Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

An important official of the second rank (_spectabilis_, "respectable" as contrasted with those of highest rank who were "illustrious") was the count of the East, who appears to have had the control of a department in which 600 officials were engaged. His power was reduced in the 6th century, when he was deprived of his authority over the Orient diocese, and became civil governor of Syria Prima, retaining his "respectable" rank. Another important officer of the later Roman court was the _comes sacri patrimonii_, who was instituted by the emperor Anastasius. In this connexion it should be observed that the word _patrimonium_ gradually changed in meaning. In the beginning of the 3rd century _patrimonium_ meant crown property, and _res privata_ meant personal property: at the beginning of the 6th century _patrimonium_ meant personal property, and _res privata_ meant crown property. It is difficult to give briefly a clear idea of the functions of the three important officials _comes sacrarum largitionum_, _comes rei privatae_ and _comes sacri patrimonii_; but the terms have been well translated by a German author as _Finanzminister des Reichsschatzes_ (finance minister of the treasury of the Empire), _F. des Kronschatzes_ (of the crown treasury), and _F. des kaiserlichen Privatvermogens_ (of the emperor's private property).

The Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty retained the Roman system of administration, and under them the word _comes_ preserved its original meaning; the _comes_ was a companion of the king, a royal servant of high rank. Under the early Frankish kings some _comites_ did not exercise any definite functions; they were merely attached to the king's person and executed his orders. Others filled the highest offices, e.g. the _comes palatii_ and _comes stabuli_ (see CONSTABLE). The kingdom was divided for administrative purposes into small areas called _pagi_ (_pays_, Ger. _Gau_), corresponding generally to the Roman _civitates_ (see CITY).[2] At the head of the _pagus_ was the _comes_, corresponding to the German _Graf_ (_Gaugraf_, cf. Anglo-Saxon _scire-gerefa_,[3] sheriff). The _comes_ was appointed by the king and removable at his pleasure, and was chosen originally from all classes, sometimes from enfranchised slaves. His essential functions were judicial and executive, and in documents he is often described as the king's agent (_agens publicus_) or royal judge (_judex publicus_ or _fiscalis_). As the delegate of the executive power he had the right to military command in the king's name, and to take all the measures necessary for the preservation of the peace, i.e. to exercise the royal "ban" (_bannus regis_). He was at once public prosecutor and judge, was responsible for the execution of the sentences of the courts, and as the king's representative exercised the royal right of protection (_mundium regis_) over churches, widows, orphans and the like. He enjoyed a triple wergeld, but had no definite salary, being remunerated by the receipt of certain revenues, a system which contained the germs of discord, on account of the confusion of his public and private estates. He also retained a third of the fines which he imposed in his judicial capacity.

Under the early Carolings the title count did not indicate noble birth. A _comes_ was generally raised from childhood in the king's palace, and rose to be a count through successive stages. The count's office was not yet a dignity, nor hereditary; he was not independent nor appointed for life, but exercised the royal power by delegation, as under the Merovingians. While, however, he was theoretically paid by the king, he seems to have been himself one of the sources of the royal revenue. The counties were, it appears, farmed out; but in the 7th century the royal choice became restricted to the larger landed proprietors, who gradually emancipated themselves from royal control, and in the 8th century the term _comitatus_ begins to denote a geographical area, though there was little difference in its extent under the Merovingian kings and the early Carolings. The count was about to pass into the feudatory stage. Throughout the middle ages, however, the original official and personal connotation of the title was never wholly lost; or perhaps it would be truer to say, with Selden, that it was early revived with the study of the Roman civil law in the 12th century. The unique dignity of count of the Lateran palace,[4] bestowed in 1328 by the emperor Louis IV. the Bavarian on Castrucio de' Antelminelli, duke of Lucca, and his heirs male, was official as well as honorary, being charged with the attendance and service to be performed at the palace at the emperor's coronation at Rome (Du Cange, s.v. _Comites Palatii Lateranensis_; Selden, op. cit. p. 321). This instance, indeed, remained isolated; but the personal title of "count palatine," though honorary rather than official, was conferred on officials--especially by the popes on those of the Curia--had no territorial significance, and was to the last reminiscent of those early comites palatii whose relations to the sovereign had been purely personal and official (see PALATINE). A relic of the old official meaning of "count" still survives in Transylvania, where the head of the political administration of the Saxon districts is styled count (_comes_, _Graf_) of the Saxon Nation.

2. _Feudal Counts._--The process by which the official counts were transformed into feudal vassals almost independent is described in the article FEUDALISM. In the confusion of the period of transition, when the title to possession was usually the power to hold, designations which had once possessed a definite meaning were preserved with no defined association. In France, by the 10th century, the process of decomposition of the old organization had gone far, and in the 11th century titles of nobility were still very loosely applied. That of "count" was, as Luchaire points out, "equivocal" even as late as the 12th century; any castellan of moderate rank could style himself _comte_ who in the next century would have been called _seigneur_ (_dominus_). Even when, in the 13th century, the ranks of the feudal hierarchy in France came to be more definitely fixed, the style of "count" might imply much, or comparatively little. In the oldest register of Philip Augustus counts are reckoned with dukes in the first of the five orders into which the nobles are divided, but the list includes, besides such almost sovereign rulers as the counts of Flanders and Champagne, immediate vassals of much less importance--such as the counts of Soissons and Dammartin--and even one mediate vassal, the count of Bar-sur-Seine. The title was still in fact "equivocal," and so it remained throughout French history. In the official lists it was early placed second to that of duke (Luchaire, _Manuel_, p. 181, note 1), but in practice at least the great _comtes-pairs_ (e.g. of Champagne) were the equals of any duke and the superiors of many. Thus, too, in modern times royal princes have been given the title of count (Paris, Flanders, Caserta), the heir of Charles X. actually changing his style, without sense of loss, from that of duc de Bordeaux to that of comte de Chambord. From the 16th century onwards the equivocal nature of the title in France was increased by the royal practice of selling it, either to viscounts or barons in respect of their fiefs, or to rich _roturiers_.

In Germany the change from the official to the territorial and hereditary counts followed at the outset much the same course as in France, though the later development of the title and its meaning was different. In the 10th century the counts were permitted by the kings to divide their benefices and rights among their sons, the rule being established that countships (_Grafschaften_) were hereditary, that they might be held by boys, that they were heritable by females and might even be administered by females. The _Grafschaft_ became thus merely a bundle of rights inherent in the soil; and, the count's office having become his property, the old counties or _Gauen_ rapidly disappeared as administrative units, being either amalgamated or subdivided. By the second half of the 12th century the official character of the count had quite disappeared; he had become a territorial noble, and the foundation had been laid of territorial sovereignty (_Landeshoheit_). The first step towards this was the concession to the counts of the military prerogatives of dukes, a right enjoyed from the first by the counts of the marches (see MARGRAVE), then given to counts palatine (see PALATINE) and, finally, to other counts, who assumed by reason of it the style of landgrave (_Landgraf_, i.e. count of a province). At first all counts were reckoned as princes of the Empire (_Reichsfursten_); but since the end of the 12th century this rank was restricted to those who were immediate tenants of the crown,[5] the other counts of the Empire (_Reichsgrafen_) being placed among the free lords (_barones_, _liberi domini_). Counts of princely rank (_gefurstete Grafen_) voted among the princes in the imperial diet; the others (_Reichsgrafen_) were grouped in the _Grafenbanke_--originally two, to which two more were added in the 17th century--each of which had one vote. In 1806, on the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine, the sovereign counts were all mediatized (see MEDIATIZATION). Even before the end of the Empire (1806) the right of bestowing the title of count was freely exercised by the various German territorial sovereigns.

3. _Modern Counts._--Any political significance which the feudal title of count retained in the 18th century vanished with the changes produced by the Revolution. It is now simply a title of honour and one, moreover, the social value of which differs enormously, not only in the different European countries, but within the limits of the same country. In Germany, for instance, there are several categories of counts: (1) the mediatized princely counts (_gefurstete Grafen_), who are reckoned the equals in blood of the European sovereign houses, an equality symbolized by the "closed crown" surmounting their armorial bearings. The heads of these countly families of the "high nobility" are entitled (by a decree of the federal diet, 1829) to the style of _Erlaucht_ (illustrious, most honourable); (2) Counts of the Empire[6] (_Reichsgrafen_), descendants of those counts who, before the end of the Holy Roman Empire (1806), were _Reichsstandisch_ i.e. sat in one of the _Grafenbanke_ in the imperial diet, and entitled to a ducal coronet; (3) Counts (a) descended from the lower nobility of the old Empire, titular since the 15th century, (b) created since; their coronet is nine-pointed (cf. the nine points and strawberry leaves of the English earl). The difficulty of determining in any case the exact significance of the title of a German count, illustrated by the above, is increased by the fact that the title is generally heritable by all male descendants, the only exception being in Prussia, where, since 1840, the rule of primogeniture has prevailed and the bestowal of the title is dependent on a rent-roll of L3000 a year. The result is that the title is very widespread and in itself little significant. A German or Austrian count may be a wealthy noble of princely rank, a member of the Prussian or Austrian Upper House, or he may be the penniless cadet of a family of no great rank or antiquity. Nevertheless the title, which has long been very sparingly bestowed, always implies a good social position. The style _Altgraf_ (old count), occasionally found, is of some antiquity, and means that the title of count has been borne by the family from time immemorial.

In medieval France the significance of the title of count varied with the power of those who bore it; in modern France it varies with its historical associations. It is not so common as in Germany or Italy; because it does not by custom pass to all male descendants. The title was, however, cheapened by its revival under Napoleon. By the decree of the 1st of March 1808, reviving titles of nobility, that of count was assigned _ex officio_ to ministers, senators and life councillors of state, to the president of the Corps Legislatif and to archbishops. The title was made heritable in order of primogeniture, and in the case of archbishops through their nephews. These Napoleonic countships, increased under subsequent reigns, have produced a plentiful crop of titles of little social significance, and have tended to lower the status of the counts deriving from the _ancien regime_. The title of marquis, which Napoleon did not revive, has risen proportionately in the estimation of the Faubourg St Germain. As for that of count, it is safe to say that in France its social value is solely dependent on its historical associations.

Of all European countries Italy has been most prolific of counts. Every petty Italian prince, from the pope downwards, created them for love or money; and, in the absence of any regulating authority, the title was also widely and loosely assumed, while often the feudal title passed with the sale of the estate to which it was attached. Casanova remarked that in some Italian cities all the nobles were _baroni_, in others all were _conti_. An Italian _conte_ may or may not be a gentleman; he has long ceased, _qua_ count, to have any social prestige, and his rank is not recognized by the Italian government. As in France, however, there are some Italian _conti_ whose titles are respectable, and even illustrious, from their historic associations. The prestige belongs, however, not to the title but to the name. As for the papal countships, which are still freely bestowed on those of all nations whom the Holy See wishes to reward, their prestige naturally varies with the religious complexion of the country in which the titles are borne. They are esteemed by the faithful, but have small significance for those outside. In Spain, on the other hand, the title of _conde_, the earlier history of which follows much the same development as in France, is still of much social value, mainly owing to the fact that the rule of primogeniture exists, and that, a large fee being payable to the state on succession to a title, it is necessarily associated with some degree of wealth. The Spanish counts of old creation, some of whom are grandees and members of the Upper House, naturally take the highest rank; but the title, still bestowed for eminent public services or other reasons, is of value. The title, like others in Spain, can pass through an heiress to her husband. In Russia the title of count (_graf_, fem. _grafinya_), a foreign importation, has little social prestige attached to it, being given to officials of a certain rank. In the British empire the only recognized counts are those of Malta, who are given precedence with baronets of the United Kingdom.

See Selden, _Titles of Honor_ (London, 1672); Du Cange, _Glossarium
Med. Lat._ (ed. Niort, 1883) s.v. "Comes"; _La Grande Encyclopedie_,
s.v. "Comte"; A. Luchaire, _Manuel des institutions francaises_
(Paris, 1892); P. Guilhiermoz, _Essai sur l'origine de la noblesse en
France au moyen age_ (Paris, 1902); Brunner, _Deutsche
Rechtsgeschichte_, Band ii. (Leipzig, 1892).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The exact significance of a title is difficult to reproduce in a
foreign language. Actually, only some foreign counts could be said to
be equivalent to English earls; but "earl" is always translated by
foreigners by words (_comte_, _Graf_) which in English are
represented by "count," itself never used as the synonym of "earl."
Conversely old English writers had no hesitation in translating as
"earl" foreign titles which we now render "count."

[2] The changing language of this epoch speaks of _civitates_,
subsequently of _pagi_, and later of _comitatus_ (counties).

[3] The A.S. _gerefa_, however, meaning "illustrious," "chief," has
apparently, according to philologists, no connexion with the German
_Graf_, which originally meant "servant" (cf. "knight," "valet,"
&c.). It is the more curious that the _gerefa_ should end as a
servant ("reeve"), the _Graf_ as a noble (count).

[4] "Count of the Lateran Palace" (_Comes Sacri Lateranensis
Palatii_) was later the title usually bestowed by the popes in
creating counts palatine. The emperors, too, continued to make counts
palatine under this title long after the Lateran had ceased to be an
imperial palace.

[5] Of these there were four who, as counts of the Empire _par
excellence_, were sometimes styled "simple counts" (_Schlechtgrafen_),
i.e. the counts of Cleves, Schwarzburg, Cilli and Savoy; they were
entitled to the ducal coronet. Three of these had become dukes by the
17th century, but the count (now prince) of Schwarzburg still styled
himself "Of the four counts of the Holy Roman Empire, count of
Schwarzburg" (see Selden, ed. 1672, p. 312).

[6] This title is borne by certain English families, e.g. by Lord
Arundell of Wardour. In other cases it has been assumed without due
warrant. See J. H. Round, "English Counts of the Empire," in _The
Ancestor_, vii. 15 (Westminster, October 1903).

COUNTER. (1) (Through the O. Fr. _conteoir_, modern _comptoir_, from Lat. _computare_, to reckon), a round piece of metal, wood or other material used anciently in making calculations, and now for reckoning points in games of cards, &c., or as tokens representing actual coins or sums of money in gambling games such as roulette. The word is thus used, figuratively, of something of no real value, a sham. In the original sense of "a means of counting money, or keeping accounts," "counter" is used of the table or flat-topped barrier in a bank, merchant's office or shop, on which money is counted and goods handed to a customer. The term was also applied, usually in the form "compter," to the debtors' prisons attached to the mayor's or sheriff's courts in London and some other boroughs in England. The "compters" of the sheriff's courts of the city of London were, at various times, in the Poultry, Bread St., Wood St. and Giltspur St.; the Giltspur St. compter was the last to be closed, in 1854. (2) (From Lat. _contra_, opposite, against), a circular parry in fencing, and in boxing, a blow given as a parry to a lead of an opponent. The word is also used of the stiff piece of leather at the back of a boot or shoe, of the rounded angle at the stern of a ship, and, in a horse, of the part lying between the shoulder and the under part of the neck. In composition, counter is used to express contrary action, as in "countermand," "counterfeit," &c.

COUNTERFEITING (from Lat. _contra-facere_, to make in opposition or contrast), making an imitation without authority and for the purpose of defrauding. The word is more particularly used in connexion with the making of imitations of money, whether paper or coin. (See COINAGE OFFENCES; FORGERY.)

COUNTERFORT (Fr. _contrefort_), in architecture, a buttress or pier built up against the wall of a building or terrace to strengthen it, or to resist the thrust of an arch or other constructional feature inside.

COUNTERPOINT (Lat. _contrapunctus_, "point counter point," "note against note"), in music, the art happily defined by Sir Frederick Gore Ouseley as that "of combining" melodies: this should imply that good counterpoint is the production of beautiful harmony by a combination of well-characterized melodies. The individual audibility of the melodies is a matter of which current criticism enormously overrates the importance. What is always important is the peculiar life breathed into harmony by contrapuntal organization. Both historically and aesthetically "counterpoint" and "harmony" are inextricably blended; for nearly every harmonic fact is in its origin a phenomenon of counterpoint. And if in later musical developments it becomes possible to treat chords as, so to speak, harmonic lumps with a meaning independent of counterpoint, this does not mean that they have really changed their nature; but it shows a difference between modern and earlier music precisely similar to that between modern English, in which metaphorical and abstract expressions are so constantly used that they have become a mere shorthand for the literal and concrete expression, and classical Greek, where metaphors and abstractions can appear only as elaborate similes or explicit philosophical ideas. The laws of counterpoint are, then, laws of harmony with the addition of such laws of melody as are not already produced by the interaction of harmonic and melodic principles. In so far as the laws of counterpoint are derived from purely harmonic principles, that is to say, derived from the properties of concord and discord, their origin and development are discussed in the article HARMONY. In so far as they depend entirely on melody they are too minute and changeable to admit of general discussion; and in so far as they show the interaction of melodic and harmonic principles it is more convenient to discuss them under the head of harmony, because they appear in such momentary phenomena as are more easily regarded as successions of chords than as principles of design. All that remains, then, for the present article is the explanation of certain technical terms.

1. _Canto Fermo_ (i.e. plain chant) is a melody in long notes given to one voice while others accompany it with quicker counterpoints (the term "counterpoint" in this connexion meaning accompanying melodies). In the simplest cases the _Canto Fermo_ has notes of equal length and is unbroken in flow. When it is broken up and its rhythm diversified, the gradations between counterpoint on a _Canto Fermo_ and ordinary forms of polyphony, or indeed any kind of melody with an elaborate accompaniment, are infinite and insensible.

2. _Double Counterpoint_ is a combination of melodies so designed that either can be taken above or below the other. When this change of position is effected by merely altering the octave of either or both melodies (with or without transposition of the whole combination to another key), the artistic value of the device is simply that of the raising of the lower melody to the surface. The harmonic scheme remains the same, except in so far as some of the chords are not in their fundamental position, while others, not originally fundamental, have become so. But double counterpoint may be in other intervals than the octave; that is to say, while one of the parts remains stationary, the other may be transposed above or below it by some interval other than an octave, thus producing an entirely different set of harmonies.

_Double Counterpoint in the 12th_ has thus been made a powerful means of expression and variety. The artistic value of this device depends not only on the beauty and novelty of the second scheme of harmony obtained, but also on the change of melodic expression produced by transferring one of the melodies to another position in the scale. Two of the most striking illustrations of this effect are to be found in the last chorus of Brahms's _Triumphlied_ and in the fourth of his variations on a theme by Haydn.

_Double Counterpoint in the 10th_ has, in addition to this, the property that the inverted melody can be given in the new and in the original positions simultaneously.

Double counterpoint in other intervals than the octave, 10th and 12th, is rare, but the general principle and motives for it remain the same under all conditions. The two subjects of the _Confiteor_ in Bach's B minor Mass are in double counterpoint in the octave, 11th and 13th. And Beethoven's Mass in D is full of pieces of double counterpoint in the inversions of which a few notes are displaced so as to produce momentary double counterpoint in unusual intervals, obviously with the intention of varying the harmony. Technical treatises are silent as to this purpose, and leave the student in the belief that the classical composers used these devices, if at all, in a manner as meaningless as the examples in the treatises.

3. _Triple, Quadruple and Multiple Counterpoint._--When more than two melodies are designed so as to combine in interchangeable positions, it becomes increasingly difficult to avoid chords and progressions of which some inversions are incorrect. In triple counterpoint this difficulty is not so great; although a complete triad is dangerous, as it is apt to invert as a "6/4" which requires careful handling. On the other hand, in triple counterpoint the necessity for strictness is at its greatest, because there are only six possible inversions, and in a long polyphonic work most of these will be required. Moreover, the artistic value of the device is at its highest in three-part polyphonic harmony, which, whether invertible or not, is always a fine test of artistic economy, while the inversions are as evident to the ear, especially where the top part is concerned, as those in double counterpoint. Triple counterpoint (and a fortiori multiple counterpoint) is normally possible only at the octave; for it will be found that if three parts are designed to invert in some other interval this will involve two of them inverting in a third interval which will give rise to incalculable difficulty. This makes the fourth of Brahms's variations on a theme of Haydn almost miraculous. The plaintive expression of the whole variation is largely due to the fact that the flowing semiquaver counterpoint below the main theme is on each repeat inverted in the 12th, with the result that its chief emphasis falls upon the most plaintive parts of the scale. But in the first eight bars of the second part of the variation a third contrapuntal voice appears, and this too is afterwards inverted in the 12th, with perfectly natural and smooth effect. But this involves the inversion of two of the counterpoints with each other in the 9th, a kind of double counterpoint which is almost impossible. The case is unique, but it admirably illustrates the difference between artistic and merely academic mastery of technical resource.

_Quadruple Counterpoint_ is not rare with Bach. It would be more difficult than triple, but for the fact that of its twenty-four possible inversions not more than four or five need be correct. _Quintuple counterpoint_ is admirably illustrated in the finale of Mozart's _Jupiter Symphony_, in which everything in the successive statement and gradual development of the five themes conspires to give the utmost effect to their combination in the coda. Of course Mozart has not room for more than five of the 120 possible combinations, and from these he selects such as bring fresh themes into the outside parts, which are the most clearly audible. _Sextuple Counterpoint_ may be found in Bach's great double chorus, _Nun ist das Heil_, and in the finale of his concerto for three claviers in C, and probably in other places.

4. _Added Thirds and Sixths._--An easy and effective imitation of triple and quadruple counterpoint, embodying much of the artistic value of inversion, is found in the numerous combinations of themes in thirds and sixths which arise from an extension of the principle which we mentioned in connexion with double counterpoint in the 10th, namely, the possibility of performing it in its original and inverted positions simultaneously. The _Pleni sunt coeli_ of Bach's B minor Mass is written in this kind of transformation of double into quadruple counterpoint; and the artistic value of the device is perhaps never so magnificently realized as in the place, at bar 84, where the trumpet doubles the bass three octaves and a third above while the alto and second tenor have the counter subjects in close thirds in the middle.

Almost all other contrapuntal devices are derived from the principle of the _canon_ and are discussed in the article CONTRAPUNTAL FORMS.

As a training in musical grammar and style, the rhythms of 16th-century polyphony were early codified into "the five species of counterpoint" (with various other species now forgotten) and practised by students of composition. The classical treatise on which Haydn and Beethoven were trained was Fux's _Gradus ad Parnassum_ (1725). This was superseded in the 19th century by Cherubini's, the first of a long series of attempts to bring up to date as a dead language what should be studied in its original and living form. (D. F. T.)

COUNTERSCARP ( = "opposite scarp," Fr. _contrescarpe_), a term used in fortification for the outer slope of a ditch; see FORTIFICATION and SIEGECRAFT.

COUNTERSIGN, a military term for a sign, word or signal previously arranged and required to be given by persons approaching a sentry, guard or other post. In some armies the "countersign" is strictly the reply of the sentry to the pass-word given by the person approaching.

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. _contre_ or _contrie_, and O. Fr. _cuntree_; Late Lat. _contrata_, showing the derivation from _contra_, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. _Gegend_, neighbourhood), an extent of land without definite limits, or such a region with some peculiar character, as the "black country," the "fen country" and the like. The extension from such descriptive limitation to the limitation of occupation by particular owners or races is easy; this gives the common use of the word for the land inhabited by a particular nation or race. Another meaning is that part of the land not occupied by towns, "rural" as opposed to "urban" districts; this appears too in "country-house" and "country town"; so too "countryman" is used both for a rustic and for the native of a particular land. The word appears in many phrases, in the sense of the whole population of a country, and especially of the general body of electors, as in the expression "go to the country," for the dissolution of parliament preparatory to a general election.

COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. _counte_, cf. O. Fr. _cunte_, _conte_, Mod. Fr. _comte_, from Lat. _comitatus_, cf. Ital. _comitato_, Prov. _comtat_; see COUNT), in its most usual sense the name given to certain important administrative divisions in the United Kingdom, the British dominions beyond the seas, and the United States of America. The word was first introduced after the Norman Conquest as the equivalent of the old English "shire," which has survived as its synonym, though occasionally also applied to divisions smaller than counties, e.g. Norhamshire, Hexhamshire and Hallamshire. The word "county" is also sometimes used, alternatively with "countship," to translate foreign words, e.g. the French _comte_ and the German _Grafschaft_, which connote the territorial jurisdiction of a count (q.v.). The present article is confined to a sketch of the origin and development of English counties, which have served in a greater or less degree as the model for the county organizations in the various countries of the English-speaking world which are described under their proper headings.

About one-third of the English counties represent ancient kingdoms, sub-kingdoms or tribal divisions, such as Kent, Sussex, Norfolk, Devon; but most of the remaining counties take their names from some important town within their respective boundaries. The counties to the south of the Thames (except Cornwall) already existed in the time of Alfred, but those of the midlands seem to have been created during the reign of Edward the Elder (901-925) and to have been artificially bounded areas lying around some stronghold which became a centre of civil and military administration. There is reason, however, for thinking that the counties of Bedford, Cambridge, Huntingdon and Northampton are of Danish origin. Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland were not recognized as English counties until some time after the Norman Conquest, the last two definitely appearing as fiscal areas in 1177. The origin of Rutland as a county is obscure, but it had its own sheriff in 1154.

In the period preceding the Norman Conquest two officers appear at the head of the county organization. These are the ealdorman or earl, and the _scirgerefa_ or sheriff. The shires of Wessex appear each to have had an ealdorman, whose duties were to command its military forces, to preside over the county assembly (_scirgemot_), to carry out the laws and to execute justice. The name ealdorman gave way to that of earl, probably under Danish influence, in the first half of the 11th century, and it is probable that the office of sheriff came into existence in the reign of Canute (1017-1035), when the great earldoms were formed and it was no longer possible for the earl to perform his various administrative duties in person in a group of counties. After the Norman Conquest the earl was occasionally appointed sheriff of his county, but in general his only official connexion with it was to receive the third penny of its pleas, and the earldom ceased to be an office and became merely a title. In the 12th century the office of coroner was created, two or more of them being chosen in the county court as vacancies occurred. In the same century verderers were first chosen in the same manner for the purpose of holding inquisitions on vert and venison in those counties which contained royal forests. It was the business of the sheriff (_vicecomes_) as the king's representative to serve and return all writs, to levy distresses on the king's behalf, to execute all royal precepts and to collect the king's revenue. In this work he was assisted by a large staff of clerks and bailiffs who were directly responsible to him and not to the king. The sheriff also commanded the armed forces of the crown within his county, and either in person or by deputy presided over the county court which was now held monthly in most counties. In 1300 it was enacted that the sheriffs might be chosen by the county, except in Worcestershire, Cornwall, Rutland, Westmorland and Lancashire, where there were then sheriffs in fee, that is, sheriffs who held their offices hereditarily by royal grant. The elective arrangement was of no long duration, and it was finally decided in 1340 that the sheriffs should be appointed by the chancellor, the treasurer and the chief baron of the exchequer, but should hold office for one year only. The county was from an early period regarded as a community, and approached the king as a corporate body, while in later times petitions were presented through the knights of the shire. It was also an organic whole for the purpose of the conservation of the peace. The assessment of taxation by commissioners appointed by the county court developed in the 13th century into the representation of the county by two knights of the shire elected by the county court to serve in parliament, and this representation continued unaltered save for a short period during the Protectorate, until 1832, when many of the counties received a much larger representation, which was still further increased by later acts.

The royal control over the county was strengthened from the 14th century onward by the appointment of justices of the peace. This system was further developed under the Tudors, while in the middle of the 16th century the military functions of the sheriff were handed over to a new officer, the lord-lieutenant, who is now more prominently associated with the headship of the county than is the sheriff. The lord-lieutenant now usually holds the older office of _custos rotulorum_, or keeper of the records of the county. The justices of the peace are appointed upon his nomination, and until lately he appointed the clerk of the peace. The latter appointment is now made by the joint committee of quarter sessions and county council.

The Tudor system of local government received little alteration until the establishment of county councils by the Local Government Act of 1888 handed over to an elected body many of the functions previously exercised by the nominated justices of the peace. For the purposes of this act the ridings of Yorkshire, the divisions of Lincolnshire, east and west Sussex, east and west Suffolk, the soke of Peterborough and the Isle of Ely are regarded as counties, so that there are now sixty administrative counties of England and Wales. Between 1373 and 1692 the crown granted to certain cities and boroughs the privilege of being counties of themselves. There were in 1835 eighteen of these counties corporate, Bristol, Chester, Coventry, Gloucester, Lincoln, Norwich, Nottingham, York and Carmarthen, each of which had two sheriffs, and Canterbury, Exeter, Hull, Lichfield, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Poole, Southampton, Worcester and Haverfordwest, each of which had one sheriff. All these boroughs, with the exception of Carmarthen, Lichfield, Poole and Haverfordwest, which remain counties of themselves, and forty-seven others, were created county boroughs by the Local Government Act 1888, and are entirely dissociated from the control of a county council. The City of London is also a county of itself, whose two sheriffs are also sheriffs of Middlesex, while for the purposes of the act of 1888 the house-covered district which extends for many miles round the City constitutes a county.

The county has always been the unit for the organization of the militia, and from about 1782 certain regiments of the regular army were associated with particular counties by territorial titles. The army scheme of 1907-1908 provided for the formation of county associations under the presidency of the lords-lieutenant for the organization of the new territorial army.

See _Statutes of the Realm_; W. Stubbs, _Constitutional History of
England_ (1874-1878); F. W. Maitland, _Domesday Book and Beyond_
(1897); Sir F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, _History of English Law_
(1895); H. M. Chadwick, _Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions_ (1905),
and _The Victoria History of the Counties of England_. (G. J. T.)

COUNTY COURT, in England, a local court of civil jurisdiction. The county court, it has been said, is at once the most ancient and the most modern of English civil tribunals. The Saxon Curia Comitatus, maintained after the Norman Conquest, was a local court and a small debts court. It was instituted by Alfred the Great, its jurisdiction embracing civil, and, until the reign of William I., ecclesiastical matters. The officers of the court consisted of the earldorman, the bishop and the sheriff. The court was held once in every four weeks, being presided over by the earl, or, in his absence, the sheriff. The suitors of the court, i.e. the freeholders, were the judges, the sheriff being simply a presiding officer, pronouncing and afterwards executing the judgment of the court. The court was not one of record. The appointment of judges of assize in the reign of Henry II., as well as the expensive and dilatory procedure of the court, brought about its gradual disuse, and other local courts, termed courts of request or of conscience, were established. These, in turn, proved unsatisfactory, owing both to the limited nature of their jurisdiction (restricted to causes of debt not exceeding 40s. in value, and to the fact that they were confined to particular places). Accordingly, with the view of making justice cheaper and more accessible the County Courts Act 1846 was passed. This act had the modest title of "An Act for the Recovery of Small Debts and Demands in England." The original limit of the jurisdiction of the new courts was L20, extended in 1850 to L50 in actions of debt, and in 1903 (by an act which came into force in 1905) to L100. Thirteen amending acts were passed, by which new jurisdiction was from time to time conferred on the county courts, and in the year 1888 an act was passed repealing the previous acts and consolidating their provisions, with some amendment. This is now the code or charter of the county courts.

The grain of mustard-seed sown in 1846 has grown into a goodly tree, with branches extending over the whole of England and Wales; and they embrace within their ambit a more multifarious jurisdiction than is possessed by any other courts in the kingdom. England and Wales were mapped out into 59 circuits (not including the city of London), with power for the crown, by order in council, to abolish any circuit and rearrange the areas comprised in the circuits (sec. 4). There is one judge to each circuit, but the lord chancellor is empowered to appoint two judges in a circuit, provided that the total number of judges does not exceed 60. The salary of a county court judge was originally fixed at L1200, but he now receives L1500. He must at the time of his appointment be a barrister-at-law of at least seven years' standing, and not more than sixty years of age; after appointment he cannot sit as a member of parliament or practise at the bar.

Every circuit (except in Birmingham, Clerkenwell, and Westminster) is divided into districts, in each of which there is a court, with a registrar and bailiffs. The judges are directed to attend and hold a court in each district at least once in every month, unless the lord chancellor shall otherwise direct (secs. 10, 11). But in practice the judge sits several times a month in the large centres of population, and less frequently than once a month in the court town of sparsely inhabited districts. By sec. 185 of the act of 1888 the judges and officers of the city of London court have the like jurisdiction, powers, and authority as those of a county court, and the county court rules apply to that court.

The ordinary jurisdiction of the county courts may be thus tabulated:--

Pecuniary limit
Subject matter. of jurisdiction.

Common-law actions, with written consent of both
parties Unlimited.
Actions founded on contract (except for breach of
promise of marriage, in which the county courts have
no jurisdiction) L100.

Actions founded on tort (except libel, slander, and
seduction, in which the county courts have no
jurisdiction) L100.

Counter claims (unless plaintiff gives written notice
of objection) Unlimited.

Ejectment or questions of title to reality L100 annual value.

Equity jurisdiction L500.

Probate jurisdiction L200 personalty
and L300 realty.

Admiralty jurisdiction L300.

Bankruptcy jurisdiction Unlimited.

Replevin Unlimited.

Interpleader transferred from High Court L500.

Actions in contract transferred from High Court L100.

Actions in tort transferred from High Court Unlimited.

Companies (winding up), when the paid-up capital
does not exceed L10,000.

There is no discoverable principle upon which these limits of the jurisdiction of the county courts have been determined. But the above table is not by any means an exhaustive statement of the jurisdiction of the county courts. For many years it has been the practice of parliament to throw on the county court judges the duty of acting as judges or arbitrators for the purpose of new legislation relating to social subjects. It is impossible to classify the many statutes which have been passed since 1846 and which confer some jurisdiction, apart from that under the County Courts Act, on county courts or their judges. Some of these acts impose exceptional duties on the judges of the county courts, others confer unlimited jurisdiction concurrently with the High Court or some other court, others, again, confer limited or, sometimes, exclusive jurisdiction. A list of all the acts will be found in the _Annual County Courts Practice_. A county court judge may determine all matters of fact as well as law, but a jury may be summoned at the option of either plaintiff or defendant when the amount in dispute exceeds L5, and in actions under L5 the judge may in his discretion, on application of either of the parties, order that the action be tried by jury. The number of jurymen impanelled and sworn at the trial was, by the County Courts Act 1903, increased from five to eight.

There is an appeal from the county courts on matters of law to a divisional court of the High Court, i.e. to the admiralty division in admiralty cases and to the king's bench division in other cases (sec. 120 of act of 1888). The determination of the divisional court is final, unless leave be given by that court or the court of appeal (Judicature Acts 1894). (See further APPEAL.) In proceedings under the Workmen's Compensation Act the appeal from a county court judge is to the court of appeal, with a subsequent appeal to the House of Lords. In 1908 a Committee was appointed by the lord chancellor "to inquire into certain matters of county court procedure." The committee presented a report in 1909 (H.C. 71), recommending the extension of existing county court jurisdiction, but a bill introduced to give effect to the recommendations was not proceeded with.

See _Annual County Courts Practice_, also "Fifty Years of the English
County Courts," by County Court Judge Sir T. W. Snagge, in _Nineteenth
Century_, October 1897.

COUPE (French for "cut off"), a small closed carriage of the brougham type, with four wheels and seats for two persons; the term is also used of the front compartment on a _diligence_ or mail-coach on the continent of Europe, and of a compartment in a railway carriage with seats on one side only.

COUPLET, a pair of lines of verse, which are welded together by an identity of rhyme. The _New English Dict._ derives the use of the word from the French _couplet_, signifying two pieces of iron riveted or hinged together. In rhymed verse two lines which complete a meaning in themselves are particularly known as a couplet. Thus, in Pope's _Eloisa to Abelard_:--

"Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole."

In much of old English dramatic literature, when the mass of the composition is in blank verse or even in prose, particular emphasis is given by closing the scene in a couplet. Thus, in the last act of Beaumont and Fletcher's _Thierry and Theodoret_ the action culminates in an unexpected rhyme:--

"And now lead on; they that shall read this story
Shall find that virtue lives in good, not glory."

In French literature, the term couplet is not confined to a pair of lines, but is commonly used for a stanza. A "square" couplet, in French, for instance, is a strophe of eight lines, each composed of eight syllables. In this sense it is employed to distinguish the more emphatic parts of a species of verse which is essentially gay, graceful and frivolous, such as the songs in a vaudeville or a comic opera. In the 18th century, Le Sage, Piron and even Voltaire did not hesitate to engage their talents on the production of couplets, which were often witty, if they had no other merit, and were well fitted to catch the popular ear. This signification of the word _couplet_ is not unknown in England, but it is not customary; it is probably used in a stricter and a more technical sense to describe a pair of rhymed lines, whether serious or merry. The normal type, as it may almost be called, of English versification is the metre of ten-syllabled rhymed lines designated as _heroic couplet_. This form of iambic verse, with five beats to each line, is believed to have been invented by Chaucer, who employs it first in the Prologue _The Legend of Good Women_ the composition of which is attributed to the year 1385. That poem opens with the couplet:--

"A thousand times have I heard man tell
That there is joy in heaven and pain in hell."

This is an absolutely correct example of the heroic couplet, which ultimately reached such majesty in the hands of Dryden and such brilliancy in those of Pope. It has been considered proper for didactic, descriptive and satirical poetry, although in the course of the 19th century blank verse largely took its place. Epigram often selects the couplet as the vehicle of its sharpened arrows, as in Sir John Harington's

"Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason?
Why, if it prosper, none dare call it treason."
(E. G.)

COUPON (from Fr. _couper_, to cut), a certificate entitling its owner to some payment, share or other benefit; more specifically, one of a series of interest certificates or dividend warrants attached to a bond running for a number of years. The word coupon (a piece cut off) possesses an etymological meaning so comprehensive that, while on the Stock Exchange it is only used to denote such an interest certificate or a certificate of stock of a joint-stock company, it may be as suitably, and elsewhere is perhaps more frequently, applied to tickets sold by tourist agencies and others. The coupons by means of which the interest on a bond or debenture is collected are generally printed at the side or foot of that document, to be cut off and presented for payment at the bank or agency named on them as they become due. The last portion, called a "talon," is a form of certificate, and entitles the holder, when all the coupons have been presented, to obtain a fresh coupon sheet. They pass by delivery, and are as a rule exempt from stamp duty. Coupons for the payment of dividends are also attached to the share warrants to bearer issued by some joint-stock companies. The coupons on the bonds of most of the principal foreign loans are payable in London in sterling as well as abroad.

COURANTE (a French word derived from _courir_, to run), a dance in 3-2 time march in vogue in France in the 17th century (see DANCE). It is also a musical term for a movement or independent piece based on the dance. In a _suite_ it followed the Allemande (q.v.), with which it is contrasted in rhythm.

COURAYER, PIERRE FRANCOIS LE (1681-1776), French Roman Catholic theological writer, was born at Rouen on the 17th of November 1681. While canon regular and librarian of the abbey of St Genevieve at Paris, he conducted a correspondence with Archbishop Wake on the subject of episcopal succession in England, which supplied him with material for his work, _Dissertation sur la validite des ordinations des Anglais et sur la succession des eveques de l'Eglise anglicane, avec les preuves justificatives des faits avances_ (Brussels, 1723; Eng. trans. by D. Williams, London, 1725; reprinted Oxford, 1844, with memoir of the author), an attempt to prove that there has been no break in the line of ordination from the apostles to the English clergy. His opinions exposed him to a prosecution, and with the help of Bishop Atterbury, then in exile in Paris, he took refuge in England, where he was presented by the university of Oxford with a doctor's degree. In 1736 he published a French translation of Paolo Sarpi's _History of the Council of Trent_, and dedicated it to Queen Caroline, from whom he received a pension of L200 a year. Besides this he translated Sleidan's _History of the Reformation_, and wrote several theological works. He died in London on the 17th of October 1776, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey. In his will, dated two years before his death, he declared himself still a member of the Roman Catholic Church, although dissenting from many of its opinions.

COURBET, GUSTAVE (1819-1877), French painter, was born at Ornans (Doubs) on the 10th of June 1819. He went to Paris in 1839, and worked at the studio of Steuben and Hesse; but his independent spirit did not allow him to remain there long, as he preferred to work out his own way by the study of Spanish, Flemish and French painters. His first works, an "Odalisque," suggested by Victor Hugo, and a "Lelia," illustrating George Sand, were literary subjects; but these he soon abandoned for the study of real life. Among other works he painted his own portrait with his dog, and "The Man with a Pipe," both of which were rejected by the jury of the Salon; but the younger school of critics, the neo-romantics and realists, loudly sang the praises of Courbet, who by 1849 began to be famous, producing such pictures as "After Dinner at Ornans" and "The Valley of the Loire." The Salon of 1850 found him triumphant with the "Burial at Ornans," the "Stone-Breakers" and the "Peasants of Flazey." His style still gained in individuality, as in "Village Damsels" (1852), the "Wrestlers," "Bathers," and "A Girl Spinning" (1852). Though Courbet's realistic work is not devoid of importance, it is as a landscape and sea painter that he will be most honoured by posterity. Sometimes, it must be owned, his realism is rather coarse and brutal, but when he paints the forests of Franche-Comte, the "Stag-Fight," "The Wave," or the "Haunt of the Does," he is inimitable. When Courbet had made a name as an artist he grew ambitious of other glory; he tried to promote democratic and social science, and under the Empire he wrote essays and dissertations. His refusal of the cross of the Legion of Honour, offered to him by Napoleon III., made him immensely popular, and in 1871 he was elected, under the Commune, to the chamber. Thus it happened that he was responsible for the destruction of the Vendome column. A council of war, before which he was tried, condemned him to pay the cost of restoring the column, 300,000 francs (L12,000). To escape the necessity of working to the end of his days at the orders of the State in order to pay this sum, Courbet went to Switzerland in 1873, and died at La Tour du Peilz, on the 31st of December 1877, of a disease of the liver aggravated by intemperance. An exhibition of his works was held in 1882 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.

See Champfleury, _Les Grandes Figures d'hier et d'aujourd' hui_
(Paris, 1861); Mantz, "G. Courbet," _Gaz. des beaux-arts_ (Paris,
1878); Zola, _Mes Haines_ (Paris, 1879); C. Lemonnier, _Les Peintres
de la Vie_ (Paris, 1888). (H. FR.)

COURBEVOIE, a town of northern France, in the department of Seine, 5 m. W.N.W. of Paris on the railway to Versailles. Pop. (1906) 29,339. It is a residential suburb of Paris, and has a fine avenue opening on the Neuilly bridge, and forming with it a continuation of the Champs Elysees. It carries on bleaching and the manufacture of carriage bodies, awnings, drugs, biscuits, &c.