commissary-court 
Edinburgh in the sixteenth century, to which 
were transferred the duties formerly discharged 
by the bishops' commissaries, it had jurisdiction 
in actions of divorce, declarator of marriage, nullity of 
marriage, and the like. Its powers having come gradu- 
ally to be conjoined with those of the Court of Session, 
it was abolished in 1830. Also called coniristorial four/. 
(6) A sheriff's or county court which decrees 
and confirms executors to deceased persons 
leaving personal property in Scotland, and 
discharges relative incidental functions. The 
sheriff, as judge of tins court, ill certain actions lias the 
title of cuituitixttanf, the county over which the court has 
jurisdiction heing his coinittia/Htriat. 
commissary-general (kom'i-sa-ri-jen'e-ral), w. 
The head of the commissariat or subsistence 
department of an army. See commissary, 4. 
commissary-sergeant '(kom'i-sa-ri-sar'jeut),. 
A non-commissioned staff-officer in the United 
States army, appointed from sergeants who 
have faithfully served in the line five years, in- 
eluding three years in the grade of non-com- 
missioned officers. His duty is to assist the 
commissary in the discharge of all his duties. 
commissaryship (kom'i-sa-ri-ship), n. [< com- 
missary + -ship.] The office of a commissary. 
commission 1 (ko-mish'on), . [< ME. commis- 
sion = D. kommissie = G. commission = Dan. 
Sw. kommission, < OF. commission, F. commis- 
sion = Pr. comission = Sp. comision = Pg. com- 
missao = It. commissione, < ML. commissio(n-), 
a delegation of business to any one, a commis- 
sion, the warrant by which a trust is held, in 
L. the act of committing, a bringing together, 
< eommttere, pp. commissus, commit: see com- 
mit.'] 1. The act of committing or doing: of- 
ten with the implication that the thing done is 
morally wrong: as, the commission of a crime. 
Whether ctnn mission of something which God hath for- 
bidden, or the omission of something commanded. 
Rogers, Sermons. 
2. The act of intrusting, as a charge or duty. 
3. That which is committed, intrusted, or 
delivered. 
He will do hia commission thoroughly. 
Shak., Cymbeline, ii. 4. 
4. The warrant by which any trust is held or 
any authority exercised. 
Stay, 
Where's your commission, lords? words cannot carry 
Authority so weighty. Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 
Specifically (a) A warrant granted by government au- 
thority to a person, or to a body of persons, to inquire 
into and report on any subject, (b) The document issued 
by the government to officers in the army and navy, judges, 
justices of the peace, and others, conferring authority to 
perform their various functions ; also, the power thus 
granted, (c) A writ which issues from a court of law for 
various purposes, such as the taking of evidence from 
witnesses who are unable to appear in court. 
Hence 5. Charge; order; mandate; author- 
ity given. 
He bore his great commission in his look. Dryden. 
He would have spoke, but I had no commission 
To argue with him, so I flung him off. 
Fletcher, Wife for a Month, v. 3. 
6. A body of persons intrusted jointly with the 
performance of certain special duties, usually 
of a public or legal character, either perma- 
nently or temporarily. 7. In com., authority 
delegated by another for the purchase and sale 
of goods; the position or business of an agent; 
agency : thus, to trade or do business on com- 
mission is to buy or sell for another by his au- 
thority. 8. The allowance made or the per- 
centage given to a factor or agent for transact- 
ing business, or to an executor, administrator, 
or trustee, as his compensation for administer- 
ing an estate. 
Commission is the allowance paid to an agent for trans- 
acting commercial business, and usually bears a fixed pro- 
portion or percentage, as may be agreed on, to the amount 
of value involved in the transaction. Encyc. Brit., II. 53o. 
Commission day, the opening day of the assizes, when 
the commission authorizing the judge to hold court is 
opened and read. [Eng. ] Commission of Appeals, in 
some States, a court organized for a limited time to hear 
and determine appeals, when the permanent court is over- 
burdened with business. Commission Of array, in Eng. 
hist., a royal command such as was frequently issued be- 
tween 1282 and 1557, especially in seasons of public dan- 
ger, authorizing and commanding a draft or impressment 
into military service, or into training, of all able-bodied 
men, or of a number to be selected from among them. 
Commission of bankruptcy. See bankruptcy. Com- 
mission of Delegates. Same as Court of Delegates (which 
see, under delegate). Commission or commissioned 
officer. See officer. Commission of jail-delivery. See 
assize, n., 6. Commission of lunacy, a commission is- 
suing from a court to authorize an inquiry whether a person 
is a lunatic or not. Commission of 'rebellion, a writ 
formerly used in chancery to attach a defendant as a con- 
temner of the law. Commission of the peace, a com- 
mission issuing under the great seal for the appointment of 
justices of the peace. [Eng.] Commission rogatoire, 
in French law, letters rogatory ; an authority, coupled with 
& request that it be exercised, communicated by a tribunal 
1130 
in one country to a tribunal of another, for the making 
of some investigation, administering an oath, certifying 
papers, or the like. Court of High Commission. See 
court. Del credere commission. See del credere. 
Ecclesiastical commission, wee ecclesiastical. Elec- 
toral commission. See electoral. Fish Commission. 
See United MatPttCommitxionof Filth and Fisheries, below. 
In commission, (n) In the exercise of delegated an- 
thority or a commission. 
Virg. Are you contented to be tried by these? 
Tuc. Ay, so the noble captain may be joined with them 
in eammiwion, say. B. Jonmn, Poetaster, v. 1. 
For he [God] established Moses in a resolution to under- 
take the work, by joining his brother Aaron in commission 
with him. Donne, Sermons, v. 
(')) See to put. in commission, below. Military commis- 
sion, in American milit. law, a tribunal composed of 
military officers, deriving its jurisdiction from the express 
or implied will of Congress, and having power to try of- 
fenders against the laws of war. It has not jurisdiction to 
try persons in the military service of the nation for purely 
military offenses, or offenses against the Articles of \Var. 
On the commission, holding appointment as a justice 
on the commission of the peace. [Eng.] To override 
one's commission. See override. To put in or into 
commission. () In Great Britain, to intrust officially 
to a commission, as the duties of a high office, in place 
of the regular constitutional administrator. Thus, the 
functions of the lord high admiral have for a long period 
been regularly put in commission to the lords commis- 
sioners of the admiralty, or the Board of Admiralty. The 
charge of the exchequer or treasury is also sometimes put 
into commission. 
On the 7th of January, 1687, the Gazette announced to 
the people of London that the Treasury was put into com- 
mission. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., iv. 
(&) In the United States navy, to transfer (a ship) from the 
navy-yardauthorities to the command of the officer ordered 
in charge. Upon this transfer being made the ensign 
and pendant are hoisted, and the ship is then said to be 
in commission. United States Commission of Fish 
and Fisheries, a bureau of the United States government 
for the promotion of the public interests in relation to 
fish, as their propagation and distribution, investigation 
of their habits and fitness for food or other uses, mainte- 
nance of supply, etc. Many of the separate States have 
similar commissions in connection with their internal wa- 
ters. Commonly called Fish Commission. =Syn. 1. Perpe- 
tration. 8. Percentage, brokerage, fee. 
commission 1 (ko-mish'on), v. t. [< commission 1 , 
it.; =F. commis'sionner"etc.] 1. Togiveacom- 
mission to ; empower or authorize by commis- 
sion. 
His ministers, commissioned to proclaim 
Eternal blessings in a Saviour's name. 
Cowper, Elegy, iv. 91. 
2. To send with a mandate or authority; send 
as a commission. 
A chosen band 
He first commissions to the Latin laud. 
Dryden, ^neid. 
Commissioned officer. See officer. =Syn. To appoint, 
depute, delegate. 
commission 2 ! (ko-mish'on), . [Prob. resting 
on Sp. camison, a long wide shirt, aug. of ca- 
misa, a shirt: cf. camisole, and see camis.] A 
shirt. [Slang.] 
A garment shifting in condition, 
And in the canting tongue is a commission. 
John Taylor, Works, 1630. 
commission-agent (ko - mish ' on - a " jent), n. 
One who acts as agent for otners, and either 
buys or sells on commission. 
commissionaire (ko-mish-on-ar'), n. [< P. 
commissionaire : see commissioner.] 1. An at- 
tendant attached to hotels in continental Eu- 
rope, who performs certain miscellaneous ser- 
vices, such as attending the arrival of railway- 
trains and steamboats to secure customers, 
looking after luggage, etc. 2. A kind of mes- 
senger or light porter in general ; one intrusted 
with commissions. In some European cities (as in 
London) a corps of commissionaires has been organized, 
drawn from the ranks of military pensioners. 
commissional (ko-mish'on-al), . [< commis- 
sion + -al.] Pertaining to a commission ; con- 
ferring a commission or conferred by a com- 
mission. [Rare.] 
The king's letters commissional. 
Le Neve, Hist. Abps. of Canterbury and York, I. 201. 
commissionary (ko-mish'on-a-ri), o. [< ML. 
commissionarius(&B&noim: see commissioner).] 
Same as commissional. 
Commissionary authority. 
Sp. Hall, Cases of Conscience, ix. 
commissionatet (ko-mish'on-at), v. t. [< com- 
mission^, n., + -ate 2 "] To commission; author- 
ize; appoint. 
By this his terrible voice he breaketh the cedars, and 
diyideth the flames of fire [Ps. xxix. 5, 7], which he com- 
missionates to do his pleasure. 
N. Morton, New England's Memorial, p. 320. 
commissioner (ko-mish'on-er), n. [In the first 
sense < commission + -er". In the other senses 
= F. commissionnaire (> D. kommissionnair = G. 
commissioner = Dan. kommission&r) = It. com- 
missionario, < ML. commissionarius, one in- 
trusted with a commission, < commissio(n-), a 
commission: see commission^, n.] 1. One who 
commission-merchant 
commissions. 2. A person having or included 
in a warrant of authority ; one who has a com- 
mission or warrant from proper authority to 
perform some office or execute some business 
for the person, court, or government giving 
the commission. 
Itinerary commissioners to inspect, throughout the king- 
dom, into the conduct of men in office. Swift. 
Another class of commissioners, who are strictly polit- 
ical agents, are occasionally sent out without its being 
thought desirable to define exactly their rank, but they 
are usually received as ministers. 
E. Schuyler, American Diplomacy, p. 119. 
Specifically (a) In Great Britain, an officer having charge 
of some department of the public service which is put 
into commission. See to put in commission, under com- 
mission! , n. (6) A steward or private factor on an estate, 
who holds a power from his constituent to manage affairs 
with full authority. 
3. A commissionaire. 4. One of the persons 
elected to manage the affairs of a police burgh 
or non-corporate town in Scotland, correspond- 
ing to a bailie or town-councilor in a corporate 
town Bankruptcy commissioner. See bankruptcy. 
Board of county commissioners. See county!. 
Charity commissioner, a member of a body exercising 
authority over charity foundations, schools, charities in 
prisons, etc. , in England and Wales. Civil-service Com- 
missioners. See civil service, under civil. Commission- 
er for the State Of, etc., an officer appointed under the law 
of one State and resident within another State, to take in 
the latter acknowledgment of deeds to be recorded and 
oaths and affidavits to be used in the former. [U. S.] 
Commissioner of Agriculture, the head of the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. See department. [V. S. I - Commis- 
sioner of Appeals, a member of a Commission of Appeals. 
See cowmissivn.1, Commissioner Of Customs, an offi- 
ciai;of the United States Treasury Department charged with 
the collection of the customs-revenue and the revision and 
certification of the revenue and marine accounts. Com- 
missioner of deeds, an officer appointed to take ac- 
knowledgments, administer oaths, etc. Commissioner 
Of Education, the head of the Bureau of Education. 
See education. [U. S.] Commissioner of Fish and 
Fisheries, the chief officer of the United States Commis- 
sion of Fish and Fisheries. Commissioner of Labor, an 
official of the United States government whose duty it is 
to investigate and report upon matters relating to the la- 
borers and labor-interests of the country. Many of the 
different States have similar officials. Commissioner of 
Railroads, an official of the government of the United 
States, or of one of the several States, whose duty it is 
to enforce the laws relating to railroads, report upon their 
condition, recommend such changes as may be considered 
necessary, etc. Commissioner of the Circuit Court. 
See United States Commissioner, below. Commissioner 
Of the General Land Office, the head of the General 
Land Office. See land. [U. S.] Commissioner of the 
Patent Office, or Commissioner of Patents, the head 
of the United States Patent Office. See patent. Com- 
missioner Of the Pension Office, or Commissioner of 
Pensions, the head of the United States Pension Office. 
See pension. Commissioners Clauses Act, a British 
statute of 1847 consolidating or codifying provisions usual 
in acts constituting boards of commissioners for the un- 
dertaking of public works. Commissioners of audit. 
See audit. Commissioners of charities and correc- 
tion, in New York and some other American cities, a 
board of officers charged with the oversight of the public 
charitable and penal institutions. Commissioners of 
estimate and assessment, in American laic, officers of 
a quasi-judicial character, in the nature of arbitrators, 
appraisers, or referees, appointed in a proceeding to con- 
demn private property to public uses, for the purpose 
of estimating the value of land taken for a public im- 
provement, and of assessing the cost of the improvement 
on the property benefited. Commissioners of excise, 
officers, usually constituting a permanent or continuous 
board, who are charged with the licensing of dealers in 
intoxicating liquors, and with supervising the enforce- 
ment of the laws restricting that trade. Commission- 
ers of highways, officers, usually constituting a perma- 
nent or continuous board in a town or village, charged 
with the duty of laying out and maintaining highways, 
bridges, etc. Commissioners of Justiciary, the judges 
of the High Court of Justiciary of Scotland, consisting 
of the lord justice-general, the lord justice-clerk, and five 
j udges of the Court of Session. Commissioners of sup- 
e. in Scotland, commissioners appointed to assess the 
i-tax and to apportion the valuation according to the 
provisions of the Valuation of Lands Act, within their 
respective counties. Commissioners of teinds. See 
teinds. Indian Commissioner, the head of the United 
States Indian Bureau, or of the office having charge of 
Indian affairs. See Indian. Lord high commissioner 
to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the 
representative of the sovereign in that assembly. Lords 
Commissioners of the Treasury. See treasurer. Po- 
lice commissioners, in some American cities, a board of 
officers having supervision of municipal police. United 
States Commissioner, or Commissioner of the Cir- 
cuit Court, an officer appointed by a circuit court of the 
United States to aid in the administration of justice in 
various ways, as by examining and extraditing criminals. 
commissionership (ko-mish'on-er-ship), n. [< 
commissioner + -ship.] The office or position 
of a commissioner. 
commission-merchant (ko - mish ' on - mer '- 
chant), n. 1. A person employed to sell goods 
on commission, either in his own name or in 
the name of his principal, and intrusted with 
the possession, management, control, and dis- 
posal of the goods sold : differing from a broker, 
who is an agent employed to make bargains and 
contracts between other persons in matters of 
trade. 2. One who buys or sells groceries, or 
