ess of the scheme also depends
largely on the personal qualities of the judge to whom the list is
assigned. Under the able guidance of Mr (afterwards Lord) Justice Mathew
(d. 1908), the commercial court became very successful in bringing cases
to a speedy and satisfactory determination without any technicality or
unnecessary expense.

COMMERCIAL LAW, a term used rather indefinitely to include those main
rules and principles which, with more or less minor differences,
characterize the commercial transactions and customs of most European
countries. It includes within its compass such titles as principal and
agent; carriage by land and sea; merchant shipping; guarantee; marine,
fire, life and accident insurance; bills of exchange, partnership, &c.

COMMERCIAL TREATIES. A commercial treaty is a contract between states
relative to trade. It is a bilateral act whereby definite arrangements
are entered into by each contracting party towards the other--not mere
concessions. As regards technical distinctions, an "agreement," an
"exchange of notes," or a "convention" properly applies to one specific
subject; whereas a "treaty" usually comprises several matters, whether
commercial or political.

In ancient times foreign intercourse, trade and navigation were in many
instances regulated by international arrangements. The text is extant of
treaties of commerce and navigation concluded between Carthage and Rome
in 509 and 348 B.C. Aristotle mentions that nations were connected by
commercial treaties; and other classical writers advert to these
engagements. Under the Roman empire the matters thus dealt with became
regulated by law, or by usages sometimes styled laws. When the
territories of the empire were contracted, and the imperial authority
was weakened, some kind of international agreements again became
necessary. At Constantinople in the 10th century treaties cited by
Gibbon protected "the person, effects and privileges of the Russian
merchant"; and, in western Europe, intercourse, trade and navigation
were carried on, at first tacitly by usage derived from Roman times, or
under verbal permission given to merchants by the ruler to whose court
they resorted. Afterwards, security in these transactions was afforded
by means of formal documents, such as royal letters, charters, laws and
other instruments possessing the force of government measures. Instances
affecting English commercial relations are the letter of Char