COMMAND. This word has several meanings. 1. It signifies an order; an apprentice is bound to obey the lawful command of his master; a constable may command rioters to keep the peace. 2. He who commands another to do an unlawful act, is accessary to it. 3 Inst. 51, 57; 2 Inst. 182; 1 Hayw.

3. Command is also equivalent to deputation or voluntary substitution; as, when a master employs one to do a thing, he is said to have Commanded him to do it; and he is responsible accordingly. Story Ag. 454, note.

COMMENCEMENT OF A SUIT OR ACTION. The suit is considered as commenced from the issuing of the writ; 3 Bl. Com. 273, 285; 7 T. R. 4; 1 Wils. 147; 18 John. 14; Dunl. Pr. 120; 2 Phil. Ev. 95; 7 Verm. R. 426; 6 Monr. R. 560; Peck's R. 276; 1 Pick. R. 202; Id. 227; 2 N. H. Rep. 36; 4 Cowen, R. 158; 8 Cowen, 203; 3 John. Cas. 133; 2 John. R. 342; 3 John. R. 42; 15 John. R. 42; 17 John. R. 65; 11 John. R. 473; and if the teste or date of the writ be fictitious, the true time of its issuing may be a and proved, whenever the purposes of justice require it; as in cases of a plea of tender or of the statute of limitations. Bac. Ab. Tender D; 1 Stra. 638; Peake's Ev. 259; 2 Saund. 1, n. 1. In Connecticut, the service of, the writ is the commencement of the action. 1 Root, R. 487; 4 Conn. 149; 6 Conn. R. 30; 9 Conn. R. 530; 7 Conn. R. 558; 21 Pick. R. 241; 2 C. & M. 408, 492 1 Sim. R. 393. Vide Lis Pendens.

COMENDAM, eccles. law. When a benefice or church living is void or vacant, it is commended to the. care of some sufficient clerk to be supplied, until it can be supplied with a pastor. He to whom the church is thus commended is said to hold in commendam, and he is entitled to the profits of the living. Rob. 144; Latch, 236.

2. In Louisiana, there is a species of limited partnership called a partnership in commendam. It is formed by a contract, by which one person or partnership agrees to furnish another person or partnership a certain amount, either in property or money, to be employed by the person or partnership to whom it is furnished, in his or their own name or firm, on condition of receiving a share in the profits, in the proportion determined by the contract, and of being liable to losses and expenses, to the amount furnished, and no more. Civ. Code of Lo. 2810. A similar partnership exists in France. Code de Comm. 26, 33; Sirey, tom. 12, part 2, p. 25. He who makes this contract is called in respect to those to whom he makes the advance of capital, a partner in commendam. Civ. Code of Lo. art. 2811.

COMMENDATARY. A person who holds a church living or presentment in commendam.

COMMENDATION. The act of recommending, praising. A merchant who merely commends goods he offers for sale, does not by that act warrant them, unless there is some fraud: simplex commendatio non obligat.

COMMENDATORS, eccl. law. Secular persons upon whom ecclesiastical benefices are bestowed, because they were commended and instructed to their oversight: they are merely trustees.

COMMERCE, trade, contracts. The exchange of commodities for commodities; considered in a legal point of view, it consists in the various agreements which have for their object to facilitate the exchange of the products of the earth or industry of man, with an intent to realize a profit. Pard. Dr. Coin. n. 1. In a narrower sense, commerce signifies any reciprocal agreements between two persons, by which one delivers to the other a thing, which the latter accepts, and for which he pays a consideration; if the consideration be money, it is called a sale; if any other thing than money, it is called exchange or barter. Domat, Dr. Pub. liv. 1, tit. 7, s. 1, n. 2. Congress have power by the constitution to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes. 1 Kent. 431; Story on Corst. 1052, et seq. The sense in which the word commerce is used in the constitution seems not only to include traffic, but intercourse and navigation. Story, 1057; 9 Wheat. 190, 191, 215, 229; 1 Tuck. Bl. App. 249 to 252. Vide 17 John. R. 488; 4 John. Ch. R. 150; 6 John. Ch. R. 300; 1 Halst. R. 285; Id. 236; 3 Cowen R. 713; 12 Wheat. R. 419; 1 Brock. R. 423; 11 Pet. R. 102; 6 Cowen, R. 169; 3 Dana, R. 274; 6 Pet. R. 515; 13 S. & R. 205.