A Commission of Peers, authorized by Richard II in 1386, to inquire into abuses in the Government, and to prepare a scheme of reform.
Commission of Grace.
A proclamation under the Great Seal by James I in 1604, securing Irish landowners from all claims of the Crown, and empowering the governor, in all cases of precarious tenure, to grant indefeasible titles.
Commissions of Array.
Commissions given by the English Kings to certain commissioners to impress men for military service. They were first issued under Edward I.
Committee of Religion.
A committee appointed by the Long Parliament in 1641 to consider the question of religious reform.
Commune, Paris.
An outbreak of the extreme revolutionary party in Paris in 1871, after the withdrawal of the Germans. Its leaders were Assi, Billioray, Blanqui, Cluseret, Paschal Grousset, Félix Pyat, and other noted extremists. They obtained complete possession of Paris, and were guilty of terrible atrocities, including the cold-blooded murder of the so-called hostages, amongst whom was the Archbishop of Paris. The city underwent a second siege at the hands of the Provisional Government, but after severe fighting the Government troops, under the Marquis de Gallifet, surmounted the last barricade, and those of the Communist leaders who failed to escape were brought to trial, and executed or transported. Many of the public buildings, including the Tuileries, were set fire to during the fighting by the “Pétroleuses.”