Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/251

* COMINES. 203 COMITIA. iiicdiivval chronicler, Philippe de Coraincs, was born here. Population, French portion, in 1901, 8129; Belgian, in 18U9, 5737. COMINES, PiiiLirPE de (1445-1509). A French statesman and historian. He was born at the Castle of Coniines, not far from Lille; re- ceived a careful education, and in 14G4 attached himself to Charles the Bold of Burgiuidy (then (^ount of Charolais). In 1472 Comines entered the serice of Louis XL, the rival and enemy of Charles, who made him one of his confidential advisers. He proved himself a very suitable agent for carrying out the designs of the crafty mon- arch ; but after the death of Louis he incurred llie displeasure of the regent, Anne de Beaujeu, by his adherence to the party of the Duke of Orleans (afterwards Louis XII.), and was sen- tenced to the forfeiture of a fourth of his estates and to ten years' banishment. This punishment, liowcvcr. does not seem to have been carried out. for after a few years we find Coniines again em- ployed in important affairs of diplomacy; but though he was engaged in the service of C'liarles VIII. and the Duke of Orleans, he failed to win the confidence of these masters. He died at his Castle of Argenton, October 13, 1509. Coniines's Mcinoircs, Nhich are a complete sur- vey of the political history of his time, and de- pict vividly the character of Louis XL, are ad- mirably written, and afl'ord abundant proof of an acute and vigorous mind. He seems to have looked keenly into the heart of every man who crossed him in life, and with cool and severe pre- cision to have dissected him for the benefit of posterity. Among the many editions of his Mcmoires, the best are those by Lenglet-Dufres- noy (4 vols., London, 1747); by Jlademoiselle Dupont ( 3 vols. ), in the Collection de la socicte de I'hinfoire de Fj-niiec (Paris, 1840-47); and by Chantelange (Paris, 1881). COMISCO, ko-me's6. A city in Sicily, in the Province of Syracuse, situated about 40 miles southwest of the city of that name. It was known in Roman mythology as the location of a falded fountain of Diana, the water of which, when drawn by women of light character, refused to mingle with wine. It is on the road between Catania and Licata, and has two churches, a theatre, and cotton and soap factories. Popula- tion (commune), in 1881, 19,333; in 1901, 21.873. COMITAN', kfi'me-tiin', or COMITLAN. A town in the State of Chiapas, Mexico, situated on the Grijalva River, about 30 miles southeast of San Cristobal (Map: Mexico. X 9). It has a fine Dominican cloister. The town is largely engaged in agriculture and cattle-raising, but has manufactures of cotton and woolen goods, liquors, etc., and carries on a contraband trade with Guatemala and Briti.sh Honduras. Comitan suffered considerably from the raids of .Tnan Ortega in 1855-04. Population, about 10,000. COMITIA, k6-mish'I-a (Lat. nom. pi., assem- blies from com- (con-), together + ire, to go). The legal or constitutional meetings of the Ro- man people, convoked by a magistrate, for the pur])ose of putting a question to the vote. This definition comprehends at least all the comitia except the Comitia Calata, where the people were present merely as s]iectators. There were several kinds of comitia, held for dift'erent pur- poses, and, according to the mode of constituting Vol. v.— 14. the comitia, the preponderance lay with the patricians or with the plebeians. It was always a fundamental principle of the Roman Constitu- tion that the supreme ])ower was inherent in the citizens, though it might be delegated by them to hereditary or to elected magistrates. All imixirtant matters, however, had to be brought before the sovereign people, who could either ratify or reject, though without discus- sion, the proposals made to, them. Such, at least in theory — and, during the best days of the Re- public, in practice also — was the function of these |io])ular assemblies. As may be readily un- derstood, dilTerent elements had the ascendency among the Roman people at different periods of their history. So far as it was possible for a •State exposed to so many and such various in- fluences to be conservative of its political tradi- tions, Rome, whether monarchical, republican, or imperial, was essentially so. But, iinder the force of circumstances, from time to time inno- vations were introduced which very materially altered the position of the two political parties — the patricians and the plebeians — into which the State was early divided, and by whose dis- sensions it was long distracted, and in none of her institutions can the progress of the struggle between these rising factions be more clearly traced than in the motive and power of those assemblies, or comitia, by which the supreme authority of Rome was in succession wielded. It is usual to describe the Roman comitia as of three kinds, named from the mode in which the people ere organized and in which they voted^ the Comitia Curiata, or assembly of the curiae; the Comitia Centuriata, or as.sembly of the cen- turies; and the Comitia Tributa, or assembly of the tribes. To these some add a fourth, the Comitia Calata (from calnre. to call) : but as this assembly had neither political functions nor a separate organization, it is unnecessary to do more than mention the name. ( 1 ) CoinTi.. CuBi.VTA. The assembly of the curia; is lielicved to have been coeval with the rise of Rome itself, and its origin is therefore rightly ascribed by tradition to the mythical founder of the city. The system seems to have been an essential part of the communities, of which Rome was originally only one. Its pri- mary object cannot now be satisfactorily deter- mined; but the purpose for which it came to be employed is sufficiently clear. From a very early period the Roman curifc, or 'wardships,' as they may be called, numbered thirty, being ten for each of the three once independent com- munities — the Ramnes, the Titles, and the Lu- ceres — from whose amalgamation the Roman people sprang. At first, these curi.-e were prob- ably made up extensively of the freeholders, or patricians, as the freeholders were afterwards designated, on whom devolved exclusively the right and the duty of bearing arms. It has been maintained by some that the class of dependents called by the Roman writers clients, as well as the burgesses or citizens, had a right to vote in the assembly of the euri;e. No direct evidence, however, can be brought forward in support of this supposition, which, in the nature of the case, is highly improbable; and, if allowed to be present at all, they were very likely nothing niore than spectators, or, as their name is said to imply, 'listeners.' In an as.senibly each curia had one vote, and determination was by the ma-