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.” Communeros, Revolt of the. _See_ Santa Junta. Compactata of Prague. An agreement between the Hussites and their religious opponents in 1433. This agreement afterwards formed the basis of the Treaty of Iglau. Compagnies d’Ordonnance. The first French regular army, called into existence by Charles V in 1370. Complaints of the Commons of Kent. A document submitted to the Government in 1450 by the insurgents under Jack Cade. It set forth the causes of the unpopularity of Suffolk, and demanded the restoration to favour of the Duke of York. Composition of Connaught. An arrangement between Sir James Perrot, Governor of Ireland, and the landowners of Connaught in 1585, by which the landowners agreed to pay a fixed ground rent, in consideration of a patent from the Crown, and relief from all other taxes and imposts. At the same time all members of the clans were released from their allegiance to their chiefs, and placed directly under the Crown. Compound Householder. The occupier of a small tenement who did not pay poor rates directly, but compounded with his landlord, who was responsible for the rate to the authorities. During the debates on the Reform Bill of 1867, the question of his enfranchisement was very hotly contested, and in the end the compound householder was abolished, and every name put on the rate book. Compounders.