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Antiently, the Adminiftration of vacant Bifhopricks be- ]on«'d to the neareft neighbouring Bifhop $ which is ftill praclisM between the Archbifhoprick of Lyons, and the Bifhoprick of Autun : on this account they were call'd Com- mendatory Bifyops.

This Cuflom appears to be very antient : S. Athanafim favs of himfelf, according to Nicephorus, that there had been given him in Commendam, i. e. in Administration, ano- ther Church befides that of Alexandria, whereof he was ftated Bifhop.

The Care of Churches, it feems, which had no Paftor, was committed to a Bifhop, till they were provided of an Ordinary : The Regifter of Pope Gregory I. is full of thefe Commiffions, or Comincndams, granted during the Abfence or Sicknefs of a Bifhop, or the Vacancy of the See,

Rational Whole Number ; or as one Rational Whole Num- ber to another. See Number.

In Incommenfurables 'tis otherwife. The Ratio of Com- men/arables therefore is Rational ; that of tncommenfura* lies Irrational : Hence, alfo, the Exponent of the Ratio of Commenpurables is a Rational Number. See Ratio.

Commensurable Numbers* whether Integers or Frac- tions, are fuch as have fome other Number which will mea- fure or divide them without any Remainder. See Number.

Thus, 6 and 8, \~ and \ are refpe&iveiy Co?nmenj'urable Numbers.

Commensurable in ^Poiver. Right Lines are faid to be Commenfurable in 'Power, when their Squares are meafur'd by one and the fame Space, or Superficies. See Line.

Commensurable Sards, are fuch Surds as being redue'd

commensurable Surds, are ._. Some fay, that Pope LeolY. firft fet the modern Comraen- to their leaft Terms, become true figurative Quantities of ms on foot^ in favour of Ecclefiaftics who^ had been ^ ex- their Kind j and are therefore as a Rational Quantity to a

Rational. See Surd.

COMMENTARY, or COMMENT, an Interpretation, Glofs, or Addition, made to an antient, obfeure, or difficult Author, to render him more intelligible, or to fupply what he has left undone.

Sir Hen. Savil has wrote a Commentary of 300 Pages in Quarto, to explain the firft eight Propofitions in Euclid.

S. Evremond obferves, that Commentators commonly fpend a great part of their time in finding out Beauties the Au- thor never dreamt of, and in enriching him with their own Thoughts.

Commentary is alio ufed for a fort of Hiilory, written by the Perfon who had the chief hand in the Tranfodtions related. See History.

Such are the Commentaries of Ccefar, of Montluc, &c.

The Word is alfo ufed for certain Books wrote on fome par- ticular Subject : Thus, Kepler has wrote an excellent Book of Commentaries on Mars ; containing Obfervations on the Motion of that Planet.

COMMERCE, "trade* the Exchange of Commodities 5 or, the buying, felling, or trafficking of Merchandife, Mo ney, or even Paper 5 in order to profit by the fame. See Merchandise.

There is no doubt but Commerce is nearly as antient as

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pell'd their Benefices by the Saracens - 7 to whom the Admi- niflration of the vacant Churches was committed for a time, in expectation of their being reftor'd : tho S. Gregory is faid to have ufed the fame, while the Lombards dcfolated Italy.

In a little time, the practice of Coimnendams was exceed- ingly abus'd ; and the Revenues of Monafteries given to Laymen for their Subfiftence. The Bifhops alfo procur'd feveral Benefices, or even Bifhopricks in Commendam ; which ferv'd as a Pretext for holding 'em all 5 without di- rcclly violating the Canons. Part of the Abufe has been re- trench'd ; but the Ufe of Commendams is ftill retain'd, as an Expedient to take" off the Incompatibility of the Perfon, by the Nature of the Benefice.

When a Parfon is made Bifhop, his Parfonage becomes vacant - 3 but if the King give him Power, he may ftill hold it in Commendam.

Commendam, in many RomijJj Countries, is a real Title of a Regular Benefice; as an Abby or Priory given by the Pope to a Secular Clerk, or even to a Layman, with Power to difuofe of the Fruits thereof during his Life. See Abbot.

No Benefice that has a Cure of Souis, i. e. no Curacy, or Bifhoprick can be given in Commendam. This Practice being entirely contrary to the Canons, none but the Pope, who has a Power of difpenfing with the Canons, can confer it.

When the Commendam becomes vacant by the Death of the World it felf: Neceflity fet it on foot, the Defire of

the Commcndatary, it is not efteem'd vacant by his Death ; but as it was vacant before the Commendam was granted, that making no Alteration in the Thing : Yet the Pope gives the fame Benefice in Commendam again, by a Privilege which he ftill continues.

By the Pope's Bulls, a Commendatary Abbot has the full Authority of the Regular Abbot to whom he is fubftituted : This is exprefs'd in plain Terms, Ouram Monafierii ac re- gimen & admi-rtijlrationem tibi in fpiritualibus & tempora- libus plene committendo. For this reafon, the Bulls exprefly require, that he be a Prieft ; or, that if he han't yet at- tain'd the Age of Priefthood, he fTiall take Orders as foon as he has. But this is a mere Formality, or matter of Style ; the Thing is never executed.

Indeed, the fpiritual Direction of the Abby, while in Commendam, is lodg'd wholly in the Clauftral Prior. The Commendatary Abbots have not any Authority over the Religious in Jpiritualibm : they even cannot cither appoint or fet alide the Clauftral Priors, who arc nominated in the Bulls the Adminiitrarors of the Spiritualty ; in which, how- ever, this Reftriclion is added, vits, till the Abbot arrive at the Age of 25 Years, to aflume the Priefthood. The Bull given the Prince of Neubourg for the Abby of Fefcamp runs thus : Et ne ob defectum ALtatis primo-ditlum Monajieri- 11m, aligned in fpiritualibus patiatur detrimemum 5 prio- rcm-Clauflralem pro tempore exifientem, primo-dicli Monaf- ierii in fpiritualibus, donee tu 25 true JFjatis annum perve- neris, duntaxat conjhituimus ac dcpntamiis. The Words Adminiftration in Spirituals, are undcrltood principally of the Monaftic Rule, or DJfcipHne ; from which the Abbots are excluded, even when they arc promoted to the Priefthood, unlefs they become Regulars.

The Popes grant Benefices in Commendam, not only to Clerks, by difpenfing with their Age, and other Qualifica- tions requir'd j but alfo difpenfe with the Clericate in Chil- dren yet in the Cradle, till they become of age to take the Tonfure : It being fufficieot to obtain a Bull, that it be re- prefented at Rome, that the Child is dellin'd for the Eccle- iiaftical State.

In this Cafe there is an Oeconomus, or Steward, appoint- ed to take care of the temporal Concerns.

COMMENSURABLE Quantities, in Geometry, are fuch as have fome common aliquot Parr, or which may be meatur'd by fome common Meafurc, fo as to leave no Re- mainder in either. See Measure.

Thus, a Foot and a Yard are Ccinmenfurable ; there being a third Quantity which will meafure each, viz, an Inch $ which taken 12 times makes a Foot, and 36 times a Tard. See Quantity.

Commenfurables arc to each other, cither as Unites^ to a

Conveniency improv'd it, and Vanity, Luxury, and Avarice, have brought it to its prefent Pitch. At firft it only confilted in the Exchange of Things neceffary for Life : The Plow- man gave his Grain and his Pulfe to the Shepherd, and receiv'd Milk and Wool in exchange : Which Method of Commerce by Exchange fubfifts ftill in many Places ; as about the Coafts of Siberia, and the Danifto and Musco- vite Lapland $ among feveral Nations on the Coafts of A- frica 5 among moil of thofe of America, and many of A- Jia. See Exchange.

'Tis not precifely known when the Commerce by buying and felling firft began, nor when Coins, and the feveral Species of Gold, Silver, and Copper had their rife. The firft Monies were Wood, Leather, and Iron ; and even at this day, 'tis the Cuttom in fome Places of both Indies, to give a certain Value in Sea-Shells and Coco-Nuts, for Mcrchan- difes, Drugs, &c. See Money, and Coin.

The firft Jnftancc of this kind of Commerce in the facred Writing, is in the Time of the Patriarch Abraham. For profane Authors, they ufualfy fix its Epocha to the Reign of Saturn and Janus in Italy $ and the antient Authors, ac- cording to C<efar, attribute its Invention to the God Mercury.

The Egyptians, 'Phoenicians, and Carthaginians, who were a tynan Colony, were the firft, the moft daring and expert Traders of all Antiquity : at leaft, 'tis evident they were the firft who run the Hazard of long Voyages ; and who fet on foot a Traffick by Sea between Coafts very re- mote. See Navigation.

Among the Antients, Commerce did not appear unworthy the Application of Perfons of the firft Rank : Solomon, we are told, frequently join'd his Merchant-Fleets with thofe of the King of tyre, for their Voyage to Ophir 5 and by this means rendered himfelf, tho in a little Kingdom, the richeft King in the Univerfe. Under the AJiaticand Grecian Em- pires, antient Hiftory gives us from time to time the Traces of a Commerce cultivated by feveral Nations : but it flou- rifh'd more confiderably under the Dominion of the Romans j as appears from that vaft Number of Colleges and Compa- nies of Merchants in the feveral Cities, memion'd in Hifto- rians and antient Infcriptions. See College.

The Deftru&ion of the Roman Empire by the Irruptions of the Barbarians, brought that of Commerce along with it - or at leaft fufpended its ordinary Operation for fome time ; By degrees it began to recover it felf, and made a new pro- grefs; efpecially in Italy.

Hence, the 'Pifans, Florentines, Genoeje, and Venetians, who abounded in Shipping, took occafion to fpread them- felves thro' all the Parts of the Levant and Egypt j bringing thence Silk, Spices, and other Merchandizes 5 andfumifiiing the greateft part of Europe therewith. And thus was the B b b b modern