be restored by force of arms.

Election reserved to the cardinals.

The influence of the Ottos (962-1002) was a lesser evil; that of the
emperor Otto III. was even beneficial, in that it led to the election of
Gerbert (Silvester II., in 999). But this was only a temporary check in
the process of decadence, and in 1146 Clement II., the successor of the
worthless Benedict IX., admitted that henceforth not only the
consecration but even the _election_ of the Roman pontiffs could only
take place in presence of the emperor. In fact, after the death of
Clement II. the delegates of the Roman clergy did actually go to Polden
to ask Henry III. to give them a pope, and similar steps were taken
after the death of Damasus II., who reigned only twenty days.
Fortunately on this occasion Henry III. appointed, just before his
death, a man of high character, his cousin Bruno, bishop of Toul, who
presented himself in Rome in company with Hildebrand. From this time
began the reform. Hildebrand had the elections of Victor II. (1055),
Stephen IX. (1057), and Nicholas II. (1058) carried out according to the
canonical form, including the imperial ratification. The celebrated bull
_In nomine Domini_ of the 13th of April 1059 determined the electoral
procedure; it is curious to observe how, out of respect for tradition,
it preserves all the former factors in the election though their scope
is modified: "In the first place, the cardinal bishops shall carefully
consider the election together, then they shall consult with the
cardinal clergy, and afterwards the rest of the clergy and the people
shall by giving their assent confirm the new election." The election,
then, is reserved to the members of the higher clergy, to the cardinals,
among whom the cardinal bishops have the preponderating position. The
consent of the rest of the clergy and the people is now only a
formality. The same was the case of the imperial intervention, in
consequence of the phrase: "Saving the honour and respect due to our
dear son Henry (Henry IV.), according to the concession we have made to
him, and equally to his successors, who shall receive this right
personally from the Apostolic See." Thus the emperor has no rights save
those he has received as a concession from the Holy See. Gregory VII.,
it is true, notified his election to the emperor; but as he set up a
series of five antipopes, none of Gregory's successors asked any more
for the imperial sanction. Further, by this bull, the emperors would
have to deal with the _fait accompli_; for it provided that, in the
event of disturbances aroused by mischievous persons at Rome preventing
the election from being carried out there freely and without bias, the
cardinal bishops, together with a small number of the clergy and of the
laity, should be empowered to go and hold the election where they should
think fit; that should difficulties of any sort prevent the enthronement
of the new pope, the pope elect would be empowered immediately to act as
if he were actually pope. This legislation was definitely accepted by
the emperor by the concordat of Worms (1119).

A limited electoral body lends itself to more minute legislation than a
larger body; the college for electing the pope, thus reduced so as to
consist in practice of the cardinals only, was subjected as time went on
to laws of increasing severity. Two points of great importance were
established by Alexander III. at the Lateran Council of 1179. The
constitution _Licet de vitanda discordia_ makes all the cardinals
equally electors, and no longer mentions the lower clergy or the people;
it also requires a majority of two-thirds of the votes to decide an
election. This latter provision, which still holds good, made imperial
antipopes henceforth impossible.

The conclave.

Abuses nevertheless arose. An electoral college too small in numbers,
which no higher power has the right of forcing to haste, can prolong
disagreements and draw out the course of the election for a long time.
It is this period during which we actually find the Holy See left vacant
most frequently for long spaces of time. The longest of these, however,
gave an opportunity for reform and the remedy was found in the conclave,
i.e. in the forced and rigid seclusion of the electors. As a matter of
fact, this method had previously been used, but in a mitigated form: in
1216, on the death of Innocent III., the people of Perugia had shut up
the cardinals; and in 1241 the Roman magistrates had confined them
within the "Septizonium"; they took two months, however, to perform the
election. Celestine IV. died after eighteen days, and this time, in
spite of the seclusion of the cardinals, there was an interregnum of
twenty months. After the death of Clement IV. in 1268, the cardinals, of
whom seventeen were gathered together at Viterbo, allowed two years to
pass without coming to an agreement; the magistrates of Viterbo again
had recourse to the method of seclusion: they shut up the electors in
the episcopal palace, blocking up all outlets; and since the election
still delayed, the people removed the roof of the palace and allowed
nothing but bread and water to be sent in. Under the pressure of famine
and of this strict confinement, the cardinals finally agreed, on the 1st
of September 1271, to elect Gregory X., after an interregnum of two
years, nine months and two days.

Laws made by Gregory X.

Taught by experience, the new pope considered what steps could be taken
to prevent the recurrence of such abuses; in 1274, at the council of
Lyons, he promulgated the constitution _Ubi periculum_, the substance of
which was as follows: At the death of the pope, the cardinals who were
present are to await their absent colleagues for ten days; they are then
to meet in one of the papal palaces in a closed conclave; none of them
is to have to wait on him more than one servant, or two at most if he
were ill; in the conclave they are to lead a life in common, not even
having separate cells; they are to have no communication with the outer
world, under pain of excommunication for any who should attempt to
communicate with them; food is to be supplied to the cardinals through a
window which would be under watch; after three days, their meals are to
consist of a single dish only; and after five days, of bread and water,
with a little wine. During the conclave the cardinals are to receive no
ecclesiastical revenue. No account is to be taken of those who are
absent or have left the conclave. Finally, the election is to be the
sole business of the conclave, and the magistrates of the town where it
was held are called upon to see that these provisions be observed.
Adrian V. and John XX. were weak enough to suspend the constitution _Ubi
periculum_; but the abuses at once reappeared; the Holy See was again
vacant for long periods; this further proof was therefore decisive, and
Celestine V., who was elected after a vacancy of more than two years,
took care, before abdicating the pontificate, to revive the constitution
of Gregory X., which was inserted in the Decretals (lib. i. tit. vi.,
_de election._ cap. 3).

Julius II.

Since then the laws relating to the conclave have been observed, even
during the great schism; the only exception was the election of Martin
V., which was performed by the cardinals of the three obediences, to
which the council of Constance added five prelates of each of the six
nations represented in that assembly. The same was the case up to the
16th century. At this period the Italian republics, later Spain, and
finally the other powers, took an intimate interest in the choice of the
holder of what was a considerable political power; and each brought more
or less honest means to bear, sometimes that of simony. It was against
simony that Julius II. directed the bull _Cum tam divino_ (1503), which
directed that simoniacal election of the pope should be declared null;
that any one could attack it; that men should withdraw themselves from
the obedience of a pope thus elected; that simoniacal agreements should
be invalid; that the guilty cardinals should be excommunicate till their
death, and that the rest should proceed immediately to a new election.
The purpose of this measure was good, but the proposed remedy extremely
dangerous; it was fortunately never applied. Similarly, Paul IV.
endeavoured by severe punishments to check the intriguing and plotting
for the election of a new pope while his predecessor was still living;
but the bull _Cum secundum_ (1558) was of no effect.

Pius IV.

Gregory XV.

Pius IV. undertook the task of reforming and completing the legislation
of the conclave. The bull _In eligendis_ (of October 1st, 1562), signed
by all the cardinals, is a model of precision and wisdom. In addition to
the points already stated, we may add the following: that every day
there was to be a scrutiny, i.e. a solemn voting by specially prepared
voting papers (concealing the name of the voter, and to be opened only
in case of an election being made at that scrutiny), and that this was
to be followed by the "accessit," i.e. a second voting, in which the
cardinals might transfer their suffrages to those who had obtained the
greatest number of votes in the first. Except in case of urgent matters,
the election was to form the whole business of the conclave. The cells
were to be assigned by lot. The functionaries of the conclave were to be
elected by the secret vote of the Sacred College. The most stringent
measures were to be taken to ensure seclusion. The bull _Aeterni Patris_
of Gregory XV. (15th of November 1621) is a collection of minute
regulations. In it is the rule compelling each cardinal, before giving
his vote, to take the oath that he will elect him whom he shall judge to
be the most worthy; it also makes rules for the forms of voting and of
the voting papers, for the counting, the scrutiny, and in fact all the
processes of the election. A second bull, _Decet Romanum Pontificem_, of
the 12th of March 1622, fixed the ceremonial of the conclave with such
minuteness that it has not been changed since.

All previous legislation concerning the conclave was codified and
renewed by Pius X.'s bull, _Vacante Sede Apostolico_ (Dec. 25, 1904),
which abrogates the earlier texts, except Leo XIII.'s constitution
_Praedecessores Nostri_ (May 24, 1882), authorizing occasional
derogations in circumstances of difficulty, e.g. the death of a pope
away from Rome or an attempt to interfere with the liberty of the Sacred
College. The bull of Pius X. is rather a codification than a reform, the
principal change being the abolition of the scrutiny of accession and
the substitution of a second ordinary scrutiny during the same session.

On some occasions exceptional circumstances have given rise to
transitory measures. In 1797 and 1798 Pius VI. authorized the cardinals
to act contrary to such of the laws concerning the conclave as a
majority of them should decide not to observe, as being impossible in
practice. Similarly Pius IX., by means of various acts which remained
secret up till 1892, had taken the most minute precautions in order to
secure a free and rapid election, and to avoid all interference on the
part of the secular powers. We know that the conclaves in which Leo
XIII. and Pius X. were elected enjoyed the most complete liberty, and
the hypothetical measures foreseen by Pius IX. were not applied.

The conclave at Rome.

Until after the Great Schism the conclaves were held in various towns
outside of Rome; but since then they have all been held in Rome, with
the single exception of the conclave of Venice (1800), and in most cases
in the Vatican.

Modern procedure.

There was no place permanently established for the purpose, but
removable wooden cells were installed in the various apartments of the
palace, grouped around the Sistine chapel, in which the scrutinies took
place. The arrangements prepared in the Quirinal in 1823 did duty only
three times, and for the most recent conclaves it was necessary to
arrange an inner enclosure within the vast but irregular palace of the
Vatican. Each cardinal is accompanied by a clerk or secretary, known for
this reason as a conclavist, and by one servant only. With the officials
of the conclave, this makes about two hundred and fifty persons who
enter the conclave and have no further communication with the outer
world save by means of turning-boxes. Since 1870 the solemn ceremonies
of earlier times have naturally not been seen; for instance the
procession which used to celebrate the entry into conclave; or the daily
arrival in procession of the clergy and the brotherhoods to enquire at
the "rota" (turning-box) of the auditors of the Rota: "Habemusne
Pontificem?" and their return accompanied by the chanting of the "_Veni
Creator_"; or the "Marshal of the Holy Roman Church and perpetual
guardian of the conclave" visiting the churches in state. But a crowd
still collects morning and evening in the great square of St Peter's,
towards the time of the completion of the vote, to look for the smoke
which rises from the burning of the voting-papers after each session;
when the election has not been effected, a little straw is burnt with
the papers, and the column of smoke then apprises the spectators that
they have still no pope. Within the conclave, the cardinals, alone in
the common hall, usually the Sistine chapel, proceed morning and evening
to their double vote, the direct vote and the "accessit." Sometimes
these sessions have been very numerous; for example, in 1740, Benedict
XIV. was only elected after 255 scrutinies; on other occasions, however,
and notably in the case of the last few popes, a well-defined majority
has soon been evident, and there have been but few scrutinies. Each vote
is immediately counted by three scrutators, appointed in rotation, the
most minute precautions being taken to ensure that the voting shall be
secret and sincere. When one cardinal has at last obtained two-thirds of
the votes, the dean of the cardinals formally asks him whether he
accepts his election, and what name he wishes to assume. As soon as he
has accepted, the first "obedience" or "adoration" takes place, and
immediately after the first cardinal deacon goes to the _Loggia_ of St
Peter's and announces the great news to the assembled people. The
conclave is dissolved; on the following day take place the two other
"obediences," and the election is officially announced to the various
governments. If the pope be not a bishop (Gregory XVI. was not), he is
then consecrated; and finally, a few days after his election, takes
place the coronation, from which the pontificate is officially dated.
The pope then receives the tiara with the triple crown, the sign of his
supreme spiritual authority. The ceremony of the coronation goes back to
the 9th century, and the tiara, in the form of a high conical cap, is
equally ancient (see TIARA).

The right of veto.

In conclusion, a few words should be said with regard to the right of
_veto_. In the 16th and 17th centuries the character of the conclaves
was determined by the influence of what were then known as the
"factions," i.e. the formation of the cardinals into groups according to
their nationality or their relations with one of the Catholic courts of
Spain, France or the Empire, or again according as they favoured the
political policy of the late pope or his predecessor. These groups
upheld or opposed certain candidates. The Catholic courts naturally
entrusted the cardinals "of the crown," i.e. those of their nation, with
the mission of removing, as far as lay in their power, candidates who
were distasteful to their party; the various governments could even make
public their desire to exclude certain candidates. But they soon claimed
an actual right of formal and direct exclusion, which should be notified
in the conclave in their name by a cardinal charged with this mission,
and should have a decisive effect; this is what has been called the
right of veto. We cannot say precisely at what time during the 16th
century this transformation of the practice into a right, tacitly
accepted by the Sacred College, took place; it was doubtless felt to be
less dangerous formally to recognize the right of the three sovereigns
each to object to one candidate, than to face the inconvenience of
objections, such as were formulated on several occasions by Philip II.,
which, though less legal in form, might apply to an indefinite number of
candidates. The fact remains, however, that it was a right based on
custom, and was not supported by any text or written concession; but the
diplomatic right was straightforward and definite, and was better than
the intrigues of former days. During the 19th century Austria exercised,
or tried to exercise, the right of veto at all the conclaves, except
that which elected Leo XIII. (1878); it did so again at the conclave of
1903. On the 2nd of August Cardinal Rampolla had received twenty-nine
votes, when Cardinal Kolzielsko Puzina, bishop of Cracow, declared that
the Austrian government opposed the election of Cardinal Rampolla; the
Sacred College considered that it ought to yield, and on the 4th of
August elected Cardinal Sarto, who took the name of Pius X. By the bull
_Commissum Nobis_ (January 20, 1904), Pius X. suppressed all right of
"veto" or "exclusion" on the part of the secular governments, and
forbade, under pain of excommunication reserved to the future pope, any
cardinal or conclavist to accept from his government the charge of
proposing a "veto," or to exhibit it to the conclave under any form.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The best and most complete work is Lucius Lector, _Le
Conclave, origine, histoire, organisation, législation ancienne et
moderne_ (Paris, 1894). See also Ferraris, _Prompta Bibliotheca, s. v.
Papa_, art. i.; Moroni, _Dizionario di erudizione
storico-ecclesiastica, s. v. Conclave, Conclavisti, Cella, Elezione,
Esclusiva_; Bouix, _De Curia Romana_, part i. c. x.; _De Papa_, part
vii. (Paris, 1859, 1870); Barbier de Montault, _Le Conclave_ (Paris,
1878). On the conclave of Leo XIII., R. de Cesare, _Conclave di Leone
XIII._ (Rome, 1888). On the conclave of Pius X.: an eye-witness (Card.
Mathieu), _Les Derniers Jours de Léon XIII et le conclave_ (Paris,
1904). See further, for the right of veto: Phillips, _Kirchenrecht_,
t. v. p. 138; Sägmüller, _Die Papstwahlen und die Staate_ (Tübingen,
1890); _Die Papstwahlbullen und das staatliche Recht des Exclusive_
(Tübingen, 1892); Wahrmund, _Ausschliessungsrecht der katholischen
Staaten_ (Vienna, 1888). (A. Bo.*)

CONCORD, a township of Middlesex county, Massachusetts, U.S.A., about 20
m. N.W. of Boston. Pop. (1900) 5652; (1910, U.S. census) 6421. Area 25
sq. m. It is traversed by the Boston & Maine railway. Where the Sudbury
and Assabet unite to form the beautiful little Concord river, celebrated
by Thoreau, is the village of Concord, straggling, placid and beautiful,
full of associations with the opening of the War of Independence and
with American literature. Of particular interest is the "Old Manse,"
built in 1765 for Rev. William Emerson, in which his grandson R. W.
Emerson wrote _Nature_, and Hawthorne his _Mosses from an Old Manse_,
containing a charming description of the building and its associations.
At Concord there is a state reformatory, whose inmates, about 800 in
number, are employed in manufacturing various articles, but otherwise
the town has only minor business and industrial interests. The
introduction of the "Concord" grape, first produced here by Ephraim Bull
in 1853, is said to have marked the beginning of the profitable
commercial cultivation of table grapes in the United States. Concord was
settled and incorporated as a township in 1635, and was (with Dedham)
the first settlement in Massachusetts back from the sea-coast. A county
convention at Concord village in August 1774 recommended the calling of
the first Provincial Congress of Massachusetts--one of the first
independent legislatures of America--which assembled here on the 11th of
October 1774, and again in March and April 1775. The village became
thereafter a storehouse of provisions and munitions of war, and hence
became the objective of the British expedition that on the 19th of April
1775 opened with the armed conflict at Lexington (q.v.) the American War
of Independence. As the British proceeded to Concord the whole country
was rising, and at Concord about 500 minute-men confronted the British
regulars who were holding the village and searching for arms and stores.
Volleys were exchanged, the British retreated, the minute-men hung on
their flanks and from the hillsides shot them down, driving their
columns on Lexington. A granite obelisk, erected in 1837, when Emerson
wrote his ode on the battle, marks the spot where the first British
soldiers fell; while across the stream a fine bionze "Minute-Man" (1875)
by D. C. French (a native of Concord) marks the spot where once "the
embattled farmers stood and fired the shot heard round the world"
(Emerson). Concord was long one of the shire-townships of Middlesex
county, losing this honour in 1867. The village is famous as the home of
R. W. Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry D. Thoreau, Louisa M. Alcott
and her father, A. Bronson Alcott, who maintained here from 1879 to 1888
(in a building still standing) the Concord school of philosophy, which
counted Benjamin Peirce, W. T. Harris, Mrs J. W. Howe, T. W. Higginson,
Professor William James and Emerson among its lecturers. Emerson,
Hawthorne, Thoreau and the Alcotts are buried here in the beautiful
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Of the various orations (among others one by
Edward Everett in 1825) that have been delivered at Concord
anniversaries perhaps the finest is that of George William Curtis,
delivered in 1875.

See A. S. Hudson, _The History of Concord_, vol. i. (Concord, 1904);
G. B. Bartlett, _Concord: Historic, Literary and Picturesque_ (Boston,
1885); and Mrs J. L. Swayne, _Story of Concord_ (Boston, 1907).

CONCORD, a city and the county-seat of Cabarrus county, North Carolina,
U.S.A., on the Rocky river, about 150 m. W.S.W. of Raleigh. Pop. (1890)
4339; (1900) 7910 (1789 negroes); (1910) 8715. It is served by the
Southern railway. Concord is situated in a cotton-growing region, and
its chief interest is in the manufacture of cotton goods. The city is
the seat of Scotia seminary (for negro girls), founded in 1870 and under
the care of the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen, Pittsburgh
Pa. Concord was laid out in 1793 and was first incorporated in 1851.

CONCORD, the capital of New Hampshire, U.S.A., and the county-seat of
Merrimack county, on both sides of the Merrimac river, about 75 m. N.W.
of Boston, Massachusetts. Pop. (1890) 17,004; (1900) 19,632, of whom
3813 were foreign-born; (1910, census) 21,497. Concord is served by the
Boston & Maine railway. The area of the city in 1906 was 45.16 sq. m.
Concord has broad streets bordered with shade trees; and has several
parks, including Penacook, White, Rollins and the Contoocook river.
Among the principal buildings are the state capitol, the state library,
the city hall, the county court-house, the post-office, a public library
(17,000 vols.), the state hospital, the state prison, the Centennial
home for the aged, the Margaret Pillsbury memorial hospital, the Rolfe
and Rumford asylum for orphan girls, founded by Count Rumford's
daughter, and some fine churches, including the Christian Science church
built by Mrs Eddy. There are a soldiers' memorial arch, a statue of
Daniel Webster by Thomas Ball, and statues of John P. Hale, John Stark,
and Commodore George H. Perkins, the last by Daniel C. French; and at
Penacook, 6 m. N.W. of Concord, there is a monument to Hannah Dustin
(see HAVERHILL). Among the educational institutions are the well-known
St Paul's school for boys (Protestant Episcopal, 1853), about 2 m. W. of
the city, and St Mary's school for girls (Protestant Episcopal, 1885).
From 1847 to 1867 Concord was the seat of the Biblical Institute
(Methodist Episcopal), founded in Newbury, Vermont, in 1841, removed to
Boston as the Boston Theological Seminary in 1867, and after 1871 a part
of Boston University. The city has various manufactures, including flour
and grist mill products, silver ware, cotton and woollen goods,
carriages, harnesses and leather belting, furniture, wooden ware, pianos
and clothing; the Boston & Maine Railroad has a large repair shop in the
city, and there are valuable granite quarries in the vicinity. In 1905
Concord ranked third among the cities of the state in the value of its
factory products, which was $6,387,372, being an increase of 51.7% since
1900. When first visited by the English settlers, the site of Concord
was occupied by Penacook Indians; a trading post was built here about
1660. In 1725 Massachusetts granted the land in this vicinity to some of
her citizens; but this grant was not recognized by New Hampshire, whose
legislature issued (1727) a grant (the Township of Bow) overlapping the
Massachusetts grant, which was known as Penacook or Penny Cook. The New
Hampshire grantees undertook to establish here a colony of Londonderry
Irish; but the Massachusetts settlers were firmly established by the
spring of 1727, Massachusetts definitely assumed jurisdiction in 1731,
and in 1734 her general court incorporated the settlement under the name
of Rumford. The conflicting rights of Rumford and Bow gave rise to one
of the most celebrated of colonial land cases, and although the New
Hampshire authorities enforced their claims of jurisdiction, the privy
council in 1755 confirmed the Rumford settlers in their possession. In
1765 the name was changed to the "parish of Concord," and in 1784 the
town of Concord was incorporated. Here, for some years before the War of
American Independence, lived Benjamin Thompson, later Count Rumford. In
1778 and again in 1781-1782 a state constitutional convention met here;
the first New Hampshire legislature met at Concord in 1782; the
convention which ratified for New Hampshire the Federal Constitution met
here in 1788; and in 1808 the state capital was definitely established
here. The New Hampshire _Patriot_, founded here in 1808 (and for twenty
years edited) by Isaac Hill (1788-1851), who was a member of the United
States Senate in 1831-1836, and governor of New Hampshire in 1836-1839,
became one of the leading exponents of Jacksonian Democracy in New
England. In 1814 the Middlesex Canal, connecting Concord with Boston,
was completed. A city charter granted by the legislature in 1849 was not
accepted by the city until 1853.

See J. O. Lyford, _The History of Concord, New Hampshire_ (City
History Commission) (2 vols., Concord, 1903); _Concord Town Records,
1732-1820_ (Concord, 1894); J. B. Moore, _Annals of Concord,
1726-1823_ (Concord, 1824); and Nathaniel Bouton, _The History of
Concord_ (Concord, 1856).

CONCORD, BOOK OF (_Liber Concordiae_), the collective documents of the
Lutheran confession, consisting of the _Confessio Augustana_, the
_Apologia Confessionis Augustanae_, the _Articula Smalcaldici_, the
_Catechismi Major et Minor_ and the _Formula Concordiae_. This last was
a formula issued on the 25th of June 1580 (the jubilee of the Augsburg
Confession) by the Lutheran Church in an attempt to heal the breach
which, since the death of Luther, had been widening between the extreme
Lutherans and the Crypto-Calvinists. Previous attempts at concord had
been made at the request of different rulers, especially by Jacob Andreä
with his Swabian Concordia in 1573, and Abel Scherdinger with the
Maulbronn Formula in 1575. In 1576 the elector of Saxony called a
conference of theologians at Torgau to discuss these two efforts and
from them produce a third. The _Book of Torgau_ was evolved, circulated
and criticized; a new committee, prominent on which was Martin Chemnitz,
sitting at Bergen near Magdeburg, considered the criticisms and finally
drew up the _Formula Concordiae_. It consists of (a) the "Epitome," (b)
the "Solid Repetition and Declaration," each part comprising twelve
articles; and was accepted by Saxony, Württemberg, Baden among other
states, but rejected by Hesse, Nassau and Holstein. Even the free cities
were divided, Hamburg and Lübeck for, Bremen and Frankfort against.
Hungary and Sweden accepted it, and so finally did Denmark, where at
first it was rejected, and its publication made a crime punishable by
death. In spite of this very limited reception the _Formula Concordiae_
has always been reckoned with the five other documents as of
confessional authority.

See P. Schaff, _Creeds of Christendom_, i. 258-340, iii. 92-180.

CONCORDANCE (Late Lat. _concordantia_, harmony, from _cum_, with, and
_cor_, heart), literally agreement, harmony; hence derivatively a
citation of parallel passages, and specifically an alphabetical
arrangement of the words contained in a book with citations of the
passages in which they occur. Concordances in this last sense were first
made for the Bible. Originally the word was only used in this connexion
in the plural _concordantiae_, each group of parallel passages being
properly a _concordantia_. The Germans distinguish between concordances
of things and concordances of words, the former indexing the subject
matter of a book ("real" concordance), the latter the words ("verbal"
concordance).

The original impetus to the making of concordances was due to the
conviction that the several parts of the Bible are consistent with each
other, as parts of a divine revelation, and may be combined as
harmonious elements in one system of spiritual truth. To Anthony of
Padua (1195-1231) ancient tradition ascribes the first concordance, the
anonymous _Concordantiae Morales_, of which the basis was the Vulgate.
The first authentic work of the kind was due to Cardinal Hugh of St
Cher, a Dominican monk (d. 1263), who, in preparing for a commentary on
the Scriptures, found the need of a concordance, and is reported to have
used for the purpose the services of five hundred of his brother monks.
This concordance was the basis of two which succeeded in time and
importance, one by Conrad of Halberstadt (fl. c. 1290) and the other by
John of Segovia in the next century. This book was published in a
greatly improved and amplified form in the middle of the 19th century by
David Nutt, of London, edited by T. P. Dutripon. The first Hebrew
concordance was compiled in 1437-1445 by Rabbi Isaac Nathan b. Kalonymus
of Arles. It was printed at Venice in 1523 by Daniel Bomberg, in Basel
in 1556, 1569 and 1581. It was published under the title _Meir Natib_,
"The Light of the Way." In 1556 it was translated into Latin by Johann
Reuchlin, but many errors appeared in both the Hebrew and the Latin
edition. These were corrected by Marius de Calasio, a Franciscan friar,
who published a four volume folio _Concordantiae Sacr. Bibl. Hebr. et
Latin._ at Rome, 1621, much enlarged, with proper names included.
Another concordance based on Nathan's was Johann Buxtorf the elder's
_Concordantiae Bibl. Ebraicae nova et artificiosa methodo dispositae_,
Basel, 1632. It marks a stage in both the arrangement and the knowledge
of the roots of words, but can only be used by those who know the
massoretic system, as the references are made by Hebrew letters and
relate to rabbinical divisions of the Old Testament. Calasio's
concordance was republished in London under the direction of William
Romaine in 1747-1749, in four volumes folio, under the patronage of all
the monarchs of Europe and also of the pope. In 1754 John Taylor, D.D.,
a Presbyterian divine in Norwich, published in two volumes the _Hebrew
Concordance adapted to the English Bible_, disposed after the manner of
Buxtorf. This was the most complete and convenient concordance up to the
date of its publication. In the middle of the 19th century Dr Julius
Fürst issued a thoroughly revised edition of Buxtorf's concordance. The
_Hebräischen und chaldäischen Concordanz zu den Heiligen Schriften Alten
Testaments_ (Leipzig, 1840) carried forward the development of the
concordance in several directions. It gave (1) a corrected text founded
on Hahn's Vanderhoogt's Bible; (2) the Rabbinical meanings; (3)
explanations in Latin, and illustrations from the three Greek versions,
the Aramaic paraphrase, and the Vulgate; (4) the Greek words employed by
the Septuagint as renderings of the Hebrew; (5) notes on philology and
archaeology, so that the concordance contained a Hebrew lexicon. An
English translation by Dr Samuel Davidson was published in 1867. A
revised edition of Buxtorf's work with additions from Fürst's was
published by B. Bär (Stettin, 1862). A new concordance embodying the
matter of all previous works with lists of proper names and particles
was published by Solomon Mandelkern in Leipzig (1896); a smaller edition
of the same, without quotations, appeared in 1900. There are also
concordances of Biblical proper names by G. Brecher (Frankfort-on-Main,
1876) and Schusslovicz (Wilna, 1878).

A _Concordance to the Septuagint_ was published at Frankfort in 1602 by
Conrad Kircher of Augsburg; in this the Hebrew words are placed in
alphabetical order and the Greek words by which they are translated are
placed under them. A Septuagint concordance, giving the Greek words in
alphabetical order, was published in 1718 in two volumes by Abraham
Tromm, a learned minister at Groningen, then in the eighty-fourth year
of his age. It gives the Greek words in alphabetical order; a Latin
translation; the Hebrew word or words for which the Greek term is used
by the Septuagint; then the places where the words occur in the order of
the books and chapters; at the end of the quotations from the Septuagint
places are given where the word occurs in Aquila, Symmachus and
Theodotion, the other Greek translations of the O. T.; and the words of
the Apocrypha follow in each case. Besides an index to the Hebrew and
Chaldaic words there is another index which contains a lexicon to the
_Hexapla_ of Origen. In 1887 (London) appeared the _Handy Concordance of
the Septuagint giving various readings from Codices Vaticanus,
Alexandrinus, Sinaiticus and Ephraemi, with an appendix of words from
Origen's Hexapla, not found in the above manuscripts_, by G. M., without
quotations. A work of the best modern scholarship was brought out in
1897 by the Clarendon Press, Oxford, entitled _A Concordance to the
Septuagint and the other Greek versions of the Old Testament including
the Apocryphal Books_, by Edwin Hatch and H. A. Redpath, assisted by
other scholars; this was completed in 1900 by a list of proper names.

_The first Greek concordance_ to the New Testament was published at
Basel in 1546 by Sixt Birck or Xystus Betuleius (1500-1554), a
philologist and minister of the Lutheran Church. This was followed by
Stephen's concordance (1594) planned by Robert Stephens and published by
Henry, his son. Then in 1638 came Schmied's [Greek: tamieion], which has
been the basis of subsequent concordances to the New Testament. Erasmus
Schmied or Schmid was a Lutheran divine who was professor of Greek in
Wittenberg, where he died in 1637. Revised editions of the [Greek:
tamieion] were published at Gotha in 1717, and at Glasgow in 1819 by the
University Press. In the middle of the 19th century Charles Hermann
Bruder brought out a beautiful edition (Tauchnitz) with many
improvements. The _apparatus criticus_ was a triumph of New Testament
scholarship. It collates the readings of Erasmus, R. Stephens' third
edition, the Elzevirs, Mill, Bengel, Webster, Knapp, Tittman, Scholz,
Lachmann. It also gives a selection from the most ancient patristic
MSS. and from various interpreters. No various reading of critical value
is omitted. An edition of Bruder with readings of Samuel Prideaux
Tregelles was published in 1888 under the editorship of Westcott and
Hort. The _Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament_, and the
_Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance_, are books intended to put
the results of the above-mentioned works at the service of those who
know little Hebrew or Greek. Every word in the Bible is given in Hebrew
or Greek, the word is transliterated, and then every passage in which it
occurs is given--the word, however it may be translated, being
italicized. They are the work of George V. Wigram assisted by W. Burgh
and superintended by S. P. Tregelles, B. Davidson and W. Chalk (1843;
2nd ed. 1860). Another book which deserves mention is, _A Concordance to
the Greek Testament with the English version to each word; the principal
Hebrew roots corresponding to the Greek words of the Septuagint, with
short critical notes and an index_, by John Williams, LL.D., Lond. 1767.

In 1884 Robert Young, author of an analytical concordance mentioned
below, brought out a _Concordance to the Greek New Testament with a
dictionary of Bible Words and Synonyms_: this contains a concise
concordance to eight thousand changes made in the Revised Testament.
Another important work of modern scholarship is the _Concordance to the
Greek Testament_, edited by the Rev. W. F. Moulton and A. E. Geden,
according to the texts adopted by Westcott and Hort, Tischendorf, and
the English revisers.

The first concordance to the English version of the New Testament was
published in London, 1535, by Thomas Gybson. It is a black-letter volume
entitled _The Concordance of the New Testament most necessary to be had
in the hands of all soche as delyte in the communicacion of any place
contayned in ye New Testament_.

The first English concordance of the entire Bible was John Marbeck's, _A
Concordance, that is to saie, a worke wherein by the order of the
letters of the A.B.C. ye maie redely find any worde conteigned in the
whole Bible, so often as it is there expressed or mentioned_, Lond.
1550. Although Robert Stephens had divided the Bible into verses in
1545, Marbeck does not seem to have known this and refers to the
chapters only. In 1550 also appeared Walter Lynne's translation of the
concordance issued by Bullinger, Jude, Pellican and others of the
Reformers. Other English concordances were published by Cotton, Newman,
and in abbreviated forms by John Downham or Downame (cd. 1652), Vavasor
Powell (1617-1670), Jackson and Samuel Clarke (1626-1701). In 1737
Alexander Cruden (q.v.), a London bookseller, born and educated in
Aberdeen, published his _Complete Concordance to the Holy Scriptures of
the Old and New Testament, to which is added a concordance to the books
called Apocrypha_. This book embodied, was based upon and superseded all
its predecessors. Though the first edition was not remunerative, three
editions were published during Cruden's life, and many since his death.
Cruden's work is accurate and full, and later concordances only
supersede his by combining an English with a Greek and Hebrew
concordance. This is done by the _Critical Greek and English
Concordance_ prepared by C. F. Hudson, H. A. Hastings and Ezra Abbot,
LL.D., published in Boston, Mass., and by the _Critical Lexicon and
Concordance to the English and Greek New Testament_, by E. L. Bullinger,
1892. The _Interpreting Concordance to the New Testament_, edited by
James Gall, shows the Greek original of every word, with a glossary
explaining the Greek words of the New Testament, and showing their
varied renderings in the Authorized Version. The most convenient of
these is _Young's Analytical Concordance_, published in Edinburgh in
1879, and since revised and reissued. It shows (1) the original Hebrew
or Greek of any word in the English Bible; (2) the literal and primitive
meaning of every such original word; (3) thoroughly reliable parallel
passages. There is a _Students' Concordance to the Revised Version of
the New Testament_ showing the changes embodied in the revision,
published under licence of the universities; and a concordance to the
Revised Version by J. A. Thoms for the Christian Knowledge Society.

Biblical concordances having familiarized students with the value and
use of such books for the systematic study of an author, the practice of
making concordances has now become common. There are concordances to the
works of Shakespeare, Browning and many other writers. (D. Mn.)

CONCORDAT (Lat. _concordatum_, agreed upon, from _con-_, together, and
_cor_, heart), a term originally denoting an agreement between
ecclesiastical persons or secular persons, but later applied to a pact
concluded between the ecclesiastical authority and the secular authority
on ecclesiastical matters which concern both, and, more specially, to a
pact concluded between the pope, as head of the Catholic Church, and a
temporal sovereign for the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs in the
territory of such sovereign. It is to concordats in this later sense
that this article refers.

No one now questions the profound distinction that exists between the
two powers, spiritual and temporal, between the church and the state.
Yet these two societies are none the less in inevitable relation. The
same men go to compose both; and the church, albeit pursuing a spiritual
end, cannot dispense with the aid of temporal property, which in its
nature depends on the organization of secular society. It follows of
necessity that there are some matters which may be called "mixed," and
which are the legitimate concern of the two powers, such as church
property, places of worship, the appointment and the emoluments of
ecclesiastical dignitaries, the temporal rights and privileges of the
secular and regular clergy, the regulation of public worship, and the
like. The existence of such mixed matters gives rise to inevitable
conflicts of jurisdiction, which may lead, and sometimes have led, to
civil war. It is, therefore, to the general interest that all these
matters should be settled pacifically, by a common accord; and hence
originated those conventions between the two powers which are known by
the significant name of concordat, the official name being _pactum
concordatum_ or _solemnis conventio_. In theory these agreements may
result from the spontaneous and pacific initiative of the contracting
parties, but in reality their object has almost always been to terminate
more or less acute conflicts and remedy more or less disturbed
situations. It is for this reason that concordats always present a
clearly marked character of mutual concession, each of the two powers
renouncing certain of its claims in the interests of peace.

For the purposes of a concordat the state recognizes the official
_status_ of the church and of its ministers and tribunals; guarantees it
certain privileges; and sometimes binds itself to secure for it
subsidies representing compensation for past spoliations. The pope on
his side grants the temporal sovereign certain rights, such as that of
making or controlling the appointment of dignitaries; engages to proceed
in harmony with the government in the creation of dioceses or parishes;
and regularizes the situation produced by the usurpation of church
property &c. The great advantage of concordats--indeed their principal
utility--consists in transforming necessarily unequal unilateral claims
into contractual obligations analogous to those which result from an
international convention. Whatever the obligations of the state towards
the ecclesiastical society may be in pure theory, in practice they
become more precise and stable when they assume the nature of a
bilateral convention by which the state engages itself with regard to a
third party. And reciprocally, whatever may be the absolute rights of
the ecclesiastical society over the appointment of its dignitaries, the
administration of its property, and the government of its adherents, the
exercise of these rights is limited and restricted by the stable
engagements and concessions of the concordatory pact, which bind the
head of the church with regard to the nations.

A concordat may assume divers forms,--historically, three. The most
common in modern times is that of a diplomatic convention debated
between the authorized mandatories of the high contracting parties and
subsequently ratified by the latter; as, for example, the French
concordat of 1801. Or, secondly, the concordat may result from two
identical separate acts, one emanating from the pope and the other from
the sovereign; this was the form of the first true concordat, that of
Worms, in 1122. A third form was employed in the case of the concordat
of 1516 between Leo X. and Francis I. of France; a papal bull published
the concordat in the form of a concession by the pope, and it was
afterwards accepted and published by the king as law of the country. The
shades which distinguish these three forms are not without significance,
but they in no way detract from the contractual character of concordats.

Since concordats are contracts they give rise to that special mutual
obligation which results from every agreement freely entered into; for a
contract is binding on both parties to it. Concordats are undoubtedly
conventions of a particular nature. They may make certain concessions or
privileges once given without any corresponding obligation; they
constitute for a given country a special ecclesiastical law; and it is
thus that writers have sometimes spoken of concordats as privileges.
Again, it is quite certain that the spiritual matters upon which
concordats bear do not concern the two powers in the same manner and in
the same degree; and in this sense concordats are not perfectly equal
agreements. Finally, they do not assume the contracting parties to be
totally independent, i.e. regard is had to the existence of anterior
rights or duties. But with these reservations it must unhesitatingly be
said that concordats are bilateral or synallagmatic contracts, from
which results an equal mutual obligation for the two parties, who enter
into a juridical engagement towards each other. Latterly certain
Catholics have questioned this equality of the concordatory obligation,
and have aroused keen discussion. According to Maurice de Bonald (_Deux
questions sur le concordat de 1801_, Geneva, 1871), who exaggerates the
view of Cardinal Tarquini (_Instit. juris publ. eccl._, 1862 and 1868),
concordats would be pure privileges granted by the pope; the pope would
not be able to enter into agreements on spiritual matters or impose
restraints upon the power of his successors; and consequently he would
not bind himself in any juridical sense and would be able freely to
revoke concordats, just as the author of a privilege can withdraw it at
his pleasure. This exaggerated argument found a certain number of
supporters, several of whom nevertheless sensibly weakened it. But the
best canonists, from the Roman professor De Angelis (_Prael. juris
canon._ i. 106) onwards, and all jurists, have victoriously refuted this
theory, either by insisting on the principles common to all agreements
or by citing the formal text of several concordats and papal acts, which
are as explicit as possible. They have thus upheld the true contractual
nature of concordats and the mutual juridical obligation which results
from them.

The foregoing statements must not be taken to mean that concordats are
in their nature perpetual, and that they cannot be broken or denounced.
They have the perpetuity of conventions which contain no time
limitation; but, like every human convention, they can be denounced, in
the form in use for international treaties, and for good reasons, which
are summed up in the exigencies of the general good of the country.
Nevertheless, there is no example of a concordat having been denounced
or broken by the popes, whereas several have been denounced or broken by
the civil powers, sometimes in the least diplomatic manner, as in the
case of the French concordat in 1905. The rupture of the concordat at
once terminates the obligations which resulted from it on both sides;
but it does not break off all relation between the church and the state,
since the two societies continue to coexist on the same territory. To
the situation defined by concordat, however, succeeds another situation,
more or less uncertain and more or less strained, in which the two
powers legislate separately on mixed matters, sometimes not without
provoking conflicts.

We cannot describe in detail the objects of concordatory conventions.
They bear upon very varied matters,[1] and we must confine ourselves
here to a brief _résumé_. In the first place is the official recognition
by the state of the Catholic religion and its ministers. Sometimes the
Catholic religion is declared to be the state religion, and at least the
free and public exercise of its worship is guaranteed. Several
conventions guarantee the free communication of the bishops, clergy and
laity with the Holy See; and this admits of the publication and
execution of apostolic letters in matters spiritual. Others define those
affairs of major importance which may be or must be referred to the Holy
See by appeal, or the decision of which is reserved to the Holy See. On
several occasions concordats have established a new division of
dioceses, and provided that future erections or divisions should be made
by a common accord. Analogous provisions have been made with regard to
the territorial divisions within the dioceses; parishes have been
recast, and the consent of the two authorities has been required for the
establishment of new parishes. As regards candidates for ecclesiastical
offices, the concordats concluded with Catholic nations regularly give
the sovereign the right to nominate or present to bishoprics, often also
to other inferior benefices, such as canonries, important parishes and
abbeys; or at least the choice of the ecclesiastical authority is
submitted to the approval of the civil power. In all cases canonical
institution (which confers ecclesiastical jurisdiction) is reserved to
the pope or the bishops. In countries where the head of the state is not
a Catholic, the bishops are regularly elected by the chapters, but the
civil power has the right to strike out objectionable names from the
list of candidates which is previously submitted to it. Other
conventions secure the exercise of the jurisdiction of the bishops in
their diocese, and determine precisely their authority over seminaries
and other ecclesiastical establishments of instruction and education, as
well as over public schools, so far as concerns the teaching of
religion. Certain concordats deal with the orders and congregations of
monks and nuns with a view to subjecting them to a certain control while
securing to them the legal exercise of their activities. Ecclesiastical
immunities, such as reservation of the criminal cases of the clergy,
exemption from military service and other privileges, are expressly
maintained in a certain number of pacts. One of the most important
subjects is that of church property. An agreement is come to as to the
conditions on which pious foundations are able to be made; the measure
in which church property shall contribute to the public expenses is
indicated; and, in the 19th century, the position of those who have
acquired confiscated church property is regularized. In exchange for
this surrender by the church of its ancient property the state engages
to contribute to the subsistence of the ministers of public worship, or
at least of certain of them.

Scholars agree in associating the earliest concordats with the
celebrated contest about investitures (q.v.), which so profoundly
agitated Christian Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. The first in
date is that which was concluded for England with Henry I. in 1107 by
the efforts of St Anselm. The convention of Sutri of 1111 between Pope
Paschal II. and the emperor Henry V. having been rejected, negotiations
were resumed by Pope Calixtus II. and ended in the concordat of Worms
(1122), which was confirmed in 1177 by the convention between Alexander
III. and the emperor Frederick I. In this concordat a distinction was
made between spiritual investiture, by the ring and pastoral staff, and
lay or feudal investiture, by the sceptre. The emperor renounced
investiture by ring and staff, and permitted canonical elections; the
pope on his part recognized the king's right to perform lay investiture
and to assist at elections. Analogous to this convention was the
concordat concluded between Nicholas IV. and the king of Portugal in
1289.

The lengthy discussions on ecclesiastical benefices in Germany ended
finally in the concordat of Vienna, promulgated by Nicholas V. in 1448.
Already at the council of Constance attempts had been made to reduce the
excessive papal reservations and taxes in the matter of benefices,
privileges which had been established under the Avignon popes and during
the Great Schism; for example, Martin V. had had to make with the
different nations special arrangements which were valid for five years
only, and by which he renounced the revenues of vacant benefices. The
council of Basel went further: it suppressed annates and all the
benefice reservations which did not appear in the _Corpus Juris_.
Eugenius IV. repudiated the Basel decrees, and the negotiations
terminated in what was called the "concordat of the princes," which was
accepted by Eugenius IV. on his death-bed (bulls of February 5 and 7,
1447). In February 1448 Nicholas V. concluded the arrangement, which
took the name of the concordat of Vienna. This concordat, however, was
not received as law of the Empire. In Germany the concessions made to
the pope and the reservations maintained by him in the matter of taxes
and benefices were deemed excessive, and the prolonged discontent which
resulted was one of the causes of the success of the Lutheran
Reformation.

In France the opposition to the papal exactions had been still more
marked. In 1438 the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges adopted and put into
practice the Basel decrees, and in spite of the incessant protests of
the Holy See the Pragmatic was observed throughout the 15th century,
even after its nominal abolition by Louis XI. in 1461. The situation was
modified by the concordat of Bologna, which was personally negotiated by
Leo X. and Francis I. of France at Bologna in December 1515, inserted in
the bull _Primitiva_ (August 18, 1516), and promulgated as law of the
realm in 1517, but not without rousing keen opposition. All bishoprics,
abbeys and priories were in the royal nomination, the canonical
institution belonging to the pope. The pope preserved the right to
nominate to vacant benefices _in curia_ and to certain benefices of the
chapters, but all the others were in the nomination of the bishops or
other inferior collators. However, the exercise of the pope's right of
provision still left considerable scope for papal intervention, and the
pope retained the annates.

In the 17th century we have only to mention the concordat between Urban
VIII. and the emperor Ferdinand II. for Bohemia in 1640. In the 18th
century concordats are numerous: there are two for Spain, in 1737 and
1753; two for the duchy of Milan, in 1757 and 1784; one for Poland, in
1736; five for Sardinia and Piedmont, in 1727, 1741, 1742, 1750 and
1770; and one for the kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1741.

After the political and territorial upheavals which marked the end of
the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, all these concordats
either fell to the ground or had to be recast. In the 19th century we
find a long series of concordats, of which a good number are still in
force. The first in date and importance is that of 1801, concluded for
France between Napoleon, First Consul, and Pius VII. after laborious
negotiations. Save in the provisions relating to ecclesiastical
benefices, all the property of which had been confiscated, it reproduced
the concordat of 1516. The pope condoned those who had acquired church
property; and by way of compensation the government engaged to give the
bishops and curés suitable salaries. The concordat was solemnly
promulgated on Easter Day 1802, but the government had added to it
unilateral provisions of Gallican tendencies, which were known as the
Organic Articles. After having been the law of the Church of France for
a century, it was denounced by the French government in 1905. It
remains, however, partly in force for Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine, which
formed part of French territory in 1801.

We conclude with a brief chronological survey of the concordats during
the 19th century, some now abrogated or replaced, others maintained. It
must be observed that the denunciation of a concordat by a nation does
not necessarily entail the separation of the church and the state in
that country or the rupture of diplomatic relations with Rome.

1803. For the Italian republic, between Napoleon and Pius VII.,
analogous to the French concordat; abrogated.

1813. It is impossible to designate as a concordat the concessions which
were wrested by violence from Pius VII. when ill and in seclusion at
Fontainebleau, and which he at once retracted.

1817. For Bavaria; still in force.

1817. New French concordat, in which Louis XVIII. endeavoured to revive
the concordat of 1516; but it was not put to the vote in the chambers,
and never came into force.

1817. For Piedmont, completed in 1836 and 1841; was suppressed, like
all other Italian concordats, by the formation of the kingdom of Italy.

1818. For the Two Sicilies, completed in 1834; lasted until the invasion
of the kingdom of Naples by Piedmont.

1821. For Prussia; still in force.

1821. For the Rhine provinces not incorporated in Prussia, with the
special object of regulating episcopal elections; concerned Württemberg,
Baden, Hesse, Saxony, Nassau, Frankfort, the Hanseatic towns, Oldenburg
and Waldeck. This first concordat was immediately suspended, and was not
ratified until 1827; it is partially maintained. It had to be replaced
by new concordats concluded with Württemberg in 1857 and the grand-duchy
of Baden in 1859; but these conventions, not having been ratified by
those countries, never came into force.

1824. For the kingdom of Hanover; maintained.

1827. For Belgium and Holland; abandoned by a common accord.

1828 and 1845. For Switzerland, for the reorganization of the bishoprics
of Basel and Soleure; in force.

1847. For Russia, never applied by Russia. It was followed by several
partial conventions.

1851. For Tuscany; lasted until the formation of the kingdom of Italy.

1851. For Spain, completed in 1859 and 1888; in force.

A convention on the religious orders was concluded in 1904, but had not
received the assent of the Senate in 1908.

1855. For Austria; denounced in 1870. Several of its provisions are
maintained by unilateral Austrian laws. The emperor of Austria continues
to nominate to bishoprics by virtue of rights anterior to this
concordat.

1857. For Portugal, completed in 1886 for the Portuguese possessions in
the Indies; in force.

1886. For Montenegro; in force.

The numerous concordats concluded towards the middle of the 19th century
with several of the South American republics either have not come into
force or have been denounced and replaced by a more or less pacific
modus vivendi.

For texts see Vincenzio Nussi, _Quinquaginta conventiones de rebus
ecclesiasticis_ (Rome, 1869; Mainz, 1870); Branden, _Concordata inter
S. Sedem et inclytam nationem Germaniae_, &c. (undated). On the nature
and obligation of concordats see Mgr. Giobbio, _I Concordati_ (Monza,
1900); _idem, Lezioni di diplomazia ecclesiastica_ (Rome, 1899-1903);
Cardinal Cavagnis, _Institutiones juris publici ecclesiastici_ (Rome,
1906). For the French concordats see A. Baudrillard, _Quatre cents ans
de concordat_ (Paris, 1905); Boulay de la Meurthe, _Documents sur la
négociation du concordat et sur les autres rapports de la France avec
le Saint-Siège_ (Paris, 1891-1905); Cardinal Mathieu, _Le Concordat de
1801_ (Paris, 1903); E. Sevestre, _Le Concordat de 1801, l'histoire,
le texte, la destinée_ (Paris, 1905). On the relations between the
church and the state in various countries see Vering, _Kirchenrecht_,
§§ 30-53. (A. Bo.*)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] These are arranged under thirty-five distinct heads in Nussi's
_Quinquaginta conventiones de rebus ecclesiasticis_ (Rome, 1869).

CONCORDIA, a Roman goddess, the personification of peace and goodwill.
Several temples in her honour were erected at Rome, the most ancient
being one on the Capitol, dedicated to her by Camillus (367 B.C.),
subsequently restored by Livia, the wife of Augustus, and consecrated by
Tiberius (A.D. 10). Other temples were frequently built to commemorate
the restoration of civil harmony. Offerings were made to Concordia on
the birthdays of emperors, and Concordia Augusta was worshipped as the
promoter of harmony in the imperial household. Concordia was represented
as a matron holding in her right hand a _patera_ or an olive branch, and
in her left a _cornu copiae_ or a sceptre. Her symbols were two hands
joined together, and two serpents entwined about a herald's staff.

CONCORDIA (mod. _Concordia Sagittaria_), an ancient town of Venetia, in
Italy, 16 ft. above sea-level, 31 m. W. of Aquileia, at the junction of
roads to Altinum and Patavium, to Opitergium (and thence either to
Vicetia and Verona, or Feltria and Tridentum), to Noricum by the valley
of the Tilaventus (Tagliamento), and to Aquileia. It was a mere village
until the time of Augustus, who made it a colony. Under the later empire
it was one of the most important towns of Italy; it had a strong
garrison and a factory of missiles for the army. The cemetery of the
garrison has been excavated since 1873, and a large number of important
inscriptions, the majority belonging to the end of the 4th and the
beginning of the 5th centuries, have been discovered. It was taken and
destroyed by Attila in A.D. 452. Considerable remains of the ancient
town have been found--parts of the city walls, the sites of the forum
and the theatre, and probably that of the arms factory. The objects
found are preserved at Portogruaro, 1¼ m. to the N. The see of Concordia
was founded at an early period, and transferred in 1339 to Portogruaro,
where it still remains. The baptistery of Concordia was probably erected
in 1100.

See Ch. Hülsen in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopädie_, iv. (Stuttgart,
1901) 830. (T. As.)

CONCRETE (Lat. _concretus_, participle of _concrescere_, to grow
together), a term used in various technical senses with the general
significance of combination, conjunction, solidity. Thus the building
material made up of separate substances combined into one is known as
concrete (see below). In mathematics and music, the adjective has been
used as synonymous with "continuous" as opposed to "discrete," i.e.
"separate," "discontinuous." This antithesis is no doubt influenced by
the idea that the two words derive from a common origin, whereas
"discrete" is derived from the Latin _discernere_. In logic and also in
common language concrete terms are those which signify persons or things
as opposed to abstract terms which signify qualities, relations,
attributes (so J. S. Mill). Thus the term "man" is concrete, while
"manhood" and "humanity" are abstract, the names of the qualities
implied. Confusions between abstract and concrete terms are frequent;
thus the word "relation," which is strictly an abstract term implying
connexion between two things or persons, is often used instead of the
correct term "relative" for people related to one another. Concrete
terms are further subdivided as Singular, the names of things regarded
as individuals, and General or Common, the names which a number of
things bear in common in virtue of their possession of common
characteristics. These latter terms, though concrete in so far as they
denote the persons or things which are known by them (see DENOTATION),
have also an abstract sense when viewed connotatively, i.e. as implying
the quality or qualities in isolation from the individuals. The
ascription of adjectives to the class of concrete terms, upheld by J. S.
Mill, has been disputed on the ground that adjectives are applied both
to concrete and to abstract terms. Hence some logicians make a separate
class for adjectives, as being the names neither of things nor of
qualities, and describe them as Attributive terms.

CONCRETE, the name given to a building material consisting generally of
a mixture of broken stone, sand and some kind of cement. To these is
added water, which combining chemically with the cement conglomerates
the whole mixture into a solid mass, and forms a rough but strong
artificial stone. It has thus the immense advantage over natural stone
that it can be easily moulded while wet to any desired shape or size.
Moreover, its constituents can be obtained in almost any part of the
world, and its manufacture is extremely simple. On account of these
properties, builders have come to give it a distinct preference over
stone, brick, timber and other building materials. So popular has it
become that besides being used for massive constructions like
breakwaters, dock walls, culverts, and for foundations of buildings,
lighthouses and bridges, it is also proving its usefulness to the
architect and engineer in many other ways. A remarkable extension of the
use of concrete has been made possible by the introduction of scientific
methods of combining it with steel or iron. The floors and even the
walls of important buildings are made of this combination, and long span
bridges, tall factory chimneys, and large water-tanks are among the many
novel uses to which it has been put. Piles made of steel concrete are
driven into the ground with blows that would shatter the best of timber.
A fuller description of the combination of steel and concrete will be
given later.

Constituents.

The constituents of concrete are sometimes spoken of as the _matrix_ and
the _aggregate_, and these terms, though somewhat old-fashioned, are
convenient. The matrix is the lime or cement, whose chemical action
with the added water causes the concrete to solidify; and the aggregate
is the broken stone or hard material which is embedded in the matrix.
The matrix most commonly used is Portland cement, by far the best and
strongest of them all. The subject of its manufacture and examination is
a most important and interesting one, and the special article dealing
with it should be studied (see CEMENT), Here it will only be said that
before using Portland cement very careful tests should be made to
ascertain its quality and condition. Moreover, it should be kept in a
damp-proof store for a few weeks; and when taken out for use it should
be mixed and placed in position as quickly as possible, because rain, or
even moist air, spoils it by causing it to set prematurely. The oldest
of all the matrices is lime, and many splendid examples of its use by
the Romans still exist. It has been to a great extent superseded by
Portland cement, on account of the much greater strength of the latter,
though lime concrete is still used in many places for dry foundations
and small structures. To be of service the lime should be what is known
as "hydraulic," that is, not pure or "fat," but containing some
argillaceous matter, and should be carefully slaked with water before
being mixed with the aggregate. To ensure this being properly done, the
lumps of lime should be broken up small, and enough water to slake them
should be added, the lime then being allowed to rest for about
forty-eight hours, when the water changes the particles of quicklime to
hydrate of lime, and breaks up the hard lumps into a powder. The
hydrated lime, after being passed through a fine screen to sort out any
lumps unaffected by the water, is ready for concrete making, and if not
required at once should be stored in a dry place. Other matrices are
slag cement, a comparatively recent invention, and some other natural
and artificial cements which find occasional advocates. Materials like
tar and pitch are sometimes employed as a matrix; they are used hot and
without water, the solidifying action being due to cooling and to
evaporation of the mineral oils contained in them. Whatever matrix is
used, it is almost invariably "diluted" with sand, the grains of which
become coated with the finer particles of the matrix. The sand should be
coarse-grained and hard. It should be free from dirt--that is to say,
free from clay or soft mud, for instance, which prevents the cement
adhering to its particles, or again from sewage matter or any substance
which will chemically destroy the matrix. The grains should show no
signs of decay, and by preference should be of an angular shape. The
sand obtained by crushing granite and hard stones is excellent. When
lime is used as a matrix, certain natural earths such as pozzuolana or
trass, or, failing these, powdered bricks or tiles, may be used instead
of sand with great advantage. They have the property of entering into
chemical combination with the lime, forming a hard setting compound, and
increasing the hardness of the resulting concrete.

The commonest aggregates are broken stone and natural flint gravel.
Broken bricks or tiles and broken furnace slag are sometimes used, the
essential points being that the aggregate should be hard, clean and
sound. Generally speaking, broken stones will be rough and angular,
whereas the stones in flint gravel will be comparatively smooth and
round. It might be supposed, therefore, that the broken stone will
necessarily be the better aggregate, but this does not always follow.
Experience shows that, although spherical pebbles are to be avoided,
Portland cement adheres tightly to smooth flint surfaces, and that rough
stones often give a less compact concrete than smooth ones on account of
the difficulty of bedding them into the matrix when laying the concrete.
In mixing concrete there is always a tendency for the stones to separate
themselves from the sand and cement, and to form "pockets" of
honeycombed concrete which are neither water-tight nor strong. These are
much more liable to occur when the stones are flat and angular than when
they are round. Modern engineers favour the practice of having the
stones of various sizes instead of being uniform, because if these sizes
are wisely proportioned the whole mixture can be made more solid, and
the rough "pockets" avoided. For first-class work, however, and
especially in steel concrete, it is customary to reject very large
stones, and to insist that all shall pass through a ring 7/8 of an inch
in diameter.

The water, like all the other constituents of concrete, should be clean
and free from vegetable matter. At one time sea-water was thought to be
injurious, but modern investigation finds no objection to it except on
the score of appearance, efflorescence being more likely to occur when
it is used.

Sometimes in massive concrete structures large and heavy stones as big
as a man can lift are buried in the concrete after it is laid in
position but while it is still wet. The stones should be hard and clean,
and care must be taken that they are completely surrounded. Such
concrete is known as _rubble concrete_.

Proportions.

In proportioning the quantities of matrix to aggregate the ideal to be
aimed at is to get a concrete in which the voids or air-spaces shall be
as small as possible; and as the lime or cement is usually by far the
most expensive item, it is desirable to use as little of it as is
consistent with strength. When natural flint gravel containing both
stones and sand is used, it is usual to mix so much gravel with so much
lime or cement. The proportions in practice generally run from 3 to 1
for very strong work, down to 12 to 1 for unimportant work. Some
engineers have the sand separated from the stones by screens or sieves
and then remixed in definite proportions. When stones and sand are
obtained from different sources, their relative proportions have to be
decided upon. A common way of doing this is first to choose a proportion
of sand to cement, which will probably vary from 1 to 1 up to 4 to 1. It
then remains to determine what proportion of stones should be added. For
this purpose a large can, whose volume is known, is filled loosely with
stones, and the volume of the voids between them is determined by
measuring how much water the can will hold in addition to the stones. It
is then assumed that the quantity of sand and cement should be equal to
the voids. Moreover, the volume of sand and cement together is generally
assumed to be equal to that of the sand alone, as the cement to a large
extent fills up voids in the sand. For example, suppose it is resolved
to use 2 parts of sand to 1 of cement, and suppose that experiment shows
that in a pailful of stones two-fifths of the volume consists of voids,
then 2 parts of sand (or sand with cement) will fill voids in 5 parts of
stones, and the proportion of cement, sand, stones becomes 1:2:5. There
are several weak points in this reasoning, and a more accurate way of
determining the best proportions is to try different mixtures of cement,
stones and sand, filling them into different pails of the same size, and
then ascertaining, by weighing the pails, which mixture is the densest.

In determining the amount of water to be added, several things must be
considered. The amount required to combine chemically with the cement is
about 16% by weight, but in practice much more than this is used,
because of loss by evaporation, and the difficulty of ensuring that the
water shall be uniformly distributed. If the situation is cool, the
stone hard, and the concrete carefully rammed directly it is laid down
and kept moist with damp cloths, only just sufficient to moisten the
whole mass is required. On the other hand, water should be given
generously in hot weather, also when absorbent stone is used or when the
concrete is not rammed. In these cases the concrete should be allowed to
take all it can, but an excess of water which would flow away, carrying
the cement with it, should be avoided.

Mixing.

The thorough mixing of the constituents is a most important item in the
production of good concrete. Its object is to distribute all the
materials evenly throughout the mass, and it is performed in many
different ways, both by hand and by machine. The relative values of hand
and machine work are often discussed. Roughly it may be said that where
a large mass of concrete is to be mixed at one or two places a good
machine will be of great advantage. On the other hand, where the mixing
platform has to be constantly shifted, hand mixing is the more
convenient way. In hand mixing it is usual to measure out from gauge
boxes the sand, stones and cement or lime in a heap on a wooden
platform. Then they are turned once or twice in their dry state by men
with shovels. Next water is carefully added, and the mixture again
turned, when it is ready for depositing. For important work and
especially for thin structures the number of turnings should be
increased. Many types of mixing machines are obtainable; the favourite
type is one in which the materials are placed in a large iron box which
is made to rotate, thus tumbling the matrix and aggregate over each
other again and again. Another simple apparatus is a large vertical pipe
or shoot in which sloping baffle plates or shelves are placed at
intervals. The materials are fed in at the top of the shoot and fall
from shelf to shelf, the mixing being effected by the various shocks
thus given. When mixed the concrete is carried at once to the position
required, and if the matrix is quick-setting Portland cement this
operation must not be delayed.

Moulds.

One of the few drawbacks of concrete is that, unlike brickwork or
masonry, it has nearly always to be deposited within moulds or framing
which give it the required shape, and which are removed after it is set.
Indeed, the trouble and expense of these moulds sometimes prohibit its
use. It is essential that they shall be strong and stiff, so as not to
yield at all from the pressure of the wet concrete. The moulds for the
face of a wall consist generally of wooden shutters, leaning against
upright timbers which are secured by horizontal or raking struts to firm
ground, or to anything that will bear the weight. If a smooth and neat
face is wanted other precautions must be taken. The shutters must be
planed, and coated with a mixture of soap and oil, so as to come away
easily after the concrete is set. Moreover, when depositing the
concrete, a shovel or other tool must be worked between the wet concrete
and the shutter. This draws sand and water to the face and prevents the
rough stones from showing themselves. Sometimes rough concrete is
rendered over with a plaster of cement and sand after the shutters have
been removed, but this is liable to peel off and should be avoided.

Depositing.

The method of depositing depends on the situation. If for important
walls, or for small scantlings such as steel concrete generally
involves, the concrete should be deposited in quite small quantities and
very carefully rammed into position. If for massive walls, it is usual
to tip it out in large quantities from a barrow or wagon, and simply
spread it in layers about a foot thick. Depositing concrete under water
for breakwaters and bridge foundations requires special skill and
special appliances. It is usually done in one of three ways:--(a) By
moulding the concrete ashore into large blocks, which, when sufficiently
hard, are lowered through the water into position by a crane or similar
machine with the aid of divers. The most notable instance of this type
of construction was at the port of Dublin, where Mr B. B. Stoney made
blocks no less than 350 tons in weight. Each block formed a piece of the
quay wall 12 ft. long and 27 ft. high, being made on shore and then
deposited in position by floating sheers of special design. (b) By
moulding the concrete into what are called "bag-blocks." In this system
the concrete is filled into bags, which are at once lowered through the
water like the blocks. But in this case the concrete being still wet can
adapt itself more or less to the shape of the adjoining bags, and strong
rough walls can be built in this way. Sometimes the bags are made of
enormous size, as at Aberdeen breakwater, where the contents of each bag
weighed 50 tons. The canvas was laid in a hopper barge and there filled
with the concrete and sewn up. The enormous bag was then dropped through
a door in the bottom of the barge upon the breakwater foundation. (c) By
depositing the wet concrete through the water between temporary upright
timber frames which form the two faces of the wall. In this case very
great care has to be taken to prevent the cement from being washed away
from the other constituents when passing through the water. Indeed, this
is bound to happen more or less, but it is guarded against by lowering
the concrete slowly in a special box, the bottom of which is opened as
it reaches the ground on which the concrete is to be laid. This method
can only be carried out in still water, and where strong and tight
framing can be built which will prevent the concrete from escaping. For
small work the box can be replaced by a canvas bag secured by a special
tripping noose which can be loosened when the bag has reached the
ground. The concrete escapes from the bag, which is then drawn up and
refilled.

Strength.

Concrete may be compared with other building materials like masonry or
timber from various points of view, such as strength, durability,
convenience of building, fire-resistance, appearance and cost. Its
strength varies within very wide limits according to the quality and
proportions of the constituents, and the skill shown in mixing and
placing them. To give a rough idea, however, it may be said that its
safe crushing load would be about ½ cwt. per sq. in. for lime concrete,
and 1 to 5 cwt. for Portland cement concrete. The safe tensile strength
of Portland cement concrete would be something like one-tenth of its
compressive strength, and might be far less. On this account it is usual
to neglect the tensile strength of concrete in designing structures, and
to arrange the material in such a way that tensile stresses are avoided.
Hence slabs or beams of long span should not be built of plain concrete,
though when reinforced with steel it is admirably adapted for these
purposes.

Durability.

In regard to durability good Portland cement concrete is one of the most
durable materials known. Neither hot, cold, nor wet weather has
practically any effect whatever upon it. Frost will not injure it after
it has once set, though it is essential to guard it from frost during
the operations of mixing and depositing. The same praise cannot,
however, be given to lime concrete. Even though the best hydraulic lime
be used it is wise to confine it to places where it is not exposed to
the air, or to running water, and indeed for important structures the
use of lime should be avoided. Good Portland cement is so much stronger
than any lime that there are few situations where it is not cheaper as
well as better to use the former, because, although cement is the more
expensive matrix, a smaller proportion of it will suffice for use. Lime
should never be used in work exposed to sea-water, or to water
containing chemicals of any kind. Portland cement concrete, on the other
hand, may be used without fear in sea-water, provided that certain
reasonable precautions are taken. Considerable alarm was created about
the year 1887 by the failure of two or three large structures of
Portland cement concrete exposed to sea-water, both in England and other
countries. The matter was carefully investigated, and it was found that
the sulphate of magnesia in the sea-water has a decomposing action on
Portland cements, especially those which contain a large proportion of
lime or even of alumina. Indeed, no Portland cement is free from the
liability to be decomposed by sea-water, and on a moderate scale this
action is always going on more or less. But to ensure the permanence of
structures in sea-water the great object is to choose a cement
containing as little lime and alumina as possible, and free from
sulphates such as gypsum; and more important still to proportion the
sand and stones in the concrete in such a way that the structure is
practically non-porous. If this is done there is really nothing to fear.
On the other hand, if the concrete is rough and porous the sea-water
will gradually eat into the heart of the structure, especially in a case
like a dam, where the water, being higher on one side than the other,
constantly forces its way through the rough material, and decomposes the
Portland cement it contains.

Convenience and appearance.

As regards its convenience for building purposes it may be said roughly
that in "mass" work concrete is vastly more convenient than any other
material. But concrete is hampered by the fact that the surface always
has to be formed by means of wooden or other framing, and in the case of
thin walls or floors this framing becomes a serious item, involving
expense and delay. In appearance concrete can rarely if ever rival stone
or brickwork. It is true that it can be moulded to any desired shape,
but mouldings in concrete generally give the appearance of being
unsatisfactory imitations of stone. Moreover, its colour is not
pleasing. These defects will no doubt be overcome as concrete grows in
popularity as a building material and its aesthetic treatment is better
understood. Concrete pavings are being used in buildings of first
importance, the aggregate being very carefully selected, and in many
cases the whole mixture coloured by the use of pigments. Care must be
taken in their selection, however, as certain colouring matters such as
red lead are destructive to the cement. One of the great objections to
the appearance of concrete is the fact that soon after its erection
irregular cracks invariably appear on its surface. These cracks are
probably due to shrinkage while setting, aggravated by changes in
temperature. They occur no less in structures of masonry and brickwork,
but in these cases they generally follow the joints, and are almost
imperceptible. In the case of a smooth concrete face there are no joints
to follow, and the cracks become an ugly feature. They are sometimes
regulated by forming artificial "joints" in the structure by embedding
strips of wood or sheet iron at regular intervals, thus forming "lines
of weakness," at which the cracks therefore take place. A pleasing
"rough" appearance can be given to concrete by brushing it over soon
after it has set with a stiff brush dipped in water or dilute acid. Or,
if hard, its surface can be picked all over with a bush hammer.

Resistance to fire.

At one time Portland cement concrete was considered to be lacking in
fireproof qualities, but now it is regarded as one of the best
fire-resisting materials known. Although experiments on this matter are
badly needed, there is little doubt that good steel concrete is very
nearly indestructible by fire. The matrix should be Portland cement, and
the nature of the aggregate is important. Cinders have been and are
still much favoured for this purpose. The reason for this preference
lies in the fact that being porous and full of air, they are a good
non-conductor. But they are weak, and modern experience goes to show
that a strong concrete is the best, and that probably materials like
broken clamp bricks or burnt clay, which are porous and yet strong, are
far better than cinders as a fireproof aggregate. Limestone should be
avoided, as it soon splits under heat. The steel reinforcement is of
immense importance in fireproof work, because, if properly designed, it
enables the concrete to hold together and do its work even when it has
been cracked by fire and water. On the other hand, the concrete, being a
non-conductor, preserves the steel from being softened and twisted by
excessive temperature.

Cost.

Only very general remarks can be made on the subject of cost, as this
item varies greatly in different situations and with the market price of
the materials used. But in England it may be said that for massive work
such as big walls and foundations concrete is nearly always cheaper than
brickwork or masonry. On the other hand, for reasons already given, thin
walls, such as house walls, will cost more in concrete. Steel concrete
is even more difficult to generalize about, as its use is comparatively
new, but even in the matter of first cost it is proving a serious rival
to timber and to plate steel work, in floors, bridges and tanks, and to
brickwork and plain concrete in structures such as culverts and
retaining walls, towers and domes.

_Artificial Stones._--There are many varieties of concrete known as
"artificial stones" which can now be bought ready moulded into the form
of paving slabs, wall blocks and pipes: they are both pleasing in
appearance and very durable, being carefully made by skilled workmen.
Granolithic, globe granite and synthetic stone are examples of these.
Some, such as victoria stone, imperial stone and others, are hardened
and rendered non-porous after manufacture by immersion in a solution of
silicate of soda. Others, like Ford's silicate of limestone, are
practically lime mortars of excellent quality, which can be carved and
cut like a sandstone of fine quality.

_Steel Concrete._--The introduction of steel concrete (also known as
ferroconcrete, armoured concrete, or reinforced concrete) is generally
attributed to Joseph Monier, a French gardener, who about the year 1868
was anxious to build some concrete water basins. In order to reduce the
thickness of the walls and floor he conceived the idea of strengthening
them by building in a network of iron rods. As a matter of fact other
inventors were at work before Monier, but he deserves much credit for
having pushed his invention with vigour, and for having popularized the
use of this invaluable combination. The important point of his idea was
that it combined steel and concrete in such a way that the best
qualities of each material were brought into play. Concrete is readily
procured and easily moulded into shape. It has considerable compressive
or crushing strength, but is somewhat deficient in shearing strength,
and distinctly weak in tensile or pulling strength. Steel, on the other
hand, is easily procurable in simple forms such as long bars, and is
exceedingly strong. But it is difficult and expensive to work up into
various forms. Concrete has been avoided for making beams, slabs and
thin walls, just because its deficiency in tensile strength doomed it to
failure in such structures. But if a concrete slab be "reinforced" with
a network of small steel rods on its under surface where the tensile
stresses occur (see fig. 1) its strength will be enormously increased.
Thus the one point of weakness in the concrete slab is overcome by the
addition of steel in its simplest form, and both materials are used to
their best advantage. The scientific and practical value of this idea
was soon seized upon by various inventors and others, and the number of
patented systems of combining steel with concrete is constantly
increasing. Many of them are but slight modifications of the older
systems, and no attempt will be made here to describe them in full. In
England it is customary to allow the patentee of one or other system to
furnish his own designs, but this is as much because he has gained the
experience needed for success as because of any special virtue in this
or that system. The majority of these systems have emanated from France,
where steel concrete is largely used. America and Germany adopted them
readily, and in England some very large structures have been erected
with this material.

[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Expanded Steel Concrete Slab.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2. Expanded Metal.
Section through Intersection.]

The concrete itself should always be the very best quality, and Portland
cement should be used on account of its superiority to all others. The
aggregate should be the best obtainable and of different sizes, the
stones being freshly crushed and screened to pass through a 7/8 in.
ring. Very special care should be taken so to proportion the sand as to
make a perfectly impervious mixture. The proportions generally used are
4 to 1 and 5 to 1 in the case of gravel concrete, or 1:2:4 or 1:2½:6 in
the case of broken stone concrete. But, generally speaking, in steel
concrete the cost of the cement is but a small item of the whole
expense, and it is worth while to be generous with it. If It is used in
piles or structures where it is likely to be bruised the proportion of
cement should be increased. The mixing and laying should all be done
very thoroughly; the concrete should be rammed in position, and any old
surface of concrete which has to be covered should be cleaned and coated
with fresh cement.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Hennebique System.]

The reinforcement mostly consists of mild steel and sometimes of wrought
iron: steel, however, is stronger and generally cheaper, so that in
English practice it holds the field. It should be mild and is usually
specified to have a breaking (tensile) strength of 28 to 32 tons per sq.
in., with an elongation of at least 20% in 8 in. Any bar should be
capable of being bent cold to the shape of the letter U without breaking
it. The steel is generally used in the form of long bars of circular
section. At first it was feared that such bars would have a tendency to
slip through the concrete in which they were embedded, but experiments
have shown that if the bar is not painted but has a natural rusty
surface a very considerable adhesion between the concrete and steel--as
much as 2 cwt. per sq. in. of contact surface--may be relied upon. Many
devices are used, however, to ensure the adhesion between concrete and
bar being perfect. (1) In the Hennebique system of construction the bars
are flattened at the end and split to form a "fish tail." (2) In the
Ransome system round bars are rejected in favour of square bars, which
have been twisted in a lathe in "barley sugar" fashion. (3) In the
Habrick system a flat bar similarly twisted is used. (4) In the Thacher
system a flat bar with projections like rivet heads is specially rolled
for this purpose. (5) In the Kahn system a square bar with "branches" is
used. (6) In the "expanded metal" system no bars are used, but instead a
strong steel netting is manufactured in large sheets by special
machinery. It is made by cutting a series of long slots at regular
intervals in a plain steel plate, which is then forcibly stretched out
sideways until the slots become diamond-shaped openings, and a trellis
work of steel without any joints is the result (fig. 2).

[Illustration: FIG. 4. Hennebique System.]

The structures in which steel concrete is used may be analysed as
consisting essentially of (1) walls, (2) columns, (3) piles, (4) beams,
(5) slabs, (6) arches. The designs differ considerably according to
which of these purposes the structure is to fulfil.

The effect of reinforcing _walls_ with steel is that they can be made
much thinner. The steel reinforcement is generally applied in the form
of vertical rods built in the wall at intervals, with lighter horizontal
rods which cross the vertical ones, and thus form a network of steel
which is buried in the concrete. These rods assist in taking the weight,
and the whole network binds the concrete together and prevents it from
cracking under a heavy load. The vertical rods should not be quite in
the middle of the wall but near the inner and outer faces alternately.
Care must be taken, however, that all the rods are covered by at least
an inch of concrete to preserve them from damage by rust or fire. In
the Cottancin system the concrete is replaced by bricks pierced with
holes through which the vertical rods are threaded; the horizontal
tie-rods are also used, but these do not merely cross the vertical ones,
but are woven in and out of them.

[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Steel and Concrete Pile (Williams System).]

[Illustration: FIG. 6.]

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

_Columns_ have generally to bear a heavier weight than walls, and have
to be correspondingly stronger. They have usually been made square with
a vertical steel rod at each corner. To prevent these rods from
spreading apart they must be tied together at frequent intervals. In
some systems this is done by loops of stout wire connecting each rod to
its neighbour, and placed one above the other about every 10 in. up the
column (figs. 3 and 4). In other systems a stout wire is wound
continuously in a spiral form round the four rods. Modern investigation
goes to prove that the latter is theoretically the more economical way
of using the steel, as the spiral binding wire acts like the binding of
a wire gun, and prevents the concrete which it encloses from bursting
even under very great loads.

[Illustration: FIG. 8.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9.]

[Illustration: FIG. 10.]

[Illustration: FIG. 11.]

That steel concrete can be used for _piles_ is perhaps the most
astonishing feature in this invention. The fact that a comparatively
brittle material like concrete can be subjected not only to heavy loads
but also to the jar and vibration from the blows of a heavy pile ram
makes it appear as if its nature and properties had been changed by the
steel reinforcement. In a sense this is undoubtedly the case. A. G.
Considère's experiments have shown that concrete when reinforced is
capable of being stretched, without fracture, about twenty times as much
as plain concrete. Most of the piles driven in Great Britain have been
made on the Hennebique system with four or six longitudinal steel rods
tied together by stirrups or loops at frequent intervals. Piles made on
the Williams system have a steel rolled joist of I section buried in the
heart of the pile, and round it a series of steel wire hoops at regular
intervals (fig. 5). Whatever system is used, care must be taken not to
batter the head of the pile to pieces with the heavy ram. To prevent
this an iron "helmet" containing a lining of sawdust is fitted over the
head of the pile. The sawdust adapts itself to the rough shape of the
concrete, and deadens the blow to some extent.

[Illustration: FIG. 12.]

[Illustration: FIG. 13.]

[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Stirrup (Hennebique System).]

[Illustration: FIG. 15.]

But it is in the design of steel concrete _beams_ that the greatest
ingenuity has been shown, and almost every patentee of a "system" has
some new device for arranging the steel reinforcement to the best
advantage. Concrete by itself, though strong in compression, can offer
but little resistance to tensile and shearing stresses, and as these
stresses always occur in beams the problem arises how best to arrange
the steel so as to assist the concrete in bearing them. To meet tensile
stresses the steel is nearly always inserted in the form of bars running
along the beam. Figs. 6 to 9 show how they are arranged for different
loading. In each case the object is to place the bars as nearly as
possible where the tensile stresses occur. In cases where all the
stresses are heavy, that portion of the beam which is under compression
is similarly reinforced, though with smaller bars (figs. 10 and 11). But
as these tension and compression bars are generally placed near the
under and upper surface of the beam they are of little use in helping to
resist the shearing stresses which are greatest at its neutral axis.
(See BRIDGES.) These shearing stresses in a heavily loaded beam would
cause it to split horizontally at or near the centre. To prevent this
many ingenious devices have been introduced. (1) Perhaps one of the most
efficient is a diagonal bracing of steel wire passing to and fro between
the upper and lower bars and firmly secured to each by lapping or
otherwise (fig. 12); this device is used in the Coignet and other French
systems. (2) In the Hennebique system (which has found great favour in
England) vertical bands or "stirrups," as they are generally called, of
hoop steel are used (fig. 13). They are of U shape, and passing round
the tension bars extend to the top of the beam (figs. 14 and 3). They
are exceedingly thin, but being buried in concrete no danger of their
perishing from rust is to be feared. (3) In the Boussiron system a
similar stirrup is used, but instead of being vertical the two parts are
spread so that each is slightly inclined. (4) In the Coularon system,
the stirrups are inclined as in fig. 15, and consist of rods, the ends
of which are hooked over the tension and compression bars. (5) In the
Kahn system the stirrups are similarly arranged, but instead of being
merely secured to the tension bar, they form an integral part of it like
branches on a stem, the bar being rolled to a special section to admit
of this. (6) In many systems such as the "expanded metal" system, the
tension and compression rods together with the stirrups are all
abandoned in favour of a single rolled steel joist of I section, buried
in concrete (see fig. 16). Probably the weight of steel used in this way
is excessive, but the joists are cheap, readily procurable and easy to
handle.

Floor _slabs_ may be regarded as wide and shallow beams, and the remarks
made about the stresses in the one apply to the other also; accordingly,
the various devices which are used for strengthening beams recur in the
slabs. But in a thin slab, with its comparatively small span and light
load, the concrete is generally strong enough to bear the shearing
stresses unaided, and the reinforcement is devoted to assisting it where
the tensile stresses occur. For this purpose many designers simply use
the modification of the Monier system, consisting of a horizontal
network of crossed steel rods buried in the concrete. "Expanded metal"
too is admirably adapted for the purpose (fig. 1). In the Matrai system
thin wires are used instead of rods, and are securely fastened to rolled
steel joists, which form the beams on which the slabs rest; moreover,
the wires instead of being stretched tight from side to side of the slab
are allowed to sag as much as the thickness of the concrete will allow.
In the Williams system small flat bars are used, which are not quite
horizontal, but pass alternately over and under the rolled joists which
support the slabs.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.]

A concrete _arch_ is reinforced in much the same way as a wall, the
stresses being somewhat similar. The reinforcing rods are generally laid
both longitudinally and circumferentially. In the case of a culvert the
circumferential rods are sometimes laid continuously in the form of a
spiral as in the Bordenave system.

To those wishing to pursue the subject further, the following books
among others may be suggested:--Sabin, _Cement and Concrete_ (New
York); Taylor and Thompson, _Concrete, Plain and Reinforced_ (London);
Sutcliffe, _Concrete, Nature and Uses_ (London); Marsh and Dunn,
_Reinforced Concrete_ (London); Twelvetrees, _Concrete Steel_
(London); Paul Christophe, _Le Béton armé_ (Paris); Buel and Hill,
_Reinforced Concrete Construction_ (London). (F. E. W.-S.)

CONCRETION, in petrology, a name applied to nodular or irregularly
shaped masses of various size occurring in a great variety of
sedimentary rocks, differing in composition from the main mass of the
rock, and in most cases obviously formed by some chemical process which
ensued after the rock was deposited. As these bodies present so many
variations in composition and in structure, it will conduce to clearness
if some of the commonest be briefly adverted to. In sandstones there are
often hard rounded lumps, which separate out when the rock is broken or
weathered. They are mostly siliceous, but sometimes calcareous, and may
differ very little in general appearance from the bulk of the sandstone.
Through them the bedding passes uninterrupted, thus showing that they
are not pebbles; often in their centres shells or fragments of plants
are found. Argillaceous sandstones and flagstones very frequently
contain "clay galls" or concretionary lumps richer in clay than the
remainder of the rock. Nodules of pyrites and of marcasite are common in
many clays, sandstones and marls. Their outer surfaces are tuberculate;
internally they commonly have a radiate fibrous structure. Usually they
are covered with a dark brown crust of limonite produced by weathering;
occasionally imperfect crystalline faces may bound them. Not
infrequently (e.g. in the Gault) these pyritous nodules contain altered
fossils. In clays also siliceous and calcareous concretions are often
found. They present an extraordinary variety of shapes, often
grotesquely resembling figures of men or animals, fruits, &c, and have
in many countries excited popular wonder, being regarded as of
supernatural origin ("fairy-stones," &c.), and used as charms.

Another type of concretion, very abundant in many clays and shales, is
the "septarian nodule." These are usually flattened disk-shaped or
ovoid, often lobulate externally like the surface of a kidney. When
split open they prove to be traversed by a network of cracks, which are
usually filled with calcite and other minerals. These white infillings
of the fissures resemble partitions; hence the name from the Latin
_septum_, a partition. Sometimes the cracks are partly empty. They vary
up to half an inch in breadth, and are best seen when the nodule is cut
through with a saw. These concretions may be calcareous or may consist
of carbonate of iron. The former are common in some beds of the London
Clay, and were formerly used for making cement. The clay-ironstone
nodules or sphaerosiderites are very abundant in some Carboniferous
shales, and have served in some places as iron ores. Some of the largest
specimens are 3 ft. in diameter. In the centre of these nodules fossils
are often found, e.g. coprolites, pieces of plants, fish teeth and
scales. Phosphatic concretions are often present in certain limestones,
clays, shelly sands and marls. They occur, for example, in the Cambridge
Greensand, and at the base of certain of the Pliocene beds in the east
of England. In many places they have been worked, under the name of
"coprolite-beds," as sources of artificial manures. Bones of animals
more or less completely mineralized are frequent in these phosphatic
concretions, the commonest being fragments of extinct reptilia. Their
presence points to a source for the phosphate of lime.

Another very important series of concretionary structures are the flint
nodules which occur in chalk, and the patches and bands of chert which
are found in limestones. Flints consist of dark-coloured
cryptocrystalline silica. They weather grey or white by the removal of
their more soluble portions by percolating water. Their shapes are
exceedingly varied, and often they are studded with tubercules and
nodosities. Sometimes they have internal cavities, and very frequently
they contain shells of echinoderms, molluscs, &c., partly or entirely
replaced by silica, but preserving their original forms. Chert occurs in
bands and tabular masses rather than in nodules; it often replaces
considerable portions of a bed of limestone (as in the Carboniferous
Limestones of Ireland). Corals and other fossils frequently occur in
chert, and when sliced and microscopically examined both flint and chert
often show silicified foraminifera, polyzoa &c., and sponge spicules.
Flints in chalk frequently lie along joints which may be vertical or may
be nearly horizontal and parallel to the bedding. Hence they increase
the stratified appearance of natural exposures of chalk.

It will be seen from the details given above that concretions may be
calcareous, siliceous, argillaceous and phosphatic, and they may consist
of carbonate or sulphide of iron. In the red clay of the deep sea bottom
concretionary masses rich in manganese dioxide are being formed, and are
sometimes brought up by the dredge. In clays large crystals of gypsum,
having the shape of an arrow-head, are occasionally found in some
numbers. They bear a considerable resemblance to some concretions, e.g.
crystalline marcasite and pyrite nodules. These examples will indicate
the great variety of substances which may give rise to concretionary
structures.

Some concretions are amorphous, e.g. phosphatic nodules; others are
cryptocrystalline, e.g. flint and chert; others finely crystalline, e.g.
pyrites, sphaerosiderite; others consist of large crystals, e.g. gypsum,
barytes, pyrites and marcasite. From this it is clear that the formation
of concretions is not closely dependent on any single inorganic
substance, or on any type of crystalline structure. Concretions seem to
arise from the tendency of chemical compounds to be slowly dissolved by
interstitial water, either while the deposit is unconsolidated or at a
later period. Certain nuclei, present in the rock, then determine
reprecipitation of these solutions, and the deposit once begun goes on
till either the supply of material for growth is exhausted, or the
physical character of the bed is changed by pressure and consolidation
till it is no longer favourable to further accretion. The process
resembles the growth of a crystal in a solution by slowly attracting to
itself molecules of suitable nature from the surrounding medium. But in
the majority of cases it is not the crystalline forces, or not these
alone, which attract the particles. The structure of a flint, for
example, shows that the material had so little tendency to crystallize
that it remained permanently in cryptocrystalline or sub-crystalline
state. That the concretions grew in the solid sediment is proved by the
manner in which lines of bedding pass through them and not round them.
This is beautifully shown by many siliceous and calcareous nodules out
of recent clays. That the sediment was in a soft condition may be
inferred from the purity and perfect crystalline form of some of these
bodies, e.g. gypsum, pyrites, marcasite. The crystals must have pushed
aside the yielding matrix as they gradually enlarged. In deep-sea
dredgings concretions of phosphate of lime and manganese dioxide are
frequently brought up; this shows that concretionary action operates on
the sea floor in muddy sediments, which have only recently been laid
down. The phosphatic nodules seem to originate around the dead bodies of
fishes, and manganese incrustations frequently enclose teeth of sharks,
ear-bones of whales, &c. This recalls the occurrence of fossils in
septarian nodules, flints, phosphatic concretions, &c., in the older
strata. Probably the decomposing organic matter partly supplied
substances for the growth of the nodules (phosphates, carbonates, &c.),
partly acted as reducing agents, or otherwise determined mineral
precipitation in those places where organic remains were mingled with
the sediment. (J. S. F.)

CONCUBINAGE (Lat. _concubina_, a concubine; from _con-_, with, and
_cubare_, to lie), the state of a man and woman cohabiting as married
persons without the full sanctions of legal marriage. In early
historical times, when marriage laws had scarcely advanced beyond the
purely customary stage, the concubine was definitely recognized as a
sort of inferior wife, differing from those of the first rank mainly by
the absence of permanent guarantees. The history of Abraham's family
shows us clearly that the concubine might be dismissed at any time, and
her children were liable to be cast off equally summarily with gifts, in
order to leave the inheritance free for the wife's sons (Genesis xxi. 9
ff., xxv. 5 ff.).

The Roman law recognized two classes of legal marriage: (1) with the
definite public ceremonies of _confarreatio_ or _coemptio_, and (2)
without any public form whatever and resting merely on the _affectio
maritalis_, i.e. the fixed intention of taking a particular woman as a
permanent spouse.[1] Next to these strictly lawful marriages came
concubinage as a recognized legal status, so long as the two parties
were not married and had no other concubines. It differed from the
formless marriage in the absence (1) of _affectio maritalis_, and
therefore (2) of full conjugal rights. For instance, the concubine was
not raised, like the wife, to her husband's rank, nor were her children
legitimate, though they enjoyed legal rights forbidden to mere bastards,
e.g. the father was bound to maintain them and to leave them (in the
absence of legitimate children) one-sixth of his property; moreover,
they might be fully legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their
parents.

In the East, the emperor Leo the Philosopher (d. 911) insisted on formal
marriage as the only legal status; but in the Western Empire concubinage
was still recognized even by the Christian emperors. The early
Christians had naturally preferred the formless marriage of the Roman
law as being free from all taint of pagan idolatry; and the
ecclesiastical authorities recognized concubinage also. The first
council of Toledo (398) bids the faithful restrict himself "to a single
wife or concubine, as it shall please him";[2] and there is a similar
canon of the Roman synod held by Pope Eugenius II. in 826. Even as late
as the Roman councils of 1052 and 1063, the suspension from communion of
laymen who had a wife and a concubine _at the same time_ implies that
mere concubinage was tolerated. It was also recognized by many early
civil codes. In Germany "left-handed" or "morganatic" marriages were
allowed by the Salic law between nobles and women of lower rank. In
different states of Spain the laws of the later middle ages recognized
concubinage under the name of _barragania_, the contract being
lifelong, the woman obtaining by it a right to maintenance during life,
and sometimes also to part of the succession, and the sons ranking as
nobles if their father was a noble. In Iceland, the concubine was
recognized in addition to the lawful wife, though it was forbidden that
they should dwell in the same house. The Norwegian law of the later
middle ages provided definitely that in default of legitimate sons, the
kingdom should descend to illegitimates. In the Danish code of Valdemar
II., which was in force from 1280 to 1683, it was provided that a
concubine kept openly for three years shall thereby become a legal wife;
this was the custom of _hand vesten_, the "handfasting" of the English
and Scottish borders, which appears in Scott's _Monastery_. In Scotland,
the laws of William the Lion (d. 1214) speak of concubinage as a
recognized institution; and, in the same century, the great English
legist Bracton treats the "concubina _legitima_" as entitled to certain
rights.[3] There seems to have been at times a pardonable confusion
between some quasi-legitimate unions and those marriages by mere word of
mouth, without ecclesiastical or other ceremonies, which the church,
after some natural hesitation, pronounced to be valid.[4] Another and
more serious confusion between concubinage and marriage was caused by
the gradual enforcement of clerical celibacy (see CELIBACY). During the
bitter conflict between laws which forbade sacerdotal marriages and long
custom which had permitted them, it was natural that the legislators and
the ascetic party generally should studiously speak of the priests'
wives as concubines, and do all in their power to reduce them to this
position. This very naturally resulted in a too frequent substitution of
clerical concubinage for marriage; and the resultant evils form one of
the commonest themes of complaint in church councils of the later middle
ages.[5] Concubinage in general was struck at by the concordat between
the Pope Leo X. and Francis I. of France in 1516; and the council of
Trent, while insisting on far more stringent conditions for lawful
marriage than those which had prevailed in the middle ages, imposed at
last heavy ecclesiastical penalties on concubinage and appealed to the
secular arm for help against contumacious offenders (Sessio xxiv. cap.
8).

AUTHORITIES.--Besides those quoted in the notes, the reader may
consult with advantage Du Cange's _Glossarium, s.v. Concubina_, the
article "Concubinat" in Wetzer and Welte's _Kirchenlexikon_ (2nd ed.,
Freiburg i/B., 1884), and Dr H. C. Lea's _History of Sacerdotal
Celibacy_ (3rd ed., London, 1907). (G. G. Co.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The difference between English and Scottish law, which once made
"Gretna Green marriages" so frequent, is due to the fact that Scotland
adopted the Roman law (which on this particular point was followed by
the whole medieval church).

[2] Gratian, in the 12th century, tried to explain this away by
assuming that concubinage here referred to meant a formless marriage;
but in 398 a church council can scarcely so have misused the technical
terms of the then current civil law (Gratian, _Decretum_, pars i.
dist. xxiv. c. 4).

[3] Bracton, _De Legibus_, lib. iii. tract. ii. c. 28, § I, and lib.
iv. tract. vi. c. 8, § 4.

[4] F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, _Hist. of English Law_, 2nd ed.
vol. ii. p. 370. In the case of Richard de Anesty, decided by papal
rescript in 1143, "a marriage solemnly celebrated in church, a
marriage of which a child had been born, was set aside as null in
favour of an earlier marriage constituted by a mere exchange of
consenting words" (ibid. p. 367; cf. the similar decretal of Alexander
III. on p. 371). The great medieval canon lawyer Lyndwood illustrates
the difficulty of distinguishing, even as late as the middle of the
15th century, between concubinage and a clandestine, though legal,
marriage. He falls back on the definition of an earlier canonist that
if the woman eats out of the same dish with the man, and if he takes
her to church, she may be presumed to be his wife; if, however, he
sends her to draw water and dresses her in vile clothing, she is
probably a concubine (_Provinciale_, ed. Oxon. 1679, p. 10, _s.v.
concubinarios_).

[5] It may be gathered from the Dominican C. L. Richard's _Analysis
Conciliorum_ (vol. ii., 1778) that there were more than 110 such
complaints in councils and synods between the years 1009 and 1528. Dr
Rashdall (_Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages_, vol. ii. p.
691, note) points out that a master of the university of Prague, in
1499, complained openly to the authorities against a bachelor for
assaulting his concubine.

CONDÉ, PRINCES OF. The French title of prince of Condé, assumed from the
ancient town of Condé-sur-l'Escaut, was borne by a branch of the house
of Bourbon. The first who assumed it was the famous Huguenot leader,
Louis de Bourbon (see below), the fifth son of Charles de Bourbon, duke
of Vendôme. His son, Henry, prince of Condé (1552-1588), also belonged
to the Huguenot party. Fleeing to Germany he raised a small army with
which in 1575 he joined Alençon. He became leader of the Huguenots, but
after several years' fighting was taken prisoner of war. Not long after
he died of poison, administered, according to the belief of his
contemporaries, by his wife, Catherine de la Trémouille. This event,
among others, awoke strong suspicions as to the legitimacy of his heir
and namesake, Henry, prince of Condé (1588-1646). King Henry IV.,
however, did not take advantage of the scandal. In 1609 he caused the
prince of Condé to marry Charlotte de Montmorency, whom shortly after
Condé was obliged to save from the king's persistent gallantry by a
hasty flight, first to Spain and then to Italy. On the death of Henry,
Condé returned to France, and intrigued against the regent, Marie de'
Medici; but he was seized, and imprisoned for three years (1616-1619).
There was at that time before the court a plea for his divorce from his
wife, but she now devoted herself to enliven his captivity at the cost
of her own liberty. During the rest of his life Condé was a faithful
servant of the king. He strove to blot out the memory of the Huguenot
connexions of his house by affecting the greatest zeal against
Protestants. His old ambition changed into a desire for the safe
aggrandizement of his family, which he magnificently achieved, and with
that end he bowed before Richelieu, whose niece he forced his son to
marry. His son Louis, the great Condé, is separately noticed below.

The next in succession was Henry Jules, prince of Condé (1643-1709), the
son of the great Condé and of Clémence de Maillé, niece of Richelieu. He
fought with distinction under his father in Franche-Comté and the Low
Countries; but he was heartless, avaricious and undoubtedly insane. The
end of his life was marked by singular hypochondriacal fancies. He
believed at one time that he was dead, and refused to eat till some of
his attendants dressed in sheets set him the example. His grandson,
Louis Henry, duke of Bourbon (1692-1740), Louis XV.'s minister, did not
assume the title of prince of Condé which properly belonged to him.

The son of the duke of Bourbon, Louis Joseph, prince of Condé
(1736-1818), after receiving a good education, distinguished himself in
the Seven Years' War, and most of all by his victory at Johannisberg. As
governor of Burgundy he did much to improve the industries and means of
communication of that province. At the Revolution he took up arms in
behalf of the king, became commander of the "army of Condé," and fought
in conjunction with the Austrians till the peace of Campo Formio in
1797, being during the last year in the pay of England. He then served
the emperor of Russia in Poland, and after that (1800) returned into the
pay of England, and fought in Bavaria. In 1800 Condé arrived in England,
where he resided for several years. On the restoration of Louis XVIII.
he returned to France. He died in Paris in 1818. He wrote _Essai sur la
vie du grand Condé_ (1798).

LOUIS HENRY JOSEPH, duke of Bourbon (1756-1830), son of the last named,
was the last prince of Condé. Several of the earlier events of his life,
especially his marriage with the princess Louise of Orleans, and the
duel that the comte d'Artois provoked by raising the veil of the
princess at a masked ball, caused much scandal. At the Revolution he
fought with the army of the _emigrés_ in Liége. Between the return of
Napoleon from Elba and the battle of Waterloo, he headed with no success
a royalist rising in La Vendée. In 1829 he made a will by which he
appointed as his heir the due d'Aumale, and made some considerable
bequests to his mistress, the baronne de Feuchères (q.v.). On the 27th
of August 1830 he was found hanged on the fastening of his window. A
crime was generally suspected, and the princes de Rohan, who were
relatives of the deceased, disputed the will. Their petition, however,
was dismissed by the courts.

Two cadet branches of the house of Condé played an important part: those
of Soissons and Conti. The first, sprung from Charles of Bourbon (b.
1566), son of Louis I., prince of Condé, became extinct in the
legitimate male line in 1641. The second took its origin from Armand of
Bourbon, born in 1629, son of Henry II., prince of Condé, and survived
up to 1814.

See Muret, _L'Histoire de l'armée de Condé_; Chamballand, _Vie de
Louis Joseph, prince de Condé_; Crétineau-Joly, _Histoire des trois
derniers princes de la maison de Condé_; and _Histoire des princes de
Condé_, by the due d'Aumale (translated by R. B. Borthwick, 1872).

CONDÉ, LOUIS DE BOURBON, PRINCE OF (1530-1569), fifth son of Charles de
Bourbon, duke of Vendôme, younger brother of Antoine, king of Navarre
(1518-1562), was the first of the famous house of Condé (see above).
After his father's death in 1537 Louis was educated in the principles of
the reformed religion. Brave though deformed, gay but extremely poor for
his rank, Condé was led by his ambition to a military career. He fought
with distinction in Piedmont under Marshal de Brissac; in 1552 he forced
his way with reinforcements into Metz, then besieged by Charles V.; he
led several brilliant sorties from that town; and in 1554 commanded the
light cavalry on the Meuse against Charles. In 1557 he was present at
the battle of St Quentin, and did further good service at the head of
the light horse. But the descendants of the constable de Bourbon were
still looked upon with suspicion in the French court, and Condé's
services were ignored. The court designed to reduce his narrow means
still further by despatching him upon a costly mission to Philip II. of
Spain. His personal griefs thus combined with his religious views to
force upon him a rôle of political opposition. He was concerned in the
conspiracy of Amboise, which aimed at forcing from the king the
recognition of the reformed religion. He was consequently condemned to
death, and was only saved by the decease of Francis II. At the accession
of the boy-king Charles IX., the policy of the court was changed, and
Condé received from Catherine de' Medici the government of Picardy. But
the struggle between the Catholics and the Huguenots soon began once
more, and henceforward the career of Condé is the story of the wars of
religion (see FRANCE: _HISTORY_). He was the military as well as the
political chief of the Huguenot party, and displayed the highest
generalship on many occasions, and notably at the battle of St Denis. At
the battle of Jarnac, with only 400 horsemen, Condé rashly charged the
whole Catholic army. Worn out with fighting, he at last gave up his
sword, and a Catholic officer named Montesquiou treacherously shot him
through the head on the 13th of March 1569.

CONDÉ, LOUIS II. DE BOURBON, PRINCE OF (1621-1686), called the Great
Condé, was the son of Henry, prince of Condé, and Charlotte Marguerite
de Montmorency, and was born at Paris on the 8th of September 1621. As a
boy, under his father's careful supervision, he studied diligently at
the Jesuits' College at Bourges, and at seventeen, in the absence of his
father, he governed Burgundy. The duc d'Enghien, as he was styled during
his father's lifetime, took part with distinction in the campaigns of
1640 and 1641 in northern France while yet under twenty years of age.

During the youth of Enghien all power in France was in the hands of
Richelieu; to him even the princes of the blood had to yield; and Henry
of Condé sought with the rest to win the cardinal's favour. Enghien was
forced to conform. He was already deeply in love with Mlle. Marthe du
Vigean, who in return was passionately devoted to him, yet, to flatter
the cardinal, he was compelled by his father, at the age of twenty, to
give his hand to Richelieu's niece, Claire Clémence de Maillé-Brézé, a
child of thirteen. He was present with Richelieu during the dangerous
plot of Cinq Mars, and afterwards fought in the siege of Perpignan
(1642).

In 1643 Enghien was appointed to command against the Spaniards in
northern France. He was opposed by experienced generals, and the
veterans of the Spanish army were accounted the finest soldiers in
Europe; on the other hand, the strength of the French army was placed at
his command, and under him were the best generals of the service. The
great battle of Rocroy (May 18) put an end to the supremacy of the
Spanish army and inaugurated the long period of French military
predominance. Enghien himself conceived and directed the decisive
attack, and at the age of twenty-two won his place amongst the great
captains of modern times. After a campaign of uninterrupted success,
Enghien returned to Paris in triumph, and in gallantry and intrigues
strove to forget his enforced and hateful marriage. In 1644 he was sent
with reinforcements into Germany to the assistance of Turenne, who was
hard pressed, and took command of the whole army. The battle of Freiburg
(Aug.) was desperately contested, but in the end the French army won a
great victory over the Bavarians and Imperialists commanded by Count
Mercy. As after Rocroy, numerous fortresses opened their gates to the
duke. The next winter Enghien spent, like every other winter during the
war, amid the gaieties of Paris. The summer campaign of 1645 opened with
the defeat of Turenne by Mercy, but this was retrieved in the brilliant
victory of Nördlingen, in which Mercy was killed, and Enghien himself
received several serious wounds. The capture of Philipsburg was the most
important of his other achievements during this campaign. In 1646
Enghien served under the duke of Orleans in Flanders, and when, after
the capture of Mardyck, Orleans returned to Paris, Enghien, left in
command, captured Dunkirk (October 11th).

It was in this year that the old prince of Condé died. The enormous
power that fell into the hands of his successor was naturally looked
upon with serious alarm by the regent and her minister. Condé's birth
and military renown placed him at the head of the French nobility; but,
added to that, the family of which he was chief was both enormously rich
and master of no small portion of France. Condé himself held Burgundy,
Berry and the marches of Lorraine, as well as other less important
territory; his brother Conti held Champagne, his brother-in-law,
Longueville, Normandy. The government, therefore, determined to permit
no increase of his already overgrown authority, and Mazarin made an
attempt, which for the moment proved successful, at once to find him
employment and to tarnish his fame as a general. He was sent to lead the
revolted Catalans. Ill-supported, he was unable to achieve anything,
and, being forced to raise the siege of Lerida, he returned home in
bitter indignation. In 1648, however, he received the command in the
important field of the Low Countries; and at Lens (Aug. 19th) a battle
took place, which, beginning with a panic in his own regiment, was
retrieved by Condé's coolness and bravery, and ended in a victory that
fully restored his prestige.

In September of the same year Condé was recalled to court, for the
regent Anne of Austria required his support. Influenced by the fact of
his royal birth and by his arrogant scorn for the bourgeois, Condé lent
himself to the court party, and finally, after much hesitation, he
consented to lead the army which was to reduce Paris (Jan. 1649).

On his side, insufficient as were his forces, the war was carried on
with vigour, and after several minor combats their substantial losses
and a threatening of scarcity of food made the Parisians weary of the
war. The political situation inclined both parties to peace, which was
made at Rueil on the 20th of March (see Fronde, The). It was not long,
however, before Condé became estranged from the court. His pride and
ambition earned for him universal distrust and dislike, and the personal
resentment of Anne in addition to motives of policy caused the sudden
arrest of Condé, Conti and Longueville on the 18th of January 1650. But
others, including Turenne and his brother the duke of Bouillon, made
their escape. Vigorous attempts for the release of the princes began to
be made. The women of the family were now its heroes. The dowager
princess claimed from the parlement of Paris the fulfilment of the
reformed law of arrest, which forbade imprisonment without trial. The
duchess of Longueville entered into negotiations with Spain; and the
young princess of Condé, having gathered an army around her, obtained
entrance into Bordeaux and the support of the parlement of that town.
She alone, among the nobles who took part in the folly of the Fronde,
gains our respect and sympathy. Faithful to a faithless husband, she
came forth from the retirement to which he had condemned her, and
gathered an army to fight for him. But the delivery of the princes was
brought about in the end by the junction of the old Fronde (the party of
the parlement and of Cardinal de Retz) and the new Fronde (the party of
the Condés); and Anne was at last, in February 1651, forced to liberate
them from their prison at Havre. Soon afterwards, however, another
shifting of parties left Condé and the new Fronde isolated. With the
court and the old Fronde in alliance against him, Condé found no
resource but that of making common cause with the Spaniards, who were at
war with France. The confused civil war which followed this step (Sept.
1651) was memorable chiefly for the battle of the Faubourg St Antoine,
in which Condé and Turenne, two of the foremost captains of the age,
measured their strength (July 2, 1652), and the army of the prince was
only saved by being admitted within the gates of Paris. La Grande
Mademoiselle, daughter of the duke of Orleans, persuaded the Parisians
to act thus, and turned the cannon of the Bastille on Turenne's army.
Thus Condé, who as usual had fought with the most desperate bravery, was
saved, and Paris underwent a new investment. This ended in the flight of
Condé to the Spanish army (Sept. 1652), and thenceforward, up to the
peace, he was in open arms against France, and held high command in the
army of Spain. But his now fully developed genius as a commander found
little scope in the cumbrous and antiquated system of war practised by
the Spaniards, and though he gained a few successes, and man[oe]uvred
with the highest possible skill against Turenne, his disastrous defeat
at the Dunes near Dunkirk (14th of June 1658), in which an English
contingent of Cromwell's veterans took part on the side of Turenne, led
Spain to open negotiations for peace. After the peace of the Pyrenees in
1659, Condé obtained his pardon (January 1660) from Louis, who thought
him less dangerous as a subject than as possessor of the independent
sovereignty of Luxemburg, which had been offered him by Spain as a
reward for his services.

Condé now realized that the period of agitation and party warfare was at
an end, and he accepted, and loyally maintained henceforward, the
position of a chief subordinate to a masterful sovereign. Even so, some
years passed before he was recalled to active employment, and these
years he spent on his estate at Chantilly. Here he gathered round him a
brilliant company, which included many men of genius--Molière, Racine,
Boileau, La Fontaine, Nicole, Bourdaloue and Bossuet. About this time
negotiations between the Poles, Condé and Louis were carried on with a
view to the election, at first of Condé's son Enghien, and afterwards of
Condé himself, to the throne of Poland. These, after a long series of
curious intrigues, were finally closed in 1674 by the veto of Louis XIV.
and the election of John Sobieski. The prince's retirement, which was
only broken by the Polish question and by his personal intercession on
behalf of Fouquet in 1664, ended in 1668. In that year he proposed to
Louvois, the minister of war, a plan for seizing Franche-Comté, the
execution of which was entrusted to him and successfully carried out. He
was now completely re-established in the favour of Louis, and with
Turenne was the principal French commander in the celebrated campaign of
1672 against the Dutch. At the forcing of the Rhine passage at Tollhuis
(June 12) he received a severe wound, after which he commanded in Alsace
against the Imperialists. In 1673 he was again engaged in the Low
Countries, and in 1674 he fought his last great battle at Seneff against
the prince of Orange (afterwards William III. of England). This battle,
fought on the 11th of August, was one of the hardest of the century, and
Condé, who displayed the reckless bravery of his youth, had three horses
killed under him. His last campaign was that of 1675 on the Rhine, where
the army had been deprived of its general by the death of Turenne; and
where by his careful and methodical strategy he repelled the invasion of
the Imperial army of Montecucculi. After this campaign, prematurely worn
out by the toils and excesses of his life, and tortured by the gout, he
returned to Chantilly, where he spent the eleven years that remained to
him in quiet retirement. In the end of his life he specially sought the
companionship of Bourdaloue, Nicole and Bossuet, and devoted himself to
religious exercises. He died on the 11th of November 1686 at the age of
sixty-five. Bourdaloue attended him at his death-bed, and Bossuet
pronounced his _éloge_.

The earlier political career of Condé was typical of the great French
noble of his day. Success in love and war, predominant influence over
his sovereign and universal homage to his own exaggerated pride, were
the objects of his ambition. Even as an exile he asserted the precedence
of the royal house of France over the princes of Spain and Austria, with
whom he was allied for the moment. But the Condé of 1668 was no longer a
politician and a marplot; to be first in war and in gallantry was still
his aim, but for the rest he was a submissive, even a subservient,
minister of the royal will. It is on his military character, however,
that his fame rests. This changed but little. Unlike his great rival
Turenne, Condé was equally brilliant in his first battle and in his
last. The one failure of his generalship was in the Spanish Fronde, and
in this everything united to thwart his genius; only on the battlefield
itself was his personal leadership as conspicuous as ever. That he was
capable of waging a methodical war of positions may be assumed from his
campaigns against Turenne and Montecucculi, the greatest generals of the
predominant school. But it was in his eagerness for battle, his quick
decision in action, and the stern will which sent his regiments to face
the heaviest loss, that Condé is distinguished above all the generals of
his time. In private life he was harsh and unamiable, seeking only the
gratification of his own pleasures and desires. His enforced and
loveless marriage embittered his life, and it was only in his last
years, when he had done with ambition, that the more humane side of his
character appeared in his devotion to literature.

Condé's unhappy wife had some years before been banished to Châteauroux.
An accident brought about her ruin. Her contemporaries, greedy as they
were of scandal, refused to believe any evil of her, but the prince
declared himself convinced of her unfaithfulness, placed her in
confinement, and carried his resentment so far that his last letter to
the king was to request him never to allow her to be released.

AUTHORITIES.--See, besides the numerous _Mémoires_ of the time, Puget
de la Serre, _Les Sièges, les batailles, &c., de Mr. le prince de
Condé_ (Paris, 1651); J. de la Brune, _Histoire de la vie, &c., de
Louis de Bourbon, prince de Condé_ (Cologne, 1694); P. Coste,
_Histoire de Louis de Bourbon, &c._ (Hague, 1748); Desormeaux,
_Histoire de Louis de Bourbon, &c._ (Paris, 1768); Turpin, _Vie de
Louis de Bourbon, &c._ (Paris and Amsterdam, 1767); _Éloge militaire
de Louis de Bourbon_ (Dijon, 1772); _Histoire du grand Condé_, by A.
Lemercier (Tours, 1862); J. J. E. Roy (Lille, 1859); L. de Voivreuil
(Tours, 1846); Fitzpatrick, _The Great Condé_, and Lord Mahon, _Life
of Louis, prince of Condé_ (London, 1845). Works on the Condé family
by the prince de Condé and de Sevilinges (Paris, 1820), the due
d'Aumale, and Guibout (Rouen, 1856), should also be consulted.

CONDÉ, the name of some twenty villages in France and of two towns of
some importance. Of the villages, Condé-en-Brie (Lat. _Condetum_) is a
place of great antiquity and was in the middle ages the seat of a
principality, a sub-fief of that of Montmirail; Condé-sur-Aisne
(_Condatus_) was given in 870 by Charles the Bald to the abbey of St
Ouen at Rouen, gave its name to a seigniory during the middle ages, and
possessed a priory of which the church and a 12th-century chapel remain;
Condé-sur-Marne (_Condate_), once a place of some importance, preserves
one of its parish churches, with a fine Romanesque tower. The two towns
are:--

1. CONDÉ-SUR-L'ESCAUT, in the department of Nord, at the junction of the
canals of the Scheldt and of Condé-Mons. Pop. (1906) town, 2701;
commune, 5310. It lies 7 m. N. by E. of Valenciennes and 2 m. from the
Belgian frontier. It has a church dating from the middle of the 18th
century. Trade is in coal and cattle. The industries include brewing,
rope-making and boat-building, and there is a communal college. Condé
(_Condate_) is of considerable antiquity, dating at least from the later
Roman period. Taken in 1676 by Louis XIV., it definitely passed into the
possession of France by the treaty of Nijmwegen two years later, and was
afterwards fortified by Vauban. During the revolutionary war it was
besieged and taken by the Austrians (1793); and in 1815 it again fell to
the allies. It was from this place that the princes of Condé (q.v.) took
their title. See Perron-Gelineau, _Condé ancien et moderne_ (Nantes,
1887).

2. CONDÉ-SUR-NOIREAU, in the department of Calvados, at the confluence
of the Noireau and the Drouance, 33 m. S.S.W. of Caen on the Ouest-État
railway. Pop. (1906) 5709. The town is the seat of a tribunal of
commerce, a board of trade-arbitration and a chamber of arts and
manufactures, and has a communal college. It is important for its
cotton-spinning and weaving, and carries on dyeing, printing and
machine-construction; there are numerous nursery-gardens in the
vicinity. Important fairs are held in the town. The church of St Martin
has a choir of the 12th and 15th centuries, and a stained-glass window
(15th century) representing the Crucifixion. There is a statue to Dumont
d'Urville, the navigator (b. 1790), a native of the town. Throughout the
middle ages Condé (_Condatum_, _Condetum_) was the seat of an important
castellany, which was held by a long succession of powerful nobles and
kings, including Robert, count of Mortain, Henry II. and John of
England, Philip Augustus of France, Charles II. (the Bad) and Charles
III. of Navarre. The place was held by the English from 1417 to 1449. Of
the castle some ruins of the keep survive. See L. Huet, _Hist. de
Condé-sur-Noireau, ses seigneurs, son industrie, &c._ (Caen, 1883).

CONDE, JOSÉ ANTONIO (1766-1820), Spanish Orientalist, was born at
Peraleja (Cuenca) on the 28th of October 1766, and was educated at the
university of Alcalá. His translation of Anacreon (1791) obtained him a
post in the royal library in 1795, and in 1796-1797 he published
paraphrases from Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, Sappho and Meleager. These
were followed by a mediocre edition of the Arabic text of Edrisi's
_Description of Spain_ (1799), with notes and a translation. Conde
became a member of the Spanish Academy in 1802 and of the Academy of
History in 1804, but his appointment as interpreter to Joseph Bonaparte
led to his expulsion from both bodies in 1814. He escaped to France in
February 1813, and returned to Spain in 1814, but was not allowed to
reside at Madrid till 1816. Two years later he was re-elected by both
academies; he died in poverty on the 12th of June 1820. His _Historia de
la Dominación de los Árabes en España_ was published in 1820-1821. Only
the first volume was corrected by the author, the other two being
compiled from his manuscript by Juan Tineo. This work was translated
into German (1824-1825), French (1825) and English (1854). Conde's
pretensions to scholarship have been severely criticized by Dozy, and
his history is now discredited. It had, however, the merit of
stimulating abler workers in the same field.

CONDENSATION OF GASES.

Critical temperature.

If the volume of a gas continually decreases at a constant temperature,
for which an increasing pressure is required, two cases may occur:--(1)
The volume may continue to be homogeneously filled. (2) If the substance
is contained in a certain volume, and if the pressure has a certain
value, the substance may divide into two different phases, each of which
is again homogeneous. The value of the temperature T decides which case
will occur. The temperature which is the limit above which the space
will always be homogeneously filled, and below which the substance
divides into two phases, is called the _critical temperature_ of the
substance. It differs greatly for different substances, and if we
represent it by Tc, the condition for the condensation of a gas is that
T must be below Tc. If the substance is divided into two phases, two
different cases may occur. The denser phase may be either a liquid or a
solid. The limiting temperature for these two cases, at which the
division into three phases may occur, is called the _triple point_. Let
us represent it by T3; if the term "condensation of gases" is taken in
the sense of "liquefaction of gases"--which is usually done--the
condition for condensation is Tc > T > T3. The opinion sometimes held
that for all substances T3 is the same fraction of Tc (the value being
about ½) has decidedly not been rigorously confirmed. Nor is this to
be expected on account of the very different form of crystallization
which the solid state presents. Thus for carbon dioxide, CO2, for which
Tc = 304° on the absolute scale, and for which we may put T3 = 216°,
this fraction is about 0.7; for water it descends down to 0.42, and for
other substances it may be still lower.

If we confine ourselves to temperatures between Tc and T3, the gas will
pass into a liquid if the pressure is sufficiently increased. When the
formation of liquid sets in we call the gas a _saturated vapour_. If the
decrease of volume is continued, the gas pressure remains constant till
all the vapour has passed into liquid. The invariability of the
properties of the phases is in close connexion with the invariability of
the pressure (called _maximum tension_). Throughout the course of the
process of condensation these properties remain unchanged, provided the
temperature remain constant; only the relative quantity of the two
phases changes. Until all the gas has passed into liquid a further
decrease of volume will not require increase of pressure. But as soon as
the liquefaction is complete a slight decrease of volume will require a
great increase of pressure, liquids being but slightly compressible.

Critical pressure.

The pressure required to condense a gas varies with the temperature,
becoming higher as the temperature rises. The highest pressure will
therefore be found at Tc and the lowest at T3. We shall represent the
pressure at Tc by pc. It is called the _critical pressure_. The pressure
at T3 we shall represent by p3. It is called the _pressure of the triple
point_. The values of Tc and pc for different substances will be found
at the end of this article. The values of T3 and p3 are accurately known
only for a few substances. As a rule p3 is small, though occasionally it
is greater than 1 atmosphere. This is the case with CO2, and we may in
general expect it if the value of T3/Tc is large. In this case there can
only be a question of a real boiling-point (under the normal pressure)
if the liquid can be supercooled.

We may find the value of the pressure of the saturated vapour for each T
in a geometrical way by drawing in the theoretical isothermal a straight
line parallel to the v-axis in such a way that [int] v1 to v2 pdv will
have the same value whether the straight line or the theoretical
isothermal is followed. This construction, given by James Clerk Maxwell,
may be considered as a result of the application of the general rules
for coexisting equilibrium, which we owe to J. Willard Gibbs. The
construction derived from the rules of Gibbs is as follows:--Construe
the free energy at a constant temperature, i.e. the quantity - [int]pdv
as ordinate, if the abscissa represents v, and determine the inclination
of the double tangent. Another construction derived from the rules of
Gibbs might be expressed as follows:--Construe the value of pv -
[int]pdv as ordinate, the abscissa representing p, and determine the
point of intersection of two of the three branches of this curve.

As an approximate half-empirical formula for the calculation of the
pressure,

p /Tc-T\
-log10 --- = f( ---- )
pc \ T /

may be used. It would follow from the law of corresponding states that
in this formula the value of [int] is the same for all substances, the
molecules of which do not associate to form larger molecule-complexes.
In fact, for a great many substances, we find a value for f, which
differs but little from 3, e.g. ether, carbon dioxide, benzene, benzene
derivatives, ethyl chloride, ethane, &c. As the chemical structure of
these substances differs greatly, and association, if it takes place,
must largely depend upon the structure of the molecule, we conclude from
this approximate equality that the fact of this value of [int] being
equal to about 3 is characteristic for normal substances in which,
consequently, association is excluded. Substances known to associate,
such as organic acids and alcohols, have a sensibly higher value of f.
Thus T. Estreicher (Cracow, 1896) calculates that for fluor-benzene f
varies between 3.07 and 2.94; for ether between 3.0 and 3.1; but for
water between 3.2 and 3.33, and for methyl alcohol between 3.65 and
3.84, &c. For isobutyl alcohol [int] even rises above 4. It is, however,
remarkable that for oxygen [int] has been found almost invariably equal
to 2.47 from K. Olszewski's observations, a value which is appreciably
smaller than 3. This fact makes us again seriously doubt the correctness
of the supposition that [int] = 3 is a characteristic for
non-association.

Critical volume.

It is a general rule that the volume of saturated vapour decreases when
the temperature is raised, while that of the coexisting liquid
increases. We know only one exception to this rule, and that is the
volume of water below 4° C. If we call the liquid volume v_l, and the
vapour v_v, v_v - v_l decreases if the temperature rises, and becomes
zero at Tc. The limiting value, to which vl and vv converge at Tc, is
called the _critical volume_, and we shall represent it by v_c.
According to the law of corresponding states the values both of v_l/v_c
and vv/vc must be the same for all substances, if T/Tc has been taken
equal for them all. According to the investigations of Sydney Young,
this holds good with a high degree of approximation for a long series of
substances. Important deviations from this rule for the values of vv/vl
are only found for those substances in which the existence of
association has already been discovered by other methods. Since the
lowest value of T, for which investigations on v_l and v_v may be made,
is the value of T3; and since T3/Tc, as has been observed above, is not
the same for all substances, we cannot expect the smallest value of
v_l/v_c to be the same for all substances. But for low values of T, viz.
such as are near T3, the influence of the temperature on the volume is
but slight, and therefore we are not far from the truth if we assume the
minimum value of the ratio v_l/v_c as being identical for all normal
substances, and put it at about 1/3. Moreover, the influence of the
polymerization (association) on the liquid volume appears to be small,
so that we may even attribute the value 1/3 to substances which are not
normal. The value of v_v/v_c at T = T3 differs widely for different
substances. If we take p3 so low that the law of Boyle-Gay Lussac may be
applied, we can calculate v3/v_c by means of the formula p3·v3/T3 =
k·p_c·v_c/Tc provided k be known. According to the observations of
Sydney Young, this factor has proved to be 3.77 for normal substances.
In consequence

v3 p_c T3
--- = 3.77 --- --.
v_c p3 Tc

A similar formula, but with another value of k, may be given for
associating substances, provided the saturated vapour does not contain
any complex molecules. But if it does, as is the case with acetic acid,
we must also know the degree of association. It can, however, only be
found by measuring the volume itself.

Rule of the rectilinear diameter.

E. Mathias has remarked that the following relation exists between the
densities of the saturated vapour and of the coexisting liquid:--

/ T \
[rho]l + [rho]v = 2[rho]c {1 + a(1 - -- ) },
\ Tc/

and that, accordingly, the curve which represents the densities at
different temperatures possesses a rectilinear diameter. According to
the law of corresponding states, a would be the same for all substances.
Many substances, indeed, actually appear to have a rectilinear diameter,
and the value of a appears approximatively to be the same. In a _Mémoire
présentê à la société royale à Liège_, 15th June 1899, E. Mathias gives
a list of some twenty substances for which a has a value lying between
0.95 and 1.05. It had been already observed by Sydney Young that a is
not perfectly constant even for normal substances. For associating
substances the diameter is not rectilinear. Whether the value of a, near
1, may serve as a characteristic for normal substances is rendered
doubtful by the fact that for nitrogen a is found equal to 0.6813 and
for oxygen to 0.8. At T = Tc/2, the formula of E. Mathias, if [rho]v be
neglected with respect to [rho]l, gives the value 2 + a for
[rho]l/[rho]c.

Latent heat.

The heat required to convert a molecular quantity of liquid coexisting
with vapour into saturated vapour at the same temperature is called
_molecular latent heat_. It decreases with the rise of the temperature,
because at a higher temperature the liquid has already expanded, and
because the vapour into which it has to be converted is denser. At the
critical temperature it is equal to zero on account of the identity of
the liquid and the gaseous states. If we call the molecular weight m and
the latent heat per unit of weight r, then, according to the law of
corresponding states, mr/T is the same for all normal substances,
provided the temperatures are corresponding. According to F. T. Trouton,
the value of mr/T is the same for all substances if we take for T the
boiling-point. As the boiling-points under the pressure of one
atmosphere are generally not equal fractions of Tc, the two theorems are
not identical; but as the values of p_c for many substances do not differ
so much as to make the ratios of the boiling-points under the pressure
of one atmosphere differ greatly from the ratios of Tc, an approximate
confirmation of the law of Trouton may be compatible with an approximate
confirmation of the consequence of the law of corresponding states. If
we take the term boiling-point in a more general sense, and put T in the
law of Trouton to represent the boiling-point under an arbitrary equal
pressure, we may take the pressure equal to pc for a certain substance.
For this substance mr/T would be equal to zero, and the values of mr/T
would no longer show a trace of equality. At present direct trustworthy
investigations about the value of r for different substances are
wanting; hence the question whether as to the quantity mr/T the
substances are to be divided into normal and associating ones cannot be
answered. Let us divide the latent heat into heat necessary for internal
work and heat necessary for external work. Let r' represent the former
of these two quantities, then:--

r = r' + p(v_v - v_l).

Then the same remark holds good for mr'/T as has been made for mr/T. The
ratio between r and that part that is necessary for external work is
given in the formula,

r T dp
------------ = ----.
p(v_v - v_l) p dT

By making use of the approximate formula for the vapour tension:--

p /Tc - T\
log_[epsilon] --- = [int]' (--------), we find--
p_c \ T /

r Tc
------------ = [int]' --.
p(v_v - v_l) T

At T = Tc we find for this ratio [int]', a value which, for normal
substances is equal to 3/0.4343 = 7. At the critical temperature the
quantities r and vv-vl are both equal to 0, but they have a finite
ratio. As we may equate p(v_v - v_l) with pv_v = RT at very low
temperatures, we get, if we take into consideration that R expressed in
calories is nearly equal to 2/m, the value 2[int]'Tc = 14Tc as limiting
value for mr for normal substances. This value for mr has, however,
merely the character of a rough approximation--especially since the
factor f' is not perfectly constant.

Nature of a liquid.

All the phenomena which accompany the condensation of gases into liquids
may be explained by the supposition, that the condition of aggregation
which we call liquid differs only in quantity, and not in quality, from
that which we call gas. We imagine a gas to consist of separate
molecules of a certain mass [mu], having a certain velocity depending on
the temperature. This velocity is distributed according to the law of
probabilities, and furnishes a quantity of _vis viva_ proportional to
the temperatures. We must attribute extension to the molecules, and they
will attract one another with a force which quickly decreases with the
distance. Even those suppositions which reduce molecules to centra of
forces, like that of Maxwell, lead us to the result that the molecules
behave in mutual collisions as if they had extension--an extension which
in this case is not constant, but determined by the law of repulsion in
the collision, the law of the distribution, and the value of the
velocities. In order to explain capillary phenomena it was assumed so
early as Laplace, that between the molecules of the same substance an
attraction exists which quickly decreases with the distance. That this
attraction is found in gases too is proved by the fall which occurs in
the temperature of a gas that is expanded without performing external
work. We are still perfectly in the dark as to the cause of this
attraction, and opinion differs greatly as to its dependence on the
distance. Nor is this knowledge necessary in order to find the influence
of the attraction, for a homogeneous state, on the value of the external
pressure which is required to keep the moving molecules at a certain
volume (T being given). We may, viz., assume either in the strict sense,
or as a first approximation, that the influence of the attraction is
quite equal to a pressure which is proportional to the square of the
density. Though this molecular pressure is small for gases, yet it will
be considerable for the great densities of liquids, and calculation
shows that we may estimate it at more than 1000 atmos., possibly
increasing up to 10,000. We may now make the same supposition for a
liquid as for a gas, and imagine it to consist of molecules, which for
non-associating substances are the same as those of the rarefied vapour;
these, if T is the same, have the same mean _vis viva_ as the vapour
molecules, but are more closely massed together. Starting from this
supposition and all its consequences, van der Waals derived the
following formula which would hold both for the liquid state and for the
gaseous state:--

/ a\
(p + -- )(v - b) = RT.
\ v²/

It follows from this deduction that for the rarefied gaseous state b
would be four times the volume of the molecules, but that for greater
densities the factor 4 would decrease. If we represent the volume of the
molecules by [beta], the quantity b will be found to have the following
form:--

{ /4[beta]\ /4[beta]\² }
b = 4[beta]{ 1 - [gamma]1( ------- ) + [gamma]2( ------- ) &c.}
{ \ v / \ v / }

Only two of the successive coefficients [gamma]1, [gamma]2, &c., have
been worked out, for the determination requires very lengthy
calculations, and has not even led to definitive results (L. Boltzmann,
_Proc. Royal Acad. Amsterdam_, March 1899). The latter formula supposes
the molecules to be rigid spheres of invariable size. If the molecules
are things which are compressible, another formula for b is found, which
is different according to the number of atoms in the molecule (_Proc.
Royal Acad. Amsterdam_, 1900-1901). If we keep the value of a and b
constant, the given equation will not completely represent the net of
isothermals of a substance. Yet even in this form it is sufficient as to
the principal features. From it we may argue to the existence of a
critical temperature, to a minimum value of the product pv, to the law
of corresponding states, &c. Some of the numerical results to which it
leads, however, have not been confirmed by experience. Thus it would
follow from the given equation that p_c·v_c/Tc = 3/8·pv/T, if the value
of v is taken so great that the gaseous laws may be applied, whereas
Sydney Young has found 1/3.77 for a number of substances instead of the
factor 3/8. Again it follows from the given equation, that if a is
thought to be independent of the temperature, Tc/p_c·(dp/dT)_c = 4
whereas for a number of substances a value is found for it which is near
7. If we assume with Clausius that a depends on the temperature, and has
a value a'·273/T, we find Tc/p_c·(dp/dT)_c = 7 That the accurate
knowledge of the equation of state is of the highest importance is
universally acknowledged, because, in connexion with the results of
thermodynamics, it will enable us to explain all phenomena relating to
ponderable matter. This general conviction is shown by the numerous
efforts made to complete or modify the given equation, or to replace it
by another, for instance, by R. Clausius, P. G. Tait, E. H. Amagat, L.
Boltzmann, T. G. Jager, C. Dieterici, B. Galitzine, T. Rose Innes and M.
Reinganum.

If we hold to the supposition that the molecules in the gaseous and the
liquid state are the same--which we may call the supposition of the
identity of the two conditions of aggregation--then the heat which is
given out by the condensation at constant T is due to the potential
energy lost in consequence of the coming closer of the molecules which
attract each other, and then it is equal to a(1/v_l - 1/v_v). If a should
be a function of the temperature, it follows from thermodynamics that it
would be equal to (a - T·da/dT)(1/v_l - 1/v_v). Not only in the case of
liquid and gas, but always when the volume is diminished, a quantity of
heat is given out equal to a(1/v1 - 1/v2) or (a -T·da/dT)(1/v1 - 1/v2).

Associating substances.

If, however, when the volume is diminished at a given temperature, and
also during the transition from the gaseous to the liquid state,
combination into larger molecule-complexes takes place, the total
internal heat may be considered as the sum of that which is caused by
the combination of the molecules into greater molecule-complexes and by
their approach towards each other. We have the simplest case of possible
greater complexity when two molecules combine to one. From the course of
the changes in the density of the vapour we assume that this occurs,
e.g. with nitrogen peroxide, NO2, and acetic acid, and the somewhat
close agreement of the observed density of the vapour with that which is
calculated from the hypothesis of such an association to
double-molecules, makes this supposition almost a certainty. In such
cases the molecules in the much denser liquid state must therefore be
considered as double-molecules, either completely so or in a variable
degree depending on the temperature. The given equation of state cannot
hold for such substances. Even though we assume that a and b are not
modified by the formation of double-molecules, yet RT is modified, and,
since it is proportional to the number of the molecules, is diminished
by the combination. The laws found for normal substances will,
therefore, not hold for such associating substances. Accordingly for
substances for which we have already found an anormal density of the
vapour, we cannot expect the general laws for the liquid state, which
have been treated above, to hold good without modification, and in many
respects such substances will therefore not follow the law of
corresponding states. There are, however, also substances of which the
anormal density of vapour has not been stated, and which yet cannot be
ranged under this law, e.g. water and alcohols. The most natural thing,
of course, is to ascribe the deviation of these substances, as of the
others, to the fact that the molecules of the liquid are polymerized. In
this case we have to account for the following circumstance, that
whereas for NO2 and acetic acid in the state of saturated vapour the
degree of association increases if the temperature falls, the reverse
must take place for water and alcohols. Such a difference may be
accounted for by the difference in the quantity of heat released by the
polymerization to double-molecules or larger molecule-complexes. The
quantity of heat given out when two molecules fall together may be
calculated for NO2 and acetic acid from the formula of Gibbs for the
density of vapour, and it proves to be very considerable. With this the
following fact is closely connected. If in the pv diagram, starting from
a point indicating the state of saturated vapour, a geometrical locus is
drawn of the points which have the same degree of association, this
curve, which passes towards isothermals of higher T if the volume
diminishes, requires for the same change in T a greater diminution of
volume than is indicated by the border-curve. For water and alcohols
this geometrical locus will be found on the other side of the
border-curve, and the polymerization heat will be small, i.e. smaller
than the latent heat. For substances with a small polymerization heat
the degree of association will continually decrease if we move along the
border-curve on the side of the saturated vapour in the direction
towards lower T. With this, it is perfectly compatible that for such
substances the saturated vapour, e.g. under the pressure of one
atmosphere, should show an almost normal density. Saturated vapour of
water at 100° has a density which seems nearly 4% greater than the
theoretical one, an amount which is greater than can be ascribed to the
deviation from the gas-laws. For the relation between v, T, and x, if x
represents the fraction of the number of double-molecules, the following
formula has been found ("Moleculartheorie," _Zeits. Phys. Chem._, 1890,
vol. v):

x(v - b) 2(E1 - E2)
log -------- = ---------- + C,
(1 - x)² R1T

from which

T /dv\ E1 - E2
------( -- ) = -2-------,
(v - b) \dT/_x R1T

which may elucidate what precedes.

Condensation of substances with low Tc.

By far the majority of substances have a value of Tc above the ordinary
temperature, and diminution of volume (increase of pressure) is
sufficient to condense such gaseous substances into liquids. If Tc is
but little above the ordinary temperature, a great increase of pressure
is in general required to effect condensation. Substances for which Tc
is much higher than the ordinary temperature T0, e.g. Tc > 5/3 T0, occur
as liquids, even without increase of pressure; that is, at the pressure
of one atmosphere. The value 5/3 is to be considered as only a mean
value, because of the inequality of p_c. The substances for which Tc is
smaller than the ordinary temperature are but few in number. Taking the
temperature of melting ice as a limit, these gases are in successive
order: CH4, NO, O2, CO, N2 and H2 (the recently discovered gases argon,
helium, &c., are left out of account). If these gases are compressed at
0° centigrade they do not show a trace of liquefaction, and therefore
they were long known under the name of "permanent gases." The discovery,
however, of the critical temperature carried the conviction that these
substances would not be "permanent gases" if they were compressed at
much lower T. Hence the problem arose how "low temperatures" were to be
brought about. Considered from a general point of view the means to
attain this end may be described as follows: we must make use of the
above-mentioned circumstance that heat disappears when a substance
expands, either with or without performing external work. According as
this heat is derived from the substance itself which is to be condensed,
or from the substance which is used as a means of cooling, we may divide
the methods for condensing the so-called permanent gases into two
principal groups.

Liquids as means of cooling.

In order to use a liquid as a cooling bath it must be placed in a
vacuum, and it must be possible to keep the pressure of the vapour in
that space at a small value. According to the boiling-law, the
temperature of the liquid must descend to that at which the maximum
tension of the vapour is equal to the pressure which reigns on the
surface of the liquid. If the vapour, either by means of absorption or
by an air-pump, is exhausted from the space, the temperature of the
liquid and that of the space itself depend upon the value of the
pressure which finally prevails in the space. From a practical point of
view the value of T3 may be regarded as the limit to which the
temperature falls. It is true that if the air is exhausted to the utmost
possible extent, the temperature may fall still lower, but when the
substance has become solid, a further diminution of the pressure in the
space is of little advantage. At any rate, as a solid body evaporates
only on the surface, and solid gases are bad conductors of heat, further
cooling will only take place very slowly, and will scarcely neutralize
the influx of heat. If the pressure p3 is very small, it is perhaps
practically impossible to reach T3; if so, T3 in the following lines
will represent the temperature practically attainable. There is thus for
every gas a limit below which it is not to be cooled further, at least
not in this way. If, however, we can find another gas for which the
critical temperature is sufficiently above T3 of the first chosen gas,
and if it is converted into a liquid by cooling with the first gas, and
then treated in the same way as the first gas, it may in its turn be
cooled down to (T3)2. Going on in this way, continually lower
temperatures may be attained, and it would be possible to condense all
gases, provided the difference of the successive critical temperatures
of two gases fulfils certain conditions. If the ratio of the absolute
critical temperatures for two gases, which succeed one another in the
series, should be sensibly greater than 2, the value of T3 for the first
gas is not, or not sufficiently, below the Tc of the second gas. This is
the case when one of the gases is nitrogen, on which hydrogen would
follow as second gas. Generally, however, we shall take atmospheric air
instead of nitrogen. Though this mixture of N2 and O2 will show other
critical phenomena than a simple substance, yet we shall continue to
speak of a Tc for air, which is given at -140° C., and for which,
therefore, Tc amounts to 133° absolute. The lowest T which may be
expected for air in a highly rarefied space may be evaluated at 60°
absolute--a value which is higher than the Tc for hydrogen. Without new
contrivances it would, accordingly, not be possible to reach the
critical temperature of H2. The method by which we try to obtain
successively lower temperatures by making use of successive gases is
called the "cascade method." It is not self-evident that by sufficiently
diminishing the pressure on a liquid it may be cooled to such a degree
that the temperature will be lowered to T3, if the initial temperature
was equal to Tc, or but little below it, and we can even predict with
certainty that this will not be the case for all substances. It is
possible, too, that long before the triple point is reached the whole
liquid will have evaporated. The most favourable conditions will, of
course, be attained when the influx of heat is reduced to a minimum. As
a limiting case we imagine the process to be isentropic. Now the
question has become, Will an isentropic line, which starts from a point
of the border-curve on the side of the liquid not far from the
critical-point, remain throughout its descending course in the
heterogeneous region, or will it leave the region on the side of the
vapour? As early as 1878 van der Waals (_Verslagen Kon. Akad.
Amsterdam_) pointed out that the former may be expected to be the case
only for substances for which c_p/c_v is large, and the latter for those
for which it is small; in other words, the former will take place for
substances the molecules of which contain few atoms, and the latter for
substances the molecules of which contain many atoms. Ether is an
example of the latter class, and if we say that the quantity h (specific
heat of the saturated vapour) for ether is found to be positive, we
state the same thing in other words. It is not necessary to prove this
theorem further here, as the molecules of the gases under consideration
contain only two atoms and the total evaporation of the liquid is not to
be feared.

In the practical application of this cascade-method some variation is
found in the gases chosen for the successive stages. Thus methyl
chloride, ethylene and oxygen are used in the cryogenic laboratory of
Leiden, while Sir James Dewar has used air as the last term. Carbonic
acid is not to be recommended on account of the comparatively high value
of T3. In order to prevent loss of gas a system of "circulation" is
employed. This method of obtaining low temperatures is decidedly
laborious, and requires very intricate apparatus, but it has the great
advantage that very _constant_ low temperatures may be obtained, and can
be regulated arbitrarily within pretty wide limits.

Cooling by expansion.

In order to lower the temperature of a substance down to T3, it is not
always necessary to convert it first into the liquid state by means of
another substance, as was assumed in the last method for obtaining low
temperatures. Its own expansion is sufficient, provided the initial
condition be properly chosen, and provided we take care, even more than
in the former method, that there is no influx of heat. Those conditions
being fulfilled, we may, simply by adiabatic expansion, not only lower
the temperature of some substances down to T3, but also convert them
into the liquid state. This is especially the case with substances the
molecules of which contain few atoms.

Let us imagine the whole net of isothermals for homogeneous phases drawn
in a pv diagram, and in it the border-curve. Within this border-curve, as
in the heterogeneous region, the theoretical part of every isothermal
must be replaced by a straight line. The isothermals may therefore be
divided into two groups, viz. those which keep outside the heterogeneous
region, and those which cross this region. Hence an isothermal, belonging
to the latter group, enters the heterogeneous region on the liquid side,
and leaves it at the same level on the vapour side. Let us imagine in the
same way all the isentropic curves drawn for homogeneous states. Their
form resembles that of isothermals in so far as they show a maximum and a
minimum, if the entropy-constant is below a certain value, while if it is
above this value, both the maximum and the minimum disappear, the
isentropic line in a certain point having at the same time dp/dv and
d²p/dv² = 0 for this particular value of the constant. This point, which
we might call the critical point of the isentropic lines, lies in the
heterogeneous region, and therefore cannot be realized, since as soon as
an isentropic curve enters this region its theoretical part will be
replaced by an empiric part. If an isentropic curve crosses the
heterogeneous region, the point where it enters this region must, just as
for the isothermals, be connected with the point where it leaves the
region by another curve. When c_p/c_v = k (the limiting value of c_p/c_v
for infinite rarefaction is meant) approaches unity, the isentropic
curves approach the isothermals and vice versa. In the same way the
critical point of the isentropic curves comes nearer to that of the
isothermals. And if k is not much greater than 1, e.g. k < 1.08, the
following property of the isothermals is also preserved, viz. that an
isentropic curve, which enters the heterogeneous region on the side of
the liquid, leaves it again on the side of the vapour, not of course at
the same level, but at a lower point. If, however, k is greater, and
particularly if it is so great as it is with molecules of one or two
atoms, an isentropic curve, which enters on the side of the liquid,
however far prolonged, always remains within the heterogeneous region.
But in this case all isentropic curves, if sufficiently prolonged, will
enter the heterogeneous region. Every isentropic curve has one point of
intersection with the border-curve, but only a small group intersect the
border-curve in three points, two of which are to be found not far from
the top of the border-curve and on the side of the vapour. Whether the
sign of h (specific heat of the saturated vapour) is negative or
positive, is closely connected with the preceding facts. For substances
having k great, h will be negative if T is low, positive if T rises,
while it will change its sign again before Tc is reached. The values of
T, at which change of sign takes place, depend on k. The law of
corresponding states holds good for this value of T for all substances
which have the same value of k.

Now the gases which were considered as permanent are exactly those for
which k has a high value. From this it would follow that every adiabatic
expansion, provided it be sufficiently continued, will bring such
substances into the heterogeneous region, i.e. they can be condensed by
adiabatic expansion. But since the final pressure must not fall below a
certain limit, determined by experimental convenience, and since the
quantity which passes into the liquid state must remain a fraction as
large as possible, and since the expansion never can take place in such
a manner that no heat is given out by the walls or the surroundings, it
is best to choose the initial condition in such a way that the
isentropic curve of this point cuts the border-curve in a point on the
side of the liquid, lying as low as possible. The border-curve being
rather broad at the top, there are many isentropic curves which
penetrate the heterogeneous region under a pressure which differs but
little from p_c. Availing himself of this property, K. Olszewski has
determined p_c for hydrogen at 15 atmospheres. Isentropic curves, which
lie on the right and on the left of this group, will show a point of
condensation at a lower pressure. Olszewski has investigated this for
those lying on the right, but not for those on the left.

From the equation of state (p + a/v²)(v-b) = RT, the equation of the
isentropic curve follows as (p + a/v²)(v-b)^k = C, and from this we may
deduce T(v - b)^(k-1) = C'. This latter relation shows in how high a
degree the cooling depends on the amount by which k surpasses unity, the
change in v - b being the same.

What has been said concerning the relative position of the border-curve
and the isentropic curve may be easily tested for points of the
border-curve which represent rarefied gaseous states, in the following
way. Following the border-curve we found before [int]' Tc/T for the
value of T/p·dp/dT. Following the isentropic curve the value of T/p
dp/dT is equal to k/(k - 1). If k/(k - 1) < [int]'Tc/T, the isentropic
curve rises more steeply than the border-curve. If we take f' = 7 and
choose the value of Tc/2 for T--a temperature at which the saturated
vapour may be considered to follow the gas-laws--then k/(k - 1) = 14, or
k = 1.07 would be the limiting value for the two cases. At any rate k =
1.41 is great enough to fulfil the condition, even for other values of
T. Cailletet and Pictet have availed themselves of this adiabatic
expansion for condensing some permanent gases, and it must also be used
when, in the cascade method, T3 of one of the gases lies above Tc of the
next.

Linde's apparatus.

A third method of condensing the permanent gases is applied in C. P. G.
Linde's apparatus for liquefying air. Under a high pressure p1 a current
of gas is conducted through a narrow spiral, returning through another
spiral which surrounds the first. Between the end of the first spiral
and the beginning of the second the current of gas is reduced to a much
lower pressure p2 by passing through a tap with a fine orifice. On
account of the expansion resulting from this sudden decrease of
pressure, the temperature of the gas, and consequently of the two
spirals, falls sensibly. If this process is repeated with another
current of gas, this current, having been cooled in the inner spiral,
will be cooled still further, and the temperature of the two spirals
will become still lower. If the pressures p1 and p2 remain constant the
cooling will increase with the lowering of the temperature. In Linde's
apparatus this cycle is repeated over and over again, and after some
time (about two or three hours) it becomes possible to draw off liquid
air.

The cooling which is the consequence of such a decrease of pressure was
experimentally determined in 1854 by Lord Kelvin (then Professor W.
Thomson) and Joule, who represent the result of their experiments in the
formula

p1 - p2
T1 - T2 = [gamma]-------.
T²

In their experiments p2 was always 1 atmosphere, and the amount of p1
was not large. It would, therefore, be certainly wrong, even though for
a small difference in pressure the empiric formula might be
approximately correct, without closer investigation to make use of it
for the differences of pressure used in Linde's apparatus, where p1 =
200 and p2 = 18 atmospheres. For the existence of a most favourable
value of p1 is in contradiction with the formula, since it would follow
from it that T1 - T2 would always increase with the increase of p1. Nor
would it be right to regard as the cause for the existence of this most
favourable value of p1 the fact that the heat produced in the
compression of the expanded gas, and therefore p1/p2, must be kept as
small as possible, for the simple reason that the heat is produced in
quite another part of the apparatus, and might be neutralized in
different ways.

Closer examination of the process shows that if p2 is given, a most
favourable value of p1 must exist for the cooling itself. If p1 is taken
still higher, the cooling decreases again; and we might take a value for
p1 for which the cooling would be zero, or even negative.

If we call the energy per unit of weight [epsilon] and the specific
volume v, the following equation holds:--

[epsilon]1 + p1v1 - p2v2 = [epsilon]2,

or [epsilon]1 + p1v1 = [epsilon]2 + p2v2.

According to the symbols chosen by Gibbs, [chi]1 = [chi]2.

As [chi]1 is determined by T1 and p1, and [chi]2 by T2 and p2, we
obtain, if we take T1 and p2 as being constant,

/[delta][chi]1\ /[delta][chi]2\
(---------------) dp1 = ( ------------- ) dT2.
\ [delta]p1 /_T1 \ [delta]T2 /_p2

If T_2 is to have a minimum value, we have

/[delta][chi]1\ /[delta][chi]1)\
(---------------) = 0, or ( -------------- ) = 0.
\ [delta]p1 /_T1 \ [delta]v1 /_T1

From this follows

/[delta][epsilon]1\ /[delta](p1v1)\
( ----------------- ) + ( ------------- ) = 0.
\ [delta]v1 /_T1 \ [delta]v1 /_T1

As ([delta][epsilon]1/[delta]v1)T is positive, we shall have to take
for the maximum cooling such a pressure that the product p_v decreases
with v, viz. a pressure larger than that at which p_v has the minimum
value. By means of the equation of state mentioned already, we find
for the value of the specific volume that gives the greatest cooling
the formula

RT1b 2a
--------- = ---,
(v1 - b)² v1²

and for the value of the pressure
_ _____ _ _ _____ _
| / 4 T1 | | / 4 T1 |
p1 = 27p_c | 1 - / -- -- | | 3 / -- -- - 1 |.
|_ \/ 27 Tc _| |_ \/ 27 Tc _|

If we take the value 2Tc for T1, as we may approximately for air when
we begin to work with the apparatus, we find for p1 about 8p_c, or
more than 300 atmospheres. If we take T1 = Tc, as we may at the end of
the process, we find p1 = 2.5p_c, or 100 atmospheres. The constant
pressure which has been found the most favourable in Linde's apparatus
is a mean of the two calculated pressures. In a theoretically perfect
apparatus we ought, therefore, to be able to regulate p1 according to
the temperature in the inner spiral.

The critical temperatures and pressures of the permanent gases are given
in the following table, the former being expressed on the absolute scale
and the latter in atmospheres:--

Tc p_c Tc p_c

CH4 191.2° 55 CO 133.5° 35.5
NO 179.5° 71.2 N2 127° 35
O2 155° 50 Air 133° 39
Argon 152° 50.6 H2 32° 15

The values of Tc and p_c for hydrogen are those of Dewar. They are in
approximate accordance with those given by K. Olszewski. Liquid hydrogen
was first collected by J. Dewar in 1898. Apparatus for obtaining
moderate and small quantities have been described by M. W. Travers and
K. Olszewski. H. Kamerlingh Onnes at Leiden has brought about a
circulation yielding more than 3 litres per hour, and has made use of it
to keep baths of 1.5 litre capacity at all temperatures between 20.2°
and 13.7° absolute, the temperatures remaining constant within 0.01°.
(See also LIQUID GASES.) (J. D. v. d. W.)

CONDENSER, the name given to many forms of apparatus which have for
their object the concentration of matter, or bringing it into a smaller
volume, or the intensification of energy. In chemistry the word is
applied to an apparatus which cools down, or condenses, a vapour to a
liquid; reference should be made to the article DISTILLATION for the
various types in use, and also to GAS (_Gas Manufacture_) and COAL TAR;
the device for the condensation of the exhaust steam of a steam-engine
is treated in the article STEAM-ENGINE. In woollen manufactures,
"condensation" of the wool is an important operation and is accomplished
by means of a "condenser." The term is also given--generally as a
qualification, e.g. condensing-syringe, condensing-pump,--to apparatus
by which air or a vapour may be compressed. In optics a "condenser" is a
lens, or system of lenses, which serves to concentrate or bring the
luminous rays to a focus; it is specially an adjunct to the optical
lantern and microscope. In electrostatics a condenser is a device for
concentrating an electrostatic charge (see ELECTROSTATICS; LEYDEN JAR;
ELECTROPHORUS).

CONDER, CHARLES (1868-1909), English artist, son of a civil engineer,
was born in London, and spent his early years in India. After an English
education he went into the government service in Australia, but in 1890
determined to devote himself to art, and studied for several years in
Paris, where in 1893 he became an associate of the Société Nationale des
Beaux-Arts. About 1895 his reputation as an original painter,
particularly of Watteau-like designs for fans, spread among a limited
circle of artists in London, mainly connected first with the New English
Art Club, and later the International Society; and his unique and
charming decorative style, in dainty pastoral scenes, gradually gave him
a peculiar vogue among connoisseurs. Examples of his work were bought
for the Luxembourg and other art galleries. Conder suffered much in
later years from ill-health, and died on the 9th of February 1909.

CONDILLAC, ÉTIENNE BONNOT DE (1715-1780), French philosopher, was born
at Grenoble of a legal family on the 30th of September 1715, and, like
his elder brother, the well-known political writer, abbé de Mably, took
holy orders and became abbé de Mureau.[1] In both cases the profession
was hardly more than nominal, and Condillac's whole life, with the
exception of an interval as tutor at the court of Parma, was devoted to
speculation. His works are _Essai sur l'origine des connaissances
humaines_ (1746), _Traité des systèmes_ (1749), _Traité des sensations_
(1754), _Traité des animaux_ (1755), a comprehensive _Cours d'études_
(1767-1773) in 13 vols., written for the young Duke Ferdinand of Parma,
a grandson of Louis XV., _Le Commerce et le gouvernement, considérés
relativement l'un à l'autre_ (1776), and two posthumous works, _Logique_
(1781) and the unfinished _Langue des calculs_ (1798). In his earlier
days in Paris he came much into contact with the circle of Diderot. A
friendship with Rousseau, which lasted in some measure to the end, may
have been due in the first instance to the fact that Rousseau had been
domestic tutor in the family of Condillac's uncle, M. de Mably, at
Lyons. Thanks to his natural caution and reserve, Condillac's relations
with unorthodox philosophers did not injure his career; and he justified
abundantly the choice of the French court in sending him to Parma to
educate the orphan duke, then a child of seven years. In 1768, on his
return from Italy, he was elected to the French Academy, but attended no
meeting after his reception. He spent his later years in retirement at
Flux, a small property which he had purchased near Beaugency, and died
there on the 3rd of August 1780.

Though Condillac's genius was not of the highest order, he is important
both as a psychologist and as having established systematically in
France the principles of Locke, whom Voltaire had lately made
fashionable. In setting forth his empirical sensationism, Condillac
shows many of the best qualities of his age and nation, lucidity,
brevity, moderation and an earnest striving after logical method.
Unfortunately it must be said of him as of so many of his
contemporaries, "er hat die Theile in seiner Hand, fehlt leider nur der
geistiger Band"; in the analysis of the human mind on which his fame
chiefly rests, he has missed out the active and spiritual side of human
experience. His first book, the _Essai sur l'origine des connaissances
humaines_, keeps close to his English master. He accepts with some
indecision Locke's deduction of our knowledge from two sources,
sensation and reflection, and uses as his main principle of explanation
the association of ideas. His next book, the _Traité des systèmes_, is a
vigorous criticism of those modern systems which are based upon abstract
principles or upon unsound hypotheses. His polemic, which is inspired
throughout with the spirit of Locke, is directed against the innate
ideas of the Cartesians, Malebranche's faculty--psychology, Leibnitz's
monadism and preestablished harmony, and, above all, against the
conception of substance set forth in the first part of the _Ethics_ of
Spinoza. By far the most important of his works is the _Traité des
sensations_, in which he emancipates himself from the tutelage of Locke
and treats psychology in his own characteristic way. He had been led, he
tells us, partly by the criticism of a talented lady, Mademoiselle
Ferrand, to question Locke's doctrine that the senses give us intuitive
knowledge of objects, that the eye, for example, judges naturally of
shapes, sizes, positions and distances. His discussions with the lady
had convinced him that to clear up such questions it was necessary to
study our senses separately, to distinguish precisely what ideas we owe
to each sense, to observe how the senses are trained, and how one sense
aids another. The result, he was confident, would show that all human
faculty and knowledge are transformed sensation only, to the exclusion
of any other principle, such as reflection. The plan of the book is that
the author imagines a statue organized inwardly like a man, animated by
a soul which has never received an idea, into which no sense-impression
has ever penetrated. He then unlocks its senses one by one, beginning
with smell, as the sense that contributes least to human knowledge. At
its first experience of smell, the consciousness of the statue is
entirely occupied by it; and this occupancy of consciousness is
attention. The statue's smell-experience will produce pleasure or pain;
and pleasure and pain will thenceforward be the master-principle which,
determining all the operations of its mind, will raise it by degrees to
all the knowledge of which it is capable. The next stage is memory,
which is the lingering impression of the smell-experience upon the
attention: "memory is nothing more than a mode of feeling." From memory
springs comparison: the statue experiences the smell, say, of a rose,
while remembering that of a carnation; and "comparison is nothing more
than giving one's attention to two things simultaneously." And "as soon
as the statue has comparison it has judgment." Comparisons and judgments
become habitual, are stored in the mind and formed into series, and thus
arises the powerful principle of the association of ideas. From
comparison of past and present experiences in respect of their
pleasure-giving quality arises desire; it is desire that determines the
operation of our faculties, stimulates the memory and imagination, and
gives rise to the passions. The passions, also, are nothing but
sensation transformed. These indications will suffice to show the
general course of the argument in the first section of the _Traité des
sensations_. To show the thoroughness of the treatment it will be enough
to quote the headings of the chief remaining chapters: "Of the Ideas of
a Man limited to the Sense of Smell," "Of a Man limited to the Sense of
Hearing," "Of Smell and Hearing combined," "Of Taste by itself, and of
Taste combined with Smell and Hearing," "Of a Man limited to the Sense
of Sight." In the second section of the treatise Condillac invests his
statue with the sense of touch, which first informs it of the existence
of external objects. In a very careful and elaborate analysis, he
distinguishes the various elements in our tactile experiences--the
touching of one's own body, the touching of objects other than one's own
body, the experience of movement, the exploration of surfaces by the
hands: he traces the growth of the statue's perceptions of extension,
distance and shape. The third section deals with the combination of
touch with the other senses. The fourth section deals with the desires,
activities and ideas of an isolated man who enjoys possession of all the
senses; and ends with observations on a "wild boy" who was found living
among bears in the forests of Lithuania. The conclusion of the whole
work is that in the natural order of things everything has its source in
sensation, and yet that this source is not equally abundant in all men;
men differ greatly in the degree of vividness with which they feel; and,
finally, that man is nothing but what he has acquired; all innate
faculties and ideas are to be swept away. The last dictum suggests the
difference that has been made to this manner of psychologizing by modern
theories of evolution and heredity.

Condillac's work on politics and history, contained, for the most part,
in his _Cours d'études_, offers few features of interest, except so far
as it illustrates his close affinity to English thought: he had not the
warmth and imagination to make a good historian. In logic, on which he
wrote extensively, he is far less successful than in psychology. He
enlarges with much iteration, but with few concrete examples, upon the
supremacy of the analytic method; argues that reasoning consists in the
substitution of one proposition for another which is identical with it;
and lays it down that science is the same thing as a well-constructed
language, a proposition which in his _Langue des calculs_ he tries to
prove by the example of arithmetic. His logic has in fact the good and
bad points that we might expect to find in a sensationist who knows no
science but mathematics. He rejects the medieval apparatus of the
syllogism; but is precluded by his standpoint from understanding the
active, spiritual character of thought; nor had he that interest in
natural science and appreciation of inductive reasoning which form the
chief merit of J. S. Mill. It is obvious enough that Condillac's
anti-spiritual psychology, with its explanation of personality as an
aggregate of sensations, leads straight to atheism and determinism.
There is, however, no reason to question the sincerity with which he
repudiates both these consequences. What he says upon religion is always
in harmony with his profession; and he vindicated the freedom of the
will in a dissertation that has very little in common with the _Traité
des sensations_ to which it is appended. The common reproach of
materialism should certainly not be made against him. He always asserts
the substantive reality of the soul; and in the opening words of his
_Essai_, "Whether we rise to heaven, or descend to the abyss, we never
get outside ourselves--it is always our own thoughts that we perceive,"
we have the subjectivist principle that forms the starting-point of
Berkeley.

As was fitting to a disciple of Locke, Condillac's ideas have had most
importance in their effect upon English thought. In matters connected
with the association of ideas, the supremacy of pleasure and pain, and
the general explanation of all mental contents as sensations or
transformed sensations, his influence can be traced upon the Mills and
upon Bain and Herbert Spencer. And, apart from any definite
propositions, Condillac did a notable work in the direction of making
psychology a science; it is a great step from the desultory, genial
observation of Locke to the rigorous analysis of Condillac,
short-sighted and defective as that analysis may seem to us in the light
of fuller knowledge. His method, however, of imaginative reconstruction
was by no means suited to English ways of thinking. In spite of his
protests against abstraction, hypothesis and synthesis, his allegory of
the statue is in the highest degree abstract, hypothetical and
synthetic. James Mill, who stood more by the study of concrete
realities, put Condillac into the hands of his youthful son with the
warning that here was an example of what to avoid in the method of
psychology. In France Condillac's doctrine, so congenial to the tone of
18th century philosophism, reigned in the schools for over fifty years,
challenged only by a few who, like Maine de Biran, saw that it gave no
sufficient account of volitional experience. Early in the 19th century,
the romantic awakening of Germany had spread to France, and sensationism
was displaced by the eclectic spiritualism of Victor Cousin.

Condillac's collected works were published in 1798 (23 vols.) and two
or three times subsequently; the last edition (1822) has an
introductory dissertation by A. F. Théry. The _Encyclopédie
méthodique_ has a very long article on Condillac (Naigeon).
Biographical details and criticism of the _Traité des systèmes_ in J.
P. Damiron's _Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la philosophie au
dixhuitième siècle_, tome iii.; a full criticism in V. Cousin's _Cours
de l'histoire de la philosophie moderne_, ser. i. tome iii. Consult
also F. Rethoré, _Condillac ou l'empirisme et le rationalisme_ (1864);
L. Dewaule, _Condillac et la psychologie anglaise contemporaine_
(1891); histories of philosophy. (H. St.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] i.e. abbot _in commendam_ of the Premonstratensian abbey of Mureau
in the Vosges. (Ed.)

CONDITION (Lat. _condicio_, from _condicere_, to agree upon, arrange;
not connected with _conditio_, from _condere, conditum_, to put
together), a stipulation, agreement. The term is applied technically to
any circumstance, action or event which is regarded as the indispensable
prerequisite of some other circumstance, action or event. It is also
applied generally to the sum of the circumstances in which a person is
situated, and more specifically to favourable or prosperous
circumstances; thus a person of wealth or birth is described as a person
"of condition," or an athlete as being "in condition," i.e. physically
fit, having gone through the necessary course of preliminary training.
In all these senses there is implicit the idea of limitation or
restraint imposed with a view to the attainment of a particular end.

(1) _In Logic_, the term "condition" is closely related to "cause" in so
far as it is applied to prior events, &c., in the absence of which
another event would not take place. It is, however, different from
"cause" inasmuch as it has a predominantly negative or passive
significance. Hence the adjective "conditional" is applied to
propositions in which the truth of the main statement is made to depend
on the truth of another; these propositions are distinguished from
categorical propositions, which simply state a fact, as being "composed
of two categorical propositions united by a conjunction," e.g. if A is
B, C is D. The second statement (the "consequent") is restricted or
qualified by the first (the "antecedent"). By some logicians these
propositions are classified as (1) Hypothetical, and (2) Disjunctive,
and their function in syllogistic reasoning gives rise to the following
classification of conditional arguments:--(a) Constructive hypothetical
syllogism (_modus ponens_, "affirmative mood"): If A is B, C is D; but A
is B; therefore C is D. (b) Destructive hypothetical syllogism (_modus
tollens_, mood which "removes," i.e. the consequent): if A is B, C is D;
but C is not D; therefore A is not B. In (a) the antecedent must be
affirmed, in (b) the consequent must be denied; otherwise the arguments
become fallacious. A second class of conditional arguments are
disjunctive syllogisms consisting of (c) the _modus ponendo tollens_: A
is either B or C; but A is B; therefore C is not D; and (d) _modus
tollendo ponens_: A is either B or C; A is not B; therefore A is C. A
more complicated conditional argument is the dilemma (q.v.).[1]

The limiting or restrictive significance of "condition" has led to its
use in metaphysical theory in contradistinction to the conception of
absolute being, the _aseitas_ of the Schoolmen. Thus all finite things
exist in certain relations not only to all other things but also to
thought; in other words, all finite existence is "conditioned." Hence
Sir Wm. Hamilton speaks of the "philosophy of the unconditioned," i.e.
of thought in distinction to things which are determined by thought in
relation to other things. An analogous distinction is made (cf. H. W. B.
Joseph, _Introduction to Logic_, pp. 380 foll.) between the so-called
universal laws of nature and conditional principles, which, though they
are regarded as having the force of law, are yet dependent or
derivative, i.e. cannot be treated as universal truths. Such principles
hold good under present conditions, but other conditions might be
imagined under which they would be invalid; they hold good only as
corollaries from the laws of nature under existing conditions.

(2) _In Law_, condition in its general sense is a restraint annexed to a
thing, so that by the non-performance the party to it shall receive
prejudice and loss, and by the performance commodity or advantage.
Conditions may be either: (1) condition in a deed or _express_
condition, i.e. the condition being expressed in actual words; or (2)
condition in law or _implied_ condition, i.e. where, although no
condition is actually expressed, the law implies a condition. The word
is also used indifferently to mean either the event upon the happening
of which some estate or obligation is to begin or end, or the provision
or stipulation that the estate or obligation will depend upon the
happening of the event. A condition may be of several kinds: (1) a
condition _precedent_, where, for example, an estate is granted to one
for life upon condition that, if the grantee pay the grantor a certain
sum on such a day, he shall have the fee simple; (2) a condition
_subsequent_, where, for example, an estate is granted in fee upon
condition that the grantee shall pay a certain sum on a certain day, or
that his estate shall cease. Thus a condition precedent gets or gains,
while a condition subsequent keeps and continues. A condition may also
be _affirmative_, that is, the doing of an act; _negative_, the not
doing of an act; _restrictive, compulsory_, &c. The word is also used
adjectivally in the sense set out above, as in the phrases "conditional
legacy," "conditional limitation," "conditional promise," &c.; that is,
the legacy, the limitation, the promise is to take effect only upon the
happening of a certain event.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The terminology used above has not been adopted by all logicians.
"Conditional" has been used as equivalent to "hypothetical" in the
widest sense (including "disjunctive"); or narrowed down to be
synonymous with "conjunctive" (the condition being there more
explicit), as a subdivision of "hypothetical."

CONDITIONAL FEE, at English common law, a fee or estate restrained in
its form of donation to some particular heirs, as, to the heirs of a
man's body, or to the heirs male of his body. It was called a
conditional fee by reason of the condition expressed or implied in the
donation of it, that if the donee died without such particular heirs,
the land should revert to the donor. In other words, it was a fee simple
on condition that the donee had issue, and as soon as such issue was
born, the estate was supposed to become absolute by the performance of
the condition. A conditional fee was converted by the statute _De Donis
Conditionalibus_ into an estate tail (see REAL PROPERTY).

CONDITIONAL LIMITATION, in law, a phrase used in two senses. (1) The
qualification annexed to the grant of an estate or interest in land,
providing for the determination of that grant or interest upon a
particular contingency happening. An estate with such a limitation can
endure only until the particular contingency happens; it is a present
interest, to be divested on a future contingency. The grant of an estate
to a man so long as he is parson of Dale, or while he continues
unmarried, are instances of conditional limitations of estates for life.
(2) A future use or interest in land limited to take effect upon a given
contingency. For instance, a grant to N. and his heirs to the use of A.,
provided that when C. returns from Rome the land shall go to the use of
B. in fee simple. B. is said to take under a conditional limitation,
operating by executory devise or springing or shifting use (see
REMAINDER, REVERSION).

CONDOM, a town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in
the department of Gers, on the right bank of the Baïse, at its junction
with the Gèle, 27 m. by road N.N.W. of Auch. Pop. (1906) town, 4046;
commune, 6435. Two stone bridges unite Condom with its suburb on the
left bank of the river. The streets are small and narrow and several old
houses still remain, but to the east the town is bordered by pleasant
promenades. The Gothic church of St Pierre, its chief building, was
erected from 1506 to 1521, and was till 1790 a cathedral. The interior,
which is without aisles or transept, is surrounded by lateral chapels.
On the south is a beautifully sculptured portal. An adjoining cloister
of the 16th century is occupied by the hôtel de ville. The former
episcopal palace with its graceful Gothic chapel is used as a law-court.
The sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, and a communal
college, are among the public institutions. Brandy-distilling,
wood-sawing, iron-founding and the manufacture of stills are among the
industries. The town is a centre for the sale of Armagnac brandy and has
commerce in grain and flour, much of which is river-borne.

Condom (_Condomus_) was founded in the 8th century, but in 840 was
sacked and burnt by the Normans. A monastery built here c. 900 by the
wife of Sancho of Gascony was soon destroyed by fire, but in 1011 was
rebuilt, by Hugh, bishop of Agen. Round this abbey the town grew up, and
in 1317 was made into an episcopal see by Pope John XXII. The line of
bishops, which included Bossuet (1668-1671), came to an end in 1790 when
the see was suppressed. Condom was, during the middle ages, a fortress
of considerable strength. During the Hundred Years' War, after several
unsuccessful attempts, it was finally captured and held by the English.
In 1569 it was sacked by the Huguenots under Gabriel, count of
Montgomery.

A list of monographs, &c., on the abbey, see and town of Condom is
given s.v. in U. Chevalier, _Répertoire des sources. Topobibliogr_.
(Montbéliard, 1894-1899).

CONDOR (_Sarcorhamphus gryphus_), an American vulture, and almost the
largest of existing birds of flight, although by no means attaining the
dimensions attributed to it by early writers. It usually measures about
4 ft. from the point of the beak to the extremity of the tail, and 9 ft.
between the tips of its wings, while it is probable that the expanse of
wing never exceeds 12 ft. The head and neck are destitute of feathers,
and the former, which is much flattened above, is in the male crowned
with a caruncle or comb, while the skin of the latter in the same sex
lies in folds, forming a wattle. The adult plumage is of a uniform
black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly
surrounding the base of the neck, and certain wing feathers which,
especially in the male, have large patches of white. The middle toe is
greatly elongated, and the hinder one but slightly developed, while the
talons of all the toes are comparatively straight and blunt, and are
thus of little use as organs of prehension. The female, contrary to the
usual rule among birds of prey, is smaller than the male.

The condor is a native of South America, where it is confined to the
region of the Andes, from the Straits of Magellan to 4° north
latitude,--the largest examples, it is said, being found about the
volcano of Cayambi, situated on the equator. It is often seen on the
shores of the Pacific, especially during the rainy season, but its
favourite haunts for roosting and breeding are at elevations of 10,000
to 16,000 ft. There, during the months of February and March, on
inaccessible ledges of rock, it deposits two white eggs, from 3 to 4 in.
in length, its nest consisting merely of a few sticks placed around the
eggs. The period of incubation lasts for seven weeks, and the young are
covered with a whitish down until almost as large as their parents. They
are unable to fly till nearly two years old, and continue for a
considerable time after taking wing to roost and hunt with their
parents. The white ruff on the neck, and the similarly coloured feathers
of the wing, do not appear until the completion of the first moulting.
By preference the condor feeds on carrion, but it does not hesitate to
attack sheep, goats and deer, and for this reason it is hunted down by
the shepherds, who, it is said, train their dogs to look up and bark at
the condors as they fly overhead. They are exceedingly voracious, a
single condor of moderate size having been known, according to Orton, to
devour a calf, a sheep and a dog in a single week. When thus gorged with
food, they are exceedingly stupid, and may then be readily caught. For
this purpose a horse or mule is killed, and the carcase surrounded with
palisades to which the condors are soon attracted by the prospect of
food, for the weight of evidence seems to favour the opinion that those
vultures owe their knowledge of the presence of carrion more to sight
than to scent. Having feasted themselves to excess, they are set upon by
the hunters with sticks, and being unable, owing to the want of space
within the pen, to take the run without which they are unable to rise on
wing, they are readily killed or captured. They sleep during the greater
part of the day, searching for food in the clearer light of morning and
evening. They are remarkably heavy sleepers, and are readily captured by
the inhabitants ascending the trees on which they roost, and noosing
them before they awaken. Great numbers of condors are thus taken alive,
and these, in certain districts, are employed in a variety of
bull-fighting. They are exceedingly tenacious of life, and can exist, it
is said, without food for over forty days. Although the favourite haunts
of the condor are at the level of perpetual snow, yet it rises to a much
greater height, Humboldt having observed it flying over Chimborazo at a
height of over 23,000 ft. On wing the movements of the condor, as it
wheels in majestic circles, are remarkably graceful. The birds flap
their wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate
elevation they seem to sail on the air, Charles Darwin having watched
them for half an hour without once observing a flap of their wings.

CONDORCET, MARIE JEAN ANTOINE NICOLAS CARITAT, MARQUIS DE (1743-1794),
French mathematician, philosopher and Revolutionist, was born at
Ribemont, in Picardy, on the 17th of September 1743. He descended from
the ancient family of Caritat, who took their title from Condorcet, near
Nyons in Dauphiné, where they were long settled. His father dying while
he was very young, his mother, a very devout woman, had him educated at
the Jesuit College in Reims and at the College of Navarre in Paris,
where he displayed the most varied mental activity. His first public
distinctions were gained in mathematics. At the age of sixteen his
performances in analysis gained the praise of D'Alembert and A. C.
Clairaut, and at the age of twenty-two he wrote a treatise on the
integral calculus which obtained warm approbation from competent judges.
With his many-sided intellect and richly-endowed emotional nature,
however, it was impossible for him to be a specialist, and least of all
a specialist in mathematics. Philosophy and literature attracted him,
and social work was dearer to him than any form of intellectual
exercise. In 1769 he became a member of the Academy of Sciences. His
contributions to its memoirs are numerous, and many of them are on the
most abstruse and difficult mathematical problems.

Being of a very genial, susceptible and enthusiastic disposition, he was
the friend of almost all the distinguished men of his time, and a
zealous propagator of the religious and political views then current
among the literati of France. D'Alembert, Turgot and Voltaire, for whom
he had great affection and veneration, and by whom he was highly
respected and esteemed, contributed largely to the formation of his
opinions. His _Lettre d'un laboureur de Picardie à M. N..._ (Necker) was
written under the inspiration of Turgot, in defence of free internal
trade in corn. Condorcet also wrote on the same subject the _Réflexions
sur le commerce des blés_ (1776). His _Lettre d'un théologien_, &c., was
attributed to Voltaire, being inspired throughout by the Voltairian
anti-clerical spirit. He was induced by D'Alembert to take an active
part in the preparation of the _Encyclopédie_. His _Éloges des
Académiciens de l'Académie Royale des Sciences morts depuis 1666
jusqu'en 1699_ (1773) gained him the reputation of being an eloquent and
graceful writer. He was elected to the perpetual secretaryship of the
Academy of Sciences in 1777, and to the French Academy in 1782. He was
also member of the academies of Turin, St Petersburg, Bologna and
Philadelphia. In 1785 he published his _Essai sur l'application de
l'analyse aux probabilités des décisions prises à la pluralité des
voix_,--a remarkable work which has a distinguished place in the history
of the doctrine of probability; a second edition, greatly enlarged and
completely recast, appeared in 1804 under the title of _Éléments du
calcul des probabilités et son application aux jeux de hazard, à la
loterie, et aux jugements des hommes, &c._ In 1786 he married Sophie de
Grouchy, a sister of Marshal Grouchy, said to have been one of the most
beautiful women of her time. Her _salon_ at the Hôtel des Monnaies,
where Condorcet lived in his capacity as inspector-general of the mint,
was one of the most famous of the time. In 1786 Condorcet published his
_Vie de Turgot_, and in 1787 his _Vie de Voltaire_. Both works were
widely and eagerly read, and are perhaps, from a merely literary point
of view, the best of Condorcet's writings.

The political tempest which had been long gathering over France now
began to break and to carry everything before it. Condorcet was, of
course, at once hurried along by it into the midst of the conflicts and
confusion of the Revolution. He greeted with enthusiasm the advent of
democracy, and laboured hard to secure and hasten its triumph. He was
indefatigable in writing pamphlets, suggesting reforms, and planning
constitutions. He was not a member of the States-General of 1789, but he
had expressed his ideas in the electoral assembly of the noblesse of
Mantes. The first political functions which he exercised were those of a
member of the municipality of Paris (1790). He was next chosen by the
Parisians to represent them in the Legislative Assembly, and then
appointed by that body one of its secretaries. In this capacity he drew
up most of its addresses, but seldom spoke, his pen being more effective
than his tongue. He was the chief author of the address to the European
powers when they threatened France with war. He was keenly interested in
education, and, as a member of the committee of public instruction,
presented to the Assembly (April 21 and 22, 1792) a bold and
comprehensive scheme for the organization of a system of state education
which, though more urgent questions compelled its postponement, became
the basis of that adopted by the Convention, and thus laid the
foundations on which the modern system of national education in France
is built up. After the attempted flight of the king, in June 1791,
Condorcet was one of the first to declare in favour of a republic, and
it was he who drew up the memorandum which led the Assembly, on the 4th
of September 1792, to decree the suspension of the king and the
summoning of the National Convention. He had, meanwhile, resigned his
offices and left the Hôtel des Monnaies; his declaration in favour of
republicanism had alienated him from his former friends of the
constitutional party, and he did not join the Jacobin Club, which had
not yet declared against the monarchy. Though attached to no powerful
political group, however, his reputation gave him great influence. At
the elections for the Convention he was chosen for five departments, and
took his seat for that of Aisne. He now became the most influential
member of the committee on the constitution, and as "reporter" he
drafted and presented to the Convention (February 15, 1793) a
constitution, which was, however, after stormy debates, rejected in
favour of that presented by Hérault de Séchelles. The work of
constitution-making had been interrupted by the trial of Louis XVI.
Condorcet objected to the assumption of judicial functions by the
Convention, objected also on principle to the infliction of the death
penalty; but he voted the king guilty of conspiring against liberty and
worthy of any penalty short of death, and against the appeal to the
people advocated by the Girondists. In the atmosphere of universal
suspicion that inspired the Terror his independent attitude could not,
however, be maintained with impunity. His severe and public criticism of
the constitution adopted by the Convention, his denunciation of the
arrest of the Girondists, and his opposition to the violent conduct of
the Mountain, led to his being accused of conspiring against the
Republic. He was condemned and declared to be _hors la loi_. Friends,
sought for him an asylum in the house of Madame Vernet, widow of the
sculptor and a near connexion of the painters of the same name. Without
even asking his name, this heroic woman, as soon as she was assured that
he was an honest man, said, "Let him come, and lose not a moment, for
while we talk he may be seized." When the execution of the Girondists
showed him that his presence exposed his protectress to a terrible
danger, he resolved to seek a refuge elsewhere. "I am outlawed," he
said, "and if I am discovered you will meet the same sad end as myself.
I must not stay." Madame Vernet's reply deserves to be immortal, and
should be given in her own words: "La Convention, Monsieur, a le droit
de mettre hors la loi: elle n'a pas le pouvoir de mettre hors de
l'humanité; vous resterez." From that time she had his movements
strictly watched lest he should attempt to quit her house. It was partly
to turn his mind from the idea of attempting this, by occupying it
otherwise, that his wife and some of his friends, with the co-operation
of Madame Vernet, prevailed on him to engage in the composition of the
work by which he is best known--the _Esquisse d'un tableau historique
des progrès de l'esprit humain_. In his retirement Condorcet wrote also
his justification, and several small works, such as the _Moyen
d'apprendre à compter sûrement et avec facilitê_, which he intended for
the schools of the republic. Several of these works were published at
the time, thanks to his friends; the rest appeared after his death.
Among the latter was the admirable _Avis d'un proscrit à sa fille_.
While in hiding he also continued to take an active interest in public
affairs. Thus, he wrote several important memoranda on the conduct of
the war against the Coalition, which were laid before the Committee of
Public Safety anonymously by a member of the Mountain named Marcoz, who
lived in the same house as Condorcet without thinking it his duty to
denounce him. In the same way he forwarded to Arbogast, president of the
committee for public instruction, the solutions of several problems in
higher mathematics.

Certain circumstances having led him to believe that the house of Madame
Vernet, 21 rue Servandoni, was suspected and watched by his enemies,
Condorcet, by a fatally successful artifice, at last baffled the
vigilance of his generous friend and escaped. Disappointed in finding
even a night's shelter at the château of one whom he had befriended, he
had to hide for three days and nights in the thickets and stone-quarries
of Clamart. Oh the evening of the 7th of April 1794--not, as Carlyle
says, on a "bleared May morning,"--with garments torn, with wounded leg,
with famished looks, he entered a tavern in the village named, and
called for an omelette. "How many eggs in your omelette?" "A dozen."
"What is your trade?" "A carpenter." "Carpenters have not hands like
these, and do not ask for a dozen eggs in an omelette." When his papers
were demanded he had none to show; when his person was searched a Horace
was found on him. The villagers seized him, bound him, haled him
forthwith on bleeding feet towards Bourg-la-Reine; he fainted by the
way, was set on a horse offered in pity by a passing peasant, and, at
the journey's end, was cast into a cold damp cell. Next morning he was
found dead on the floor. Whether he had died from suffering and
exhaustion, from apoplexy or from poison, is an undetermined question.

Condorcet was undoubtedly a most sincere, generous and noble-minded man.
He was eager in the pursuit of truth, ardent in his love of human good,
and ever ready to undertake labour or encounter danger on behalf of the
philanthropic plans which his fertile mind contrived and his benevolent
heart inspired. It was thus that he worked for the suppression of
slavery, for the rehabilitation of the chevalier de La Barre, and in
defence of Lally-Tollendal. He lived at a time when calumny was rife,
and various slanders were circulated regarding him, but fortunately the
slightest examination proves them to have been inexcusable fabrications.
That while openly opposing royalty he was secretly soliciting the office
of tutor to the Dauphin; that he was accessory to the murder of the duc
de la Rochefoucauld; or that he sanctioned the burning of the literary
treasures of the learned congregations, are stories which can be shown
to be utterly untrue.

His philosophical fame is chiefly associated with the _Esquisse ...
des'progrès_ mentioned above. With the vision of the guillotine before
him, with confusion and violence around him, he comforted himself by
trying to demonstrate that the evils of life had arisen from a
conspiracy of priests and rulers against their fellows, and from the bad
laws and institutions which they had succeeded in creating, but that the
human race would finally conquer its enemies and free itself of its
evils. His fundamental idea is that of a human perfectibility which has
manifested itself in continuous progress in the past, and must lead to
indefinite progress in the future. He represents man as starting from
the lowest stage of barbarism, with no superiority over the other
animals save that of bodily organization, and as advancing
uninterruptedly, at a more or less rapid rate, in the path of
enlightenment, virtue and happiness. The stages which the human race has
already gone through, or, in other words, the great epochs of history,
are regarded as nine in number. The first three can confessedly be
described only conjecturally from general observations as to the
development of the human faculties, and the analogies of savage life. In
the first epoch, men are united into hordes of hunters and fishers, who
acknowledge in some degree public authority and the claims of family
relationship, and who make use of an articulate language. In the second
epoch--the pastoral state--property is introduced, and along with it
inequality of conditions, and even slavery, but also leisure to
cultivate intelligence, to invent some of the simpler arts, and to
acquire some of the more elementary truths of science. In the third
epoch--the agricultural state--as leisure and wealth are greater, labour
better distributed and applied, and the means of communication increased
and extended, progress is still more rapid. With the invention of
alphabetic writing the conjectural part of history closes, and the more
or less authenticated part commences. The fourth and fifth epochs are
represented as corresponding to Greece and Rome. The middle ages are
divided into two epochs, the former of which terminates with the
Crusades, and the latter with the invention of printing. The eighth
epoch extends from the invention of printing to the revolution in the
method of philosophic thinking accomplished by Descartes. And the ninth
epoch begins with that great intellectual revolution, and ends with the
great political and moral revolution of 1789, and is illustrious,
according to Condorcet, through the discovery of the true system of the
physical universe by Newton, of human nature by Locke and Condillac, and
of society by Turgot, Richard Price and Rousseau. There is an epoch of
the future--a tenth epoch,--and the most original part of Condorcet's
treatise is that which is devoted to it. After insisting that general
laws regulative of the past warrant general inferences as to the future,
he argues that the three tendencies which the entire history of the past
shows will be characteristic features of the future are:--(1) the
destruction of inequality between nations; (2) the destruction of
inequality between classes; and (3) the improvement of individuals, the
indefinite perfectibility of human nature itself--intellectually,
morally and physically. These propositions have been much misunderstood.
The equality to which he represents nations and individuals as tending
is not absolute equality, but equality of freedom and of rights. It is
that equality which would make the inequality of the natural advantages
and faculties of each community and person beneficial to all. Nations
and men, he thinks, are equal, if equally free, and are all tending to
equality because all tending to freedom. As to indefinite
perfectibility, he nowhere denies that progress is conditioned both by
the constitution of humanity and the character of its surroundings. But
he affirms that these conditions are compatible with endless progress,
and that the human mind can assign no fixed limits to its own
advancement in knowledge and virtue, or even to the prolongation of
bodily life. This theory explains the importance he attached to popular
education, to which he looked for all sure progress.

The book is pervaded by a spirit of excessive hopefulness, and contains
numerous errors of detail, which are fully accounted for by the
circumstances in which it was written. Its value lies entirely in its
general ideas. Its chief defects spring from its author's narrow and
fanatical aversion to all philosophy which did not attempt to explain
the world exclusively on mechanical and sensational principles, to all
religion whatever, and especially to Christianity and Christian
institutions, and to monarchy. His ethical position, however, gives
emphasis to the sympathetic impulses and social feelings, and had
considerable influence upon Auguste Comte.

Madame de Condorcet (b. 1764), who was some twenty years younger than
her husband, was rendered penniless by his proscription, and compelled
to support not only herself and her four years old daughter but her
younger sister, Charlotte de Grouchy. After the end of the Jacobin
Terror she published an excellent translation of Adam Smith's _Theory of
Moral Sentiments_; in 1798 a work of her own, _Lettres sur la
sympathie_; and in 1799 her husband's _Éloges des acadêmiciens_. Later
she co-operated with Cabanis, who had married her sister, and with Garat
in publishing the complete works of Condorcet (1801-1804). She adhered
to the last to the political views of her husband, and under the
Consulate and Empire her _salon_ became a meeting-place of those opposed
to the autocratic régime. She died at Paris on the 8th of September
1822. Her daughter was married, in 1807, to General O'Connor.

A _Biographie de Condorcet_, by M. F. Arago, is prefixed to A.
Condorcet-O'Connor's edition of Condorcet's works, in 12 volumes
(1847-1849). There is an able essay on Condorcet in Lord Morley of
Blackburn's _Critical Miscellanies_. On Condorcet as an historical
philosopher see Comte's _Cours de philosophie positive_, iv. 252-253,
and _Système de politique positive_, iv. Appendice Général, 109-111;
F. Laurent, _Études_, xii. 121-126, 89-110; and R. Flint, _Philosophy
of History in France and Germany_, i. 125-138. The _Mémoires de
Condorcet sur la Révolution française, extraits de sa correspondance
et de celles de ses amis_ (2 vols., Paris, Ponthieu, 1824), which were
in fact edited by F. G. de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, are spurious.
See also Dr J. F. E. Robinet, _Condorcet, sa vie et son [oe]uvre_, and
more especially L. Cahen, _Condorcet et la Révolution française_
(Paris, 1904). On Madame de Condorcet see Antoine Guillois, _La
Marquise de Condorcet, sa famille, son salon et ses [oe]uvres_ (Paris,
1897).

CONDOTTIERE (plural, _condottieri_), an Italian term, derived ultimately
from Latin _conducere_, meaning either "to conduct" or "to hire," for
the leader of the mercenary military companies, often several thousand
strong, which used to be hired out to carry on the wars of the Italian
states. The word is often extended so as to include the soldiers as well
as the leader of a company. The condottieri played a very important part
in Italian history from the middle of the 13th to the middle of the 15th
century. The special political and military circumstances of medieval
Italy, and in particular the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines,
brought it about that the condottieri and their leaders played a more
conspicuous and important part in history than the "Free Companies"
elsewhere. Amongst these circumstances the absence of a numerous feudal
cavalry, the relative luxury of city life, and the incapacity of city
militia for wars of aggression were the most prominent. From this it
resulted that war was not merely the trade of the condottiere, but also
his monopoly, and he was thus able to obtain whatever terms he asked,
whether money payments or political concessions. These companies were
recruited from wandering mercenary bands and individuals of all nations,
and from the ranks of the many armies of middle Europe which from time
to time overran Italy.

Montreal d'Albarno, a gentleman of Provence, was the first to give them
a definite form. A severe discipline and an elaborate organization were
introduced within the company itself, while in their relations to the
people the most barbaric licence was permitted. Montreal himself was put
to death at Rome by Rienzi, and Conrad Lando succeeded to the command.
The Grand Company, as it was called, soon numbered about 7000 cavalry
and 1500 select infantry, and was for some years the terror of Italy.
They seem to have been Germans chiefly. On the conclusion (1360) of the
peace of Bretigny between England and France, Sir John Hawkwood (q.v.)
led an army of English mercenaries, called the White Company, into
Italy, which took a prominent part in the confused wars of the next
thirty years. Towards the end of the century the Italians began to
organize armies of the same description. This ended the reign of the
purely mercenary company, and began that of the semi-national mercenary
army which endured in Europe till replaced by the national standing army
system. The first company of importance raised on the new basis was that
of St George, originated by Alberigo, count of Barbiano, many of whose
subordinates and pupils conquered principalities for themselves. Shortly
after, the organization of these mercenary armies was carried to the
highest perfection by Sforza Attendolo, condottiere in the service of
Naples, who had been a peasant of the Romagna, and by his rival
Brancaccio di Montone in the service of Florence. The army and the
renown of Sforza were inherited by his son Francesco Sforza, who
eventually became duke of Milan (1450). Less fortunate was another great
condottiere, Carmagnola, who first served one of the Visconti, and then
conducted the wars of Venice against his former masters, but at last
awoke the suspicion of the Venetian oligarchy, and was put to death
before the palace of St Mark (1432). Towards the end of the 15th
century, when the large cities had gradually swallowed up the small
states, and Italy itself was drawn into the general current of European
politics, and became the battlefield of powerful armies--French, Spanish
and German--the condottieri, who in the end proved quite unequal to the
gendarmerie of France and the improved troops of the Italian states,
disappeared.

The soldiers of the condottieri were almost entirely heavy armoured
cavalry (men-at-arms). They had, at any rate before 1400, nothing in
common with the people among whom they fought, and their disorderly
conduct and rapacity seem often to have exceeded that of other medieval
armies. They were always ready to change sides at the prospect of higher
pay. They were connected with each other by the interest of a common
profession, and by the possibility that the enemy of to-day might be the
friend and fellow-soldier of to-morrow. Further, a prisoner was always
more valuable than a dead enemy. In consequence of all this their
battles were often as bloodless as they were theatrical. Splendidly
equipped armies were known to fight for hours with hardly the loss of a
man (Zagonara, 1423; Molinella, 1467).

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 7 - "Columbus" to "Condottiere"" ***

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