426 COUNT COURBET ruins of the Roman empire. Thus we can easily trace the origin of the modern grand almoner, grand master of ceremonies, grand master of the royal household, grand equerry, &c., in which the word grand is used as a sub- stitute for the ancient comes. Under the Franks counts appear as governors of cities or districts, next in rank to the dukes, command- ing in time of war, and administering justice in time of peace. Charlemagne divided his empire into small districts (pagi, Ger. Gaue), governed by counts, whose duties are minutely described in the capitularies of the monarch. The Frankish counts had also their deputies or vicars (mi#si or vicar ii, whence our viscount or vice-comes). Under the last of the Carlovin- gian kings of France the dignity of the counts became hereditary; they even usurped the sovereignty over their districts, and their en- croachments remained unchecked even after the accession of Hugh Capet, who was himself the son of the count of Paris ; and not for sev- eral centuries did their territories become by degrees reunited with the crown. The Ger- man term for count, Graf (which is variously derived from grau, gray or venerable ; from ypdfaiv, to write, whence the mediaeval Latin word graffare, and the French greffier ; or from the ancient German Gefera, companion, and Gerefa, bailiff or steward, whence the English sheriff), first appears in the Salic law in the form of grqfio. With the development of the feudal system, as well as that of imperial dignitaries in Germany, we find there counts palatine (comes palatii, palatinus, Pfalzgraf), presiding over the supreme tribunal; consta- bles (Ger. Stallgraf} ; marshals (from old Ger. Narah, horse, and Schalk, servant); district counts (Gaugraf) ; counts deputy (Sendgraf), controllers of the preceding ; margraves (Marlc- graf intrusted with the defence of the fron- tiers ; landgraves (Landgraf), counts of large possessions; burggraves (Burggraf), com- manders and afterward owners of a fortified town (Burg), &c. With the decline of the imperial power most of these titles became he- reditary, as well as the estates or territories with which they were connected, the dignity and possessions of the counts ranking next to those of the dukes in the empire. But there were also counts whose title depended solely on their office, as counts of the wood, of the salt, of the water, of mills, &c. The dignity of count is now merely a hereditary title, mostly attached to the possession of certain estates, and bestowed by the monarch, but in- cluding neither sovereignty nor jurisdiction, though connected in some states with the peer- age. In England, where the wife of an earl is .still termed countess, the dignity of count was attached by William the Conqueror to the provinces or counties of the realm, and given in fee to his nobles. The German term has been adopted by several nations of Europe, as for instance by the Poles (lirabia), Russians (grqf and Hungarians (grof). COUHTTERPOINT. See HAEMONY. COUNTY (Fr. comte), in Great Britain and some of the British colonies, and in all the states of the Union except Louisiana, which is still divided into parishes, a political divi- sion nearly corresponding to a province of Prussia or a department of France. It is sy- nonymous with shire, with which designation it is often interchanged in England, but never in Ireland. This division in England, though popularly attributed to Alfred, was probably earlier, since several counties, as Kent, Sussex, and Essex, are nearly identical with ancient Saxon kingdoms. There are 52 counties in England and Wales, 33 in Scotland, and 32 in Ireland. The county is an administrative divi- sion, and its principal officers are a lord lieu- tenant, who has command of the militia; a custos rotulorum, or keeper of the rolls or ar- chives ; a sheriff, a receiver general of taxes, a coroner, justices of the peace, an under-sher- iff, and a clerk of the peace. The assize court, county court, and hundred courts are the chief judicial tribunals. There are in England three counties palatine, Chester, Lancaster, and Dur- ham, the earl of each of which had all th jura regalia, or rights of sovereignty, in his shire. The first two of these have been long annexed to the crown, and Durham, previously governed by its bishop, was annexed in 1836. In the United States, there are in each county officers who superintend its financial affairs, a county court of inferior jurisdiction, and stated sessions of the supreme court of the state. COURAYER, Pierre Francois le, a Roman Cath- olic ecclesiastic, born at Rouen, Normandy, in 1681, died in England in 1776. He had taken refuge in England (1728) in consequence of a " Defence of English Ordinations," which he had published (1723) as a result of the convic- tions to which he was brought by a corre- spondence with Archbishop Wake. The cor- respondence took place while Courayer was canon of St. Genevieve, and professor of the- ology and philosophy. The university of Ox- ford conferred on him the title of doctor of laws, and Queen Caroline settled a pension of 200 on him for a French translation of Fra Paolo's " History of the Council of Trent." He also translated Sleidan's " History of the Reformation," and wrote several theological works. He entertained many religious opin- ions contrary to the doctrines and practices of the church of Rome, but declared himself two years before his death still a Catholic. He was buried in Westminster abbey. COURBET, Gnstave, a French painter, born in Ornans, June 10, 1819. Going in 1839 to Paris to study law, he developed a decided talent for painting. He received some lessons from Steuben and Hesse, but worked chiefly by himself, and studied the works of the Flor- entine, Venetian, and Flemish masters. For years he met with little favor, his pictures not being admitted into the exhibition; but after the revolution of 1848 he contributed ten
