C E N 
and watch over the manners of the people, and regulate 
the taxes. Their power was alfo extended over private 
families; they puniflied irregularity, and infpefted the 
management and education of tire Roman youth. They 
could inquire into the expencesof every citizen, and even 
degrade a fenator from all his privileges and honours, if 
guilty of any extravagance. This punifliment was gene¬ 
rally executed in pafling over the offender’s name in call¬ 
ing the lilt of the fenators. The office of public cenfor 
was originally exercifed by the kings. Servius Tullius, 
the fixth king of Rome, firfledablifhed a cenfus, by which 
every man was obliged to come to be regiftered, and give 
in writing the place of his refidence, his name, his quali¬ 
ty, the number of his children, of his tenants, eflates, and 
doineltics, &c. The ends of the cenfus were very falutary 
to the Roman republic. They knew their own ftrength, 
their ability to fupport a war, or to make a levy of troops, 
or raile a tribute. It was required that every knight 
ffiould be poll'd fed of 400,000 federces, to enjoy the rights 
and privileges of his order; and a fenator was entitled to 
(it in the fenate, if he was really worth 800,000 federces. 
This laborious talk of numbering and reviewing the peo¬ 
ple, was, after the expulfion of the Tarquins, one of the 
duties and privileges of the confuls. But when the re¬ 
public was become more powerful, and when the number 
of its citizens was increafed, the confuls were found unable 
to make the cenfus r on account of the multiplicity of bn - 
finefs. After it had been neglected for fixteen years, two 
new magiftrates called ccnfors, were eleiSIed. They re¬ 
mained in office for five years, and every fifth year they 
made a cenfus of all the citizens, in the campus martins, 
and offered a folemn facrific.e, and made a ludration in the 
name of all the Roman people. This fpace of time was 
called a lujlrum, and ten or twenty years were commonly 
expreffed by two or four ludra. After the office of the 
cenfors had remained for fome time unaltered, the Ro¬ 
mans, jealous of their power, abridged the time of their 
exillence, and a law was made, A. U. C. 420, by Ma- 
mercus yErmlius, to limit the time of the cenforlhip to 
eighteen months. After the fecond Punic war, they 
were always chofen from fitch perfons as had been con¬ 
fuls ; their office was more honourable, though lei's pow¬ 
erful, than that of the confuls; the badges of their office 
were the fame, but the cenfors were not allowed to have 
Jiftors to walk before them as the confuls. When one of 
the cenfors died, no one was deeded in his room till the 
five years were expired, and his colleague immediately re- 
figned. This circumfiance originated from the death of a 
cenfor before the lacking of Rome by Brennus, and was ever 
after deemed an unfortunate event to the republic. The 
emperors abolilhed the cenfors, and took upon themfelves 
to execute their office. The republic of Venice have al¬ 
ways had a cenfor of the manners of their people, whofe 
office has condantly been rellrained to only fix months. 
CEN'SORS of Books, were a fociety of learned per¬ 
fons, edablilhed in divers countries, to examine all books 
before they were lent to the prefs, to fee that they con¬ 
tained nothing contrary to faith and good manners. The 
faculty of theology claimed this privilege in Paris; and 
in England we had formerly an officer of this kind, under 
the tit le of licenfer of the prefs: but, lince the revolu¬ 
tion, our prefs has been laid under no Inch redraint ; 
which conditutes what is termed the liberty of the prefs. _ 
CENSO'RIAN, adj. Relating to the cenfor.—As the 
chancery had the pretorian power for equity, fo the dar- 
cliatnber had the cenforian power for offences under the 
degree of capital. Bacon. 
CENSORI'NUS, a celebrated critic, chronologiff, an¬ 
tiquarian, and grammarian, for fuch Prifcian calls him in 
his book upon grammar, flourifiied at Rome in the time 
of Alexander Seyerus. This part of his character mud, 
however, arife from his book Concerning Accents, fre¬ 
quently cited by Sidonius Apollinaris, and other things, 
which are loll; and not from Ills De Die Natali, which is 
tiie only piece remaining of him. This treatife was writ¬ 
ten about the year 2^8, and dedicated to Quintus Cerel- 
lius, a man of the equedrian order, of whom he fpeaks 
very highly in his 15th chapter. Voffius calls this “ a lit¬ 
tle book of gold;” and declares it to be “a molt learned 
work, and of the higheft life and importance to chronolo- 
gers, fince it connedts and determines with great exact-nets 
fome principal aeras in hiltory.” It is, however, a work 
of a mifcellaneous nature, and treats of antiquities as well 
as chronology. It was printed with the notes of Linden- 
brokius at Cambridge, in 1695. The bed edition now 
extant is by Haverkamp, Lug. B it. 1767. 
CENSO'RIOUS, adj. Addicted to cenfure ; fevere ; 
full of invedtives.—Do not too many believe no religion to 
be pure, but what is intemperately rigid ? no zeal to be 
fpiritual, but what is cenforious? Spratt. Sometimes it 
has of before the objedt of reproach.—A dogmatical fpi- 
rit inclines a man to be cenforious of his neighbours. IVatts. 
Sometimes on .— He treated all his inferiors of the ciergy 
witli a mod landHfied pride; was rigorotifiy and univer- 
fally cenforious upon all his brethren of the gown. Swift. 
CENSO'RIOUSLY, adv. In a fevere and reflecting 
manner. 
CENSO'RIOUSNESS,/ Difpofltion to reproach ; ha¬ 
bit of reproaching.—Sournefs of difpofltion, and rudenefs 
of behaviour, cenforioufnefs and fmider interpretation of 
things, all crofs and didafteful humours, render the con- 
verfation of men grievous and uneafy to one another. 
Tillotfon. 
CEN'SORSH IP, f. The office of a cenfor; the time 
in which the office of cenfor is borne.—It was brought to 
Rome in the cenforfiip of Claudius. Brown.' 
CENSUA'LES, a fpecies or clafs of the oblati, or vo¬ 
luntary Oaves of churches or monaOeries, i. e. thofe who, 
to procure the protection of the church, formerly bound 
themfelves to pay an annual tax or quit-rent out of their 
edates to a church or monadery. Befides this, they fome- 
times engaged to perform certain fervices. 
CENSU'RABLE, adj. Worthy of cenfure ; blame- 
able; culpable.—A finall midake may leave upon the 
mind the lading memory of having been taunted for fome- 
thing cenfurable. Locke. 
CEN'SURABLENESS, f. Blameablenefs ; fitnefs to 
be cenfured. 
CEN'SURE, f. [ cenfura , Lat.] Blame ; reprimand ; 
reproach : 
Enough for half the greated of thefe days, 
To ’(cape my cenfure , not expedt my praife. Pope. 
Judgment ; opinion : 
Madam, and you, my fider, will you go 
To give your cenfurcs in this weighty buiinefs ? S/iakfp . 
Judicial fentence. A fpiritual punifliment inflicted by 
fome ecclefiadical judge.—Upon the unluccefsfulnefs of 
milder medicaments, ufe that ftronger phyfic the cenfaes 
of the church. Hammond. 
To CEN'SURE, v. a. [from cenfurer, Fr.j To blame; 
to brand publicly. The like cenfurings and defpifings 
have embittered the fpirits, and whetted both the tongues 
and pens of learned men one againd another. Sandcifon. — 
To condemn by a judicial fentence. 
CEN'SURER,/ He that blames; he that reproaches, 
—A datefman, w ho is polled of real merit, (honld look 
upon his political cenfurers with the fame negledt that a 
good writer regards his critics. 
CEN'SUS, f. [from cenfeo, Lat. to value.] The num¬ 
bering of the people at Rome, performed by the cenfors. 
A cenfus, fimilar to that of the Romans, was taken by 
order of congrefs, in the United States of America, in 
1790, when it was found that their population amounted 
to near four millions of people, and enabled them to re¬ 
gulate their government upon a firm bads. 
CENT,/. [ centum , Lat.] A hundred ; as, five per cent, 
that is, five in the hundred. 
CENTAL'LO, a town of Italy, in the principality of 
Piedmont : four miles north of Coni. 
CEN'LAUR, / [ centaurus , Lat.] A poetical being, 
fuppofed to be compounded of a man and a liorfe.—Down 
from 
