COM
C 275 ) COM
But it is to be obferv'd, that thofe who claim this kind of
for the examining of a Bill, the making E.eport of an fc
J i ry ,oraProcelsoftheHoure See Parliament .Bill, &c. Common (which is ufually call'd MercommlnhgT m
Sometimes, the whole Houfe u refolr/d .n» a Commtme 5 put their Cattel into the G»m«» of the other To ™ ft
on which Occafion each 1 erlon has a right to fpeak, and re- then they are dittrainable ; but, turning them into their own
plv as much, and as often as he pleafes : an Expedient they Fields, if they iiray into their neighbour Common ,1 muft
ufually have recourfe to in extraordinary Cafes, and where be fuffered. See Intercommoninc- '
an y thing is to be thoroughly canvafsd. Common »«S, in Anatomy. See Ductus &/»»»«
ia Committee, each g.ves his Opi- Common BW, in Law, a certain Sum of Money which
\Vhen the Houfe is not i
nion regularly, and is only allow 'd to fpeak once.
Committee of the King, is ufed for a Widow of one of thereof; call'd, in feme Places, Hcad-filver ■ in others Cert- the King s Tenants 5 thus call d, as being by the antient Money, or Certum Letts, and Hcad-i Law of the Realm committed to the King's Care and Pro- tection.
COMMODATE, Commodatum, in the Civil Jurifpru
the Refiants within the View of fome Leets pay to the Lord 'ead-Jtlver ; ir Head-pence. See Cert-
Money,
It was firft granted to the Lord towards the Charge of his Purchafe of the Court-Leet ; whereby the Refiants have dence, the Loan, or free Conceffion of any thing moveable or now the Conveniency of doing their Suit-Royal near home immoveable, for a certain time, on condition ot reftoring without being compell'd to go to the Sheriff's Turn again the fame Individual after a certain time. Common Intendment, in Law, the common Underftandin*
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The Commodate is a kind of Loan, or Contract : there is this difference, however, between a Loan and a Commodate, that the latter is gratis, and docs not transfer the Property : the thing mull be return'd in Eflence, and without Detetio- ration : So that Things which confume by Ufe, or Time, can't be Objects of a Commodate, but of a Loan ; in regard they may be return'd in Kind, tho not in Identity. See Loan.
COMMODORE, in the Navy, an Under-Admiral, or Perfon coinmiflion'd by an Admiral to command a Squa- dron of Ships in Chief. Sec Admiral, and Sqjjadron.
COMMON, fomething that belongs to all alike ; own'd, or allow'd by all ; and not affected to this more than that.
Meaning, or Conftruclion of any thing ; without draining it to any foreign, remote, or particular Senfe.
"Bar to Common Intendment, is an ordinary or general Bar, which commonly difibies the Declaration of the Plaintiff. See Bar, and Intendment.
Common I, aw, Lex non fcripta, that Body of Rules ge- nerally receiv'd, and held as Law in this Nation, before any Statute, or Lex fcripta was made to alter the fame. See Law.
Origin of the Common Law. After the Decay of theiio- man Empire, "Britain became invaded by three Kinds of German People, viz. the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes. From the Jutes defcended the Men of Kent, and thofe of the
■ f L o. r. > n j r , . j.w> wwbvuu\.u in,- t.±i„M ui r^.enT, ana rnoie or in
n which Senfe Common Hands oppofed to proper, pen- Jfl e of Wight i from the Sttmns came the People call'd th.
Eaft, South, and Weft-Saxons ; and from the Angles came
liar, &c.
Thus, the Earth is faid to be our common Mother ; in the firft, or golden Age, all things were in common, as well as the Sun and Elements : The Name Animal is common to Man and Beafl ; that of Subftancc to Body and Spirit.
Philofophers difpute whether there be any fuch thing as common Notions, innate, or imprefs'd on the Mind by Na- ture her felf ; or whether our Ideas are all adventitious. See Innate Idea.
Common, in Grammar, that Gender of Nouns which is equally applicable to both Sexes, Male and Female. See Gender.
Such is that of parens, Parent ; which is either Mafculine,
the Eaft-Angles, Mercians, and Northumbrians. See Hep- tarchy.
Now, as each People had its peculiar Cuftoms, fo each in- clin'd to different Laws ; whereof, thofe of the Weft-Saxons, and Mercians, who inhabited the midland Countries, were, upon the Diffolution of the Heptarchy, and Eftablifhment oi a Monarchy, preferr'd to the reft, and acquir'd the com- mon Appellation ofy«r Anglorum. Their particular Names were Weft-Saxonlage, and Merchcnlage. See Merchen.
EAGE, &C.
By thefe Laws the Nation was govern'd for feveral Ages, ti 11 being at length fubdued by the '/Janes, the Cufloms of thofe
or Feminine, as it is ufed to fignify either Father or Mother. People were introduced, and incorporated with the refti and
The Latin Crrammanans, befide this, which they call the - Common of two, do alfo make a Common of three ; which extends to Mafculine, Feminine, and Neuter.
Common, in Geometry, is applied to an Angle, Line, or the like, which belongs equally to two Figures, or makes a neceffary Part of both.
Common or Double Time, in Mufick. See Time.
Common Divifor, is a Quantity, or Number, which ex- actly divides two, or more other Quantities, or Numbers, without leaving any Remainder. See Divisor
Common, in Law, is that Soil, or Water, the ufe_ whereof obtain'd the force of Laws. See Custom.
thus a new form of Common Law arofe, call'd Dauelage. See Danelage.
The Danes being, in their turn, overcame by the Nor- mans ; the Conqueror, on a Review of the feveral Laws and Cuftoms that then obtain'd, abrogated fome, and abc- lifh'd others ; adding fome of his own Country Laws : and the Syftem, or Affernblage of thefe, is what we call the Common Law.
The Common Law of England, is properly, the common Cuftoms of this Kingdom ; which, by length of time, have
lies open to the feveral Inhabitants, or Holders of a parti- cular Town, or LordiTiip : In this Senfe, we fay, Common of Pafture, Common of Fifbing, Common of Turfery, Com- mon of Eftovers, £S?r.
Common is divided into Common in grofs, Common appen- dant, Common appurtenant, and Common by way of neigh- bourhood.
Common in grofs, is a Liberty to have Common alone ;
It is call'd the Unwritten Law : not but that we have moft of it written in the old Norman Dialect, but becaufe it cannot be made by Charter, or Parliament : for thofe are always Matters of Record ; whereas Cuftoms are only Mat- ter of Fact, and fubfift no where but in the Memory of the People.
From the common Reafon of Things, therefore, Common , Law Ihould appear the beft, moll beneficial, and eafy to that is, without any Land or Tenement in another Man's the People ; in regard it confifts of fuch Rules and Prafticcs -Land ; to himfelf for Life, or to him and his Heirs. This as they themfelvcs fpontaneouily, and as it were by the is commonly paffed by Deed, or Grant, or Specialty. Impulfe and Direaion of their own Interefts, were led to •
Common Appendant, and Common Appurtenant, are in a Whereas, the Written Laws, made in Emland by the Kin" manner confounded ; both being defined to be a Liberty of and Parliament, are impofed on the Subjeft at once, and Common appertaining to, or depending on fuch or fuch a Free- without any Trial, or Foreknowledge how they lhall an- hold ; vih\ch Common muft be taken with Beafts commona- fwer ; and whether or no they are like to prove beneficial to ble ; as Horfes, Oxen, (ge. being accounted fitteft for the the Nation, and agreeable to the Nature of the People • ilowman; and not of Goats, Geefe, and Hogs. Excepting fuch as are firft made temporary; and for their
Uthers diftinguiih between the two, thus ; Common Ap- approved Utility, afterwards perpetuated t'tnenant may be fevered from the Land whereto it apper- The firft Saxon Laws publifh'd in England, were thofe t»l" tLS" ^? 0t t°'""""' J } PP e ! l ! lai {' 5 r JfMch, according to of King Ethelbert in the Vlth Century. 300 Years after,
King Alfred, whom our Hiftorians call Magnus Juris An
my Lord Coke, had its original in the following manner.
c ' f ^.' len , a ^ord enfeoffed another in Arable Lands to hold of him in Soccage ; the Feoffee, to maintain the Setvice ol his Plow, had at firft, by Courtefv of his Landlord,
j Common in his Waftes, for neceffary Beafts, to ear, and
^ compoft his Lands : and that for two Caufes ; ift, becaufe
( it was tacitly implied in the Feoffment ; by reafon the Fe- offee could not till, or compoft his Land, without Cattel ; to the' whole Nation.
Pafture : By Befide the Common Law of England in general ; there are in divers Parts of the Nation particular Cufloms, and
glicani Conditor, having united the Heptarchy, and render'd himfelf Mailer of the whole Nation ; made a Collection from among the feveral Laws of the feveral Provinces of his Domains ; and commanded 'em to be obferv'd throughout his Kingdom. This Collection was denominated the Folk- Right, and foon after, the Common Law ; as being common
a "d Cattel could not be luftain'd without confequence, therefore, the Feoffee had, as a thing necef- T !?ji ° r in ^ itlent . Common in the Waftes, or Lands of the For the Maintenance and Advancement of
Lord.
Til
Com?,'
common per Caufe dc Vicinage, i. c. by reafon of Neigh- bourhood i is a Liberty that the Tenants of one Lord in ne lown, have to a Common, with the Tenants of another Lor « in another Town.
common Ufages, which have the force of Common Law among thofe People who have rerain'd 'em : Such as the Sorough-Englijb, Gavel-kind, &c. See Bos.ovaii-Englifj, and Gavel-kind.
Where the Common Law is filent, there the Statute Law (peaks. See Statute Law.
All
