COMMERCE, CHAMBERS OF 86 COMMON COUNCIL which such a condition of affairs engen- dered. Despite these annoyances, how- ever, American Commerce continued to increase, until the stars and stripes were familiar in every port of the earth. At the outbreak of the World War our com- merce was at its height, and at the close of the war it continued to increase in volume. For the Commerce of the vari- ous countries see section Commerce under those countries. COMMERCE, CHAMBERS OF. See Chamber of Commerce. COMMERCIAL LAW, the law which regulates commercial affairs among the merchants of different countries or among merchants generally. It is de- rived from the different maritime codes of mediaeval Europe, the imperial code of Rome, international law, and the cus- tom of merchants. Lord Mansfield (1704-1793) was the first great exponent of commercial law in Great Britain. COMMINATION, the act of threaten- ing or denouncing vengeance; a threat; also a solemn recital of God's command- ments and a "Denouncing of God's anger and judgments against sinners," ap- pointed to be used in the Church of Eng- land on Ash- Wednesday and such other times as the ordinary may direct. It was introduced at the Reformation as a substitute for the ceremony of sprinWing the head and making the sign of the cross with ashes on Ash-Wednesday. COMMISSARY, an ecclesiastical term, an ofiicer of a bishop who exercises spir- itual jurisdiction in remote parts of a diocese, or one intrusted with the per- formance of the duties in the bishop's absence. Also, in the army, a term ap- plied to officers charged with furnishing provisions, etc., for its use. In the United States the army com- missary up to 1912 was vmder Depart- ment of Subsistence, but in that year was joined to the Quartermaster Corps. It now falls partly in the Army Service Corps, in which body alone there are commissary officers. COMMISSION PLAN. See Municipal Government. COMMISSURE, an anatomical term applied to nervous connections between adjacent parts of the nervous system. Though it is not always used in quite the same way, the general signification of the term, and the physiological im- port of the structure, is that of a unit- ing bridge. COMMITTEE, one or more persons elected or deputed to examine, consider and report on any matter of business. A Committee of the whole House, a term used when a legislative body re- solves itself into a committee to consider any bill or matter, in which case the speaker leaves the chair, which is taken by one of the members, called the Chair- man of Committee. While in committee a member is allowed to speak more than once on any point. The Comtnittee of Public Safety; a rendering of the French term, Comite d« Salut public, the name given to a com« mittee of members of the French Na- tional Convention during the first revolu- tion. When the National Convention, about the end of 1792, abolished mon- archy and proclaimed a republic, it di- vided the executive government among several committees, paramount over which was the Committee of Public Safety, appointed on April 6, 1793. It was the rule of this tyrannical and sanguinary committee which is known as the Reign of Terror. Robespierre was its animating spirit, next to whom stood Couthon and St. Just. In March, 1871, the Communists established a similar committee in Paris, which fell in May of the same year. National Comnnittee, a body vested with control of a political party in the United States with special reference to a Presidential election. COMMODORE, in the United States navy, formerly an officer ranking next above a captain and commanding a few ships when they were detached for any purpose from the rest of the fleet. The grade was abolished by Congress in 1899, when all commodores became rear-ad- mirals. The word is also a title given in cour- tesy to the president of a yachting club, or to the senior captain of a line of merchant vessels. COMMODUS, LUCIUS AELIUS AURELIUS, a Roman Emperor; born in A. D. 161; the son of Marcus Aurelius. He was most carefully educated, and accompanied his father on several _ mili- tary expeditions. He succeeded him in 180, and, after a short period of orderly government, he dismissed his wisest counsellors, and gave himself up to the lowest society. He went so far in de- fiance of decency as to fight in the circus like a gladiator, and then gave himself out to be a god, and would be worshipped as Hercules. He was at last poisoned by Marcia, and then strangled by an athlete. The vices and misgovemment of Commodus hastened the fall of the empire. He died Dec. 31, 192. COMMON COUNCIL, the council of a city or corporate town, empowered to
