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* COMMONWEALTH OF ENGLAND. 221 COMMUNICATIO IDIOMATUM. land from the abolition of the monarchy, Febru- ary, 1040, until the establishment of CromweH's Protectorate, December, 1053. The title is gen- erally applied to the whole period dating from the death of Charles I., January 30, 1040, to the restoration of Charles II., ^lay 20, 1000. See C'KOMyf;LL, OuyER. COMMUNE' (Fr., district, from :ML. com- iituiia, cuiniiiuiiiu, district, from Lai. (■ijiiiiniiiiis, common). The smallest administrative <livision of France, and the unit of local self-government. The commune is a legal body, and can buy and sell property, contract debts, and appear in the courts. The chief magistrate is the maire (mayor), who is assisted by one or more depu- ties and a delilierative assembly, called the con- scil municij-Htl. The maire unites in himself two general classes of functions resulting from the twofold nature of the commune. As the agent of the Xational Ciovernment he is charged « ith the local promulgation and enforcement of laws and decrees; and, as a member of the municipality, he has to attend to the police, the revenue, and the public works of the commune, and in general to act as the representative of the corporation. In communes which rank as the administrative centres of a department, arrondissement, or can- ton, or which have a population of more than 3000, the maire is nominated by the Central (iovernment; elsewhere the appointment is made by the prefect of the department. The councilors are elected by the votes of the communal electors, and hold office for five years. COMMUNE. A term applied in feudal times to a body of burghers holding a charter granting them certain privileges of self-government. These communes were found in France. England, Italy, and elsewhere. On the character of these media'val communes, consult Stubbs, Constitu- tional History of England, chap. xi. Commune of Paris (1702). The revolution- ary municipal government established in Paris in August, 1702. It acquired immediate ascend- ency in the Assembly, through the personal pres- sure its leaders could bring to bear, and as its power increased it became more and more the instrument of the violent element of the Revolu- tion and dictated the policy of France. Its his- tory became the history of the Revolution itself. On this commune, consult ilorse-Stephens, His- tory of the French Rerohition, vol. ii. Commune of Paeis (1871). This is com- monly referred to when the term is used without qualification. It was the insurrectionary body, or organized mob, which was in possession and control of Paris from llarch 18 to ilay 27. The German army of occupation left Paris March 3, and almost immediately signs of revolt appeared. On the 18th the Reds, as the Communists were called, with the encouragement of the Interna- tionale ( q.v.), rose against the French regular troops, and. supported by the N'ational CJuard. took possession of the city. Generals Lecomte and Clement Thomas were shot. Communal elec- tions were held and the authority of the National Assembly, which was sitting at Versailles, was declared null. Peace negotiations with Germany were held in abeyance until the new N.ational Government cniild establish its authority in France, and it was intimated that Germany might find it necessary to reoccnpy the aban- doned fortresses. Large bodies of the French jirisoners held by Germany were released to rein- force the arm}' at the disposal of the (iovernment for the suppression of the insurrection. The army was thus raised to LJO.OOO men. and on April active operations were begun by the Government forces, under ^larshal Mac^1ahon, for the capture of Paris. The military adminis- tration of the Commune was notoriously inconi- Iietent, and insubordination and debauchery rendered the forces ineiticient, but the available number of the National Guard approximated 100,000, and they were well armed and pos- sessed strong fortifications, the reduction of which was not a light task. The siege of the city was pushed with energ}', for the credit of the new Republican Government of France before the world hung upon its ability to niainbiin its authority. Before the middle of Jlay it became evident that the Commune could not hold out nuich longer, and its followers began to resort to acts of vandalism. The residence and library of Thiers were destroyed, May 10 ; the VendOme Column was pulled down, ilay 10. The Govern- ment forces penetrated the defenses of the city on ^lay 21, obtaining possession of Montmartre on May 23, and now was enacted that saturnalia of violence and crime which has made the name of the Commune infamous. On May 24 the Com- munists set fire to the public buildings, the Palace of the Tuileries being destroyed. On the same day a large number of hostages, including yi. Darboy. Archbishop of Paris, were massacred. On May 27 the last hand-to-hand .struggle, with- out quarter, was fought in the Cemetery of P&re- la-Chaise. On the following day all resistance came to an end, and the reign of the Commune was closed. Many of its leaders were put to death, others were punished with banishment or impris- onment. Most of the banished were pardoned in 1880. The Communal Council, the governing body of the Commune, was organized in ten com- mittees, of which that for finance was the most efficient. At the head was a general executive com- mittee, the authority of which was never great. It was displaced by a committee of public safety, which was expected to exercise dictatorial power, like its Revolutionary prototype; but this. too. proved a failure. The Comnunie was essentially lawless. Many of those who initiated the move- ment were honest theorists and enthusiasts, but the forces they called into action were entirely be- yond their control. There is no scientific history of the Commune. The principal work is du Camp, I.es conrulsions de Paris (4 vols.. Paris. 1878-70), conservative. Of Communist sympathies are Ar- nould, Histoire poptitaire et parlementaire de la Cmmnvne de Paris (3 vols., Brussels, 1878). and Lissagaray, Histoire de la Commune (last edi- tion, Paris, 1800) : there is an English transla- tion by Aveling of an earlier edition (1880). Consult also Washbnrne. Recollections of a Min- ister to France (2 vols.. New York. 1887) : Simon, The Government of M. Thiers (3 vols., New York, 1878) ; Fetridge. Rise and Fall of the Paris Commune of 1871 (New York. 1871) ; March, Bistort/ of the Commune of 1811 (Lon- don. 1800). See Fkance; Franco-German Wak. COMMUNICA'TIO ID lOM'ATUM (Lat., ciMiniuinication of peculiar properties). A term of ancient, and more particularly of Lutheran Cbristolog'. denoting that each of the two na- tures of Christ, divine and human, imparts its