COM 
»ng thus formed, it is ready for the taking 
down any thing therein. 
In order to this, consider to what head 
the thing you would enter is most naturally 
referred, and under which one w'ould be 
led to look for such a thing ; in this head or 
word regard is to be had to the initial let- 
ter, and the first vowel tliat follows it ; 
which are the characteristic letters whereon 
all the use of the index depends. 
Suppose e. g. I would enter down a pas- 
sage that refers to the head beauty ; B, I 
consider, is the initial letter, and e the first 
vowel ; then looking upon the index for the 
partition B, and therein the line e (which is 
the place for all words whose initial is B, 
and the first vowel e ; as beauty, benefi- 
cence, bread, bleeding, blemishes, &c.) and 
finding no numbers already wrote to di- 
rect me to any page of the book where 
words of that characteristic have been en- 
tered, I turn forward to the first blank page 
I find. Which in a fresh book, as this is sup- 
posed to be, will be page 2, and here 
write what I have occasion for on the head 
beauty; beginning the head in the margin, 
and indenting all the other subservient lines 
that tlie head may stand out and shew it- 
self ; this done, I enter the page where it is 
wrote, viz. 2, in the space Be; from 
which time the class B e becomes wholly in 
possession of the second and third pages, 
which are consigned to letters of this cha- 
racteristic. 
Note. If the head be a monosvllable be- 
ginning with a vowel, the vowel is at the 
same time both the initial letter and the 
' characteristic vowel ; thus the word Art is 
to be wrote in A a. Mr. Locke omits three 
letters of tlie alphabet in his index, viz. K, 
Y, and W, which are supplied by C, I, and 
U, equivalent to them : and as for Q, since 
it is always followed by an u, he puts it in 
the first place of Z; and so has no Zu, 
which is a characteristic that very rarely 
occurs. By thus making Q the last of tlie 
index its regularity is preserved without 
diminishing its extent. Otliers choose to 
retain the class Z «, and assign a place for 
Q it below tlie index. 
If any imagine these hundred classes are 
not sufficient to comprehend all kinds of 
subjects without confusion, he may follow 
the same mctliod and yet augment the num- 
ber to 500, by taking in one, more charac- 
teristic to them. 
But the inventor assures us that in all bis 
collections, for a long series of years, he 
VOL. 11. 
COM 
never found any deficiency in the index as 
above laid down. 
Common Pleas is one of the King’s 
courts now held constantly in Westminster 
Hall, but in former times was moveable. 
All civil causes, as well real as personal, 
are, or were formerly, tried in this court, 
according to the strict law of the land. In 
personal and mixed actions it has a con- 
current jurisdiction with the King’s Bench, 
but has no cognizance of pleas of tlie crown. 
The actions belonging to the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas come thither by original, as ar- 
rests and outlawries ; or by privilege or 
attachment for or against privileged per- 
sons; or out of inferior courts, not of re- 
cord, by pone, recordari, accedas ad cu- 
riam, writ of false judgment, &c. The 
chief judge of this Court is called Lord 
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who 
is assisted by three other judges : the other 
officers of the court are the custos bre- 
vium, who is the chief clerk ; three protho- 
notaries and their secondaries ; the clerk 
of the wariants, clerk of the essoins, four- 
teen filazers, four exigentors, a clerk of 
the juries, the chirographer, the clerk of 
the King’s silver, clerk of the treasury, 
clerk of the seal, clerk of the outlawries, 
clerk of the im ohneiit of fines and recove- 
ries, and clerk of the errors. 
Common prayo- is the. liturgy in the 
Church Of England. Clergymen are to use 
the public form of prayers prescribed by 
the Book of Common Prayer; and refusing 
to do so, or using any other public prayers, 
are punishable by 1 Eliz. c. ii. 
Common, in grammar, denotes the gen- 
der of nouns, which are equally applicable 
to both sexes : thus parens, a parent, is of 
the common gender. 
Common, in geometry, is applied to an 
angle, line, or the like, wliich belongs 
equally to two figures. 
Common divisor, a quantity or number 
which exactly divides two or more other 
quantities or numbers, without leaving any 
remainder. 
Common measure, is such a number as 
exactly measures two or more numbers 
without a remainder. 
Common, greatest, measure, of two or 
more numbers, is the greatest number that 
can measure them; as 4 is the greatest 
common measure of 8 and 12. 
COMMONS, in a general sense, consist 
of all such men of property in the kingdom, 
as have not seats in the House of Lords • 
T ' 
