COMMANDER ISLANDS. 206 COMMEMORATION. Mednj (ISO s(|uai-i' miles) and two uninhabited islets. I The climate is comparatively mild; but tlie inhabitants, descendants of Russians and Aleuts, are few in number. COMMANDER OF THE FAITHFUL (Ar. 'A»iir al-M it'iiiinln) . A desiiinatiun assumed by the Caliph Omar, the father-in-law of Moham- )ued. wlio conquered Syria, Phoenicia, Persia, Egjpt, and .Jerusalem, and "organized a complete military-religious commonwealth." The title was retained by his successors in the Caliphate. COMMANDERY. A regular assembly of Knights Templars. It confers the degrees of Knight of the Red Cross, ICnight Templar, and Knight of JIalta. The term was first a2)plied, about 12(10, to the property of military and religious orders, administered by members of those organizations, ">rho were known as com- manders. These had charge of the income of the estates belonging to the orders, and had au- thority to receive gifts and alms. They were accountable to the Grand Commander, who, in the case of Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, resided at Jeriisnlem. COMMANDING OFFICER. The officer in actual command of a vessel of war. He is an officer of the line or executive corps, and is usu- ally addressed by the courtesy title of 'captain,' without regard to actual rank, if he is per- manentlv in command and not merely in tem- porary charge during the absence of a senior. The regular commanding officer, upon leaving the ship, is succeeded by the next line officer in rank, but the latter must not alter the regula- tions established by his superior except in case of urgent necessity. Upon the commanding offi- cer of a modern battle-ship there rests a respon- sibility the like of which is placed upon few men. He is answerable for the safety of the ship and of the crew, for the preservation of the battery, engines, boilers, and other machinery in condition for instant use, and for the conduct of all those placed under him, so far as he can control it. He is required to know eveiy detail of construction of his ship and of her equipment, as well as of the organization of the crew. He has as an assistant an executive officer, who has charge of the organization of the personnel, and of the hull and equipment ; a navigating officer, who has charge of the navigation and navigating apparatus; an ordnance officer, who has charge of the guns and ordnance stores ; a chief engineer, who has charge of the propelling machineiy; also a surgeon and a paymaster, the latter having charge of the accounts of the men and officers and of the provisions and cloth- ing for the men. In the military services through- out the world, the senior officer of a regiment, corps, post, or any detachment where there is not any higher local military authority, is re- garded as the conuuanding officer. Regimentally. the officer commanding the regiment is spoken of and referred to as the commanding officer, which usage in the British Army is still further abbre- viated by the use of the initials 'C. 0.' COMMANDITE, ko'maN'dst'. Soci£t£ en, or Limited Paktxership. See Socilcxfi ek" Coji- M.XDITE. COMMANDMENTS OF THE CHTTRCH. Certain rules imposed by the Roman Catholic Church on all its members, under pain of grave sin. They differ slightly in different countries; but in general they require the observance of Sundays and festivals of obligation by attend- ance at mass and rest from servile work, the observance of days of fasting and abstinence, the reception once a year at least of the sacraments of penance and holy communion, contribution in proportion to one's means to the support of pastors, and the observance of regulations in re- gard to marriage. COMMELIN, kom'laN' Hiesonymus. ( ?- c.1598). A Flemish printer, born at Douai. He worked at Geneva, and later at Heidelberg. The liest specimens of his press are the admirable edi- tions of the ancient classics and the Church Fathers, to the text of which, often detennined b}' a collation of manuscripts, he added learned critical notes from his own hand. COMMELIN, Jan (1629-02). A Dutch bot- anist, born in Amsterdam. He was a professor of botany in the University of Amsterdam, and foimded in that city the botanical gardens which soon became the most celebrated in Europe. In description of the contents of these gardens he wrote several volumes. COMMEMORATION (Lat. commemoratio, from commemorare, to commemorate, from com-, together -f- meinorcirc, to mention, from 7nemor, mindful ; connected with Gk. /lipfiepo^, mermeros, anxious, Skt. smar, to remember), or Enc.enia ( Lat., Gk. tiKalvM, engkainia, feast of renova- tion or consecration, a name for Easter, from iv, en. in + KatvSc, kainos, new). The great festival of the Oxford academic year, corre- sponding in some respects to the commence- ment of American colleges. It usually takes place on the third Wednesday after Trinity Sunday, in the Sheldonian Theatre — which, like the San- ders Theatre, Haiward, and the Kent Theatre, Chicago, is a university building. From time immemorial, public exercises have been held to mark the 'act' or period when degrees were con- ferred on the members of the university. At the present day. the proceedings consist of a Latin oration in honor of founders and benefactors (from which the name of the whole ceremony is derived) ; the conferring of degrees, not only in course, but also honoris cansn, on distinguished strangers, who are introduced to the vice-chan- cellor in a short Latin speech; and the recita- tion, at least in part, of the Newdigate or Eng- lish prize poem, and the Latin and English prize essays, the three prizes being the gift of the chancellor. The large area or floor is occupied during the proceedings by masters of arts and their male friends; in raised stalls in a semi- circle around one end of this area sit the vice- chancellor, doctors, and proctors; while the gal- leries are filled by the undergraduates and women. Tl;e undergraduates, until recent j'ears, used to occupy a separate upper gallery; but the license claimed by them of making unofficial and often very witty conunents on the proceedings — a sur- vival of the privileges of the Terr<v Filius. or licensed jester of mediipval times — finally reached a point where it was thought better to discour- age it to some extent by Iireaking up the com- pact body of students and distributing them among the women present. Commemoration Day itself is only the culminating point of a week of gayety. marked by concerts, balls, theatrical representations, etc., which make Oxford a very attractive place to the visitor; but of late years
