of Columbia; 7, the territorial courts. The supreme court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices, appointed by the president with the consent of the senate, and has original jurisdiction of all suits affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those to which a state is a party; also appellate jurisdiction over the circuit and territorial courts, and the court of claims, but limited generally to cases involving not less than $1,000 to $3,000 in value; and over the state courts where a question has arisen under the constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, which the highest court of the state has decided adversely to the validity of any such statute or treaty, or to any authority exercised or asserted under the same or under the constitution, or where a state law or authority has been sustained against an objection that it was repugnant to the constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. The circuit courts exercise original jurisdiction, concurrently with the state courts, of all civil suits where the matter in dispute exceeds $500, and the United States is plaintiff, or an alien is a party, or where the suit is between a citizen of a state in which the suit is brought and a citizen of another state. They have exclusive jurisdiction of crimes against the United States, except where otherwise specially provided, and concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts of crimes cognizable therein. They may restrain the infringement of patents, and try suits for such infringement; and they have appellate jurisdiction over the district courts where the amount in controversy exceeds $50. There are nine circuits, in each of which is a circuit judge, with whom a justice of the supreme court may sit, and also the district judge for the district; or any one of the three may hold the court alone. The district courts have jurisdiction of such crimes, not capital, as the United States can take cognizance of, and they are also the admiralty and bankruptcy courts. They have also jurisdiction of certain cases of torts where an alien sues, and where the United States or an officer thereof or a foreign consul is a party. The court is held by a district judge. Every state is a district, but some are divided into two or more. The supreme court of the District of Columbia has a jurisdiction corresponding to that of the state courts, and also that of the federal district courts. The court of claims consists of five judges, and has authority to hear and determine all claims against the United States founded upon any law of congress or regulation of the executive department, or upon any contract express or implied with the government, and all claims which may be referred to it by congress; also all set-offs, counter claims, claims for damages, or other demands whatsoever, on the part of the government against any person making claim against the government in that court. The territorial courts possess the powers specially conferred upon them by the acts providing for their creation. Their judges hold office at the will of the president, while other federal judges hold during good behavior.
COURT DE GÉBELIN, Antoine, a French
author, born in Nîmes in 1725, died in Paris, May
10, 1784. He was the son of Antoine Court,
and early in life officiated for a short time as a
Protestant preacher. Subsequently he devoted
himself to the study of ancient mythology, in
which, as in many other branches of knowledge,
he was deeply learned. He established
himself in Paris in 1763, and between 1775 and
1784 published his great work entitled Le
monde primitif (9 vols.), in which he traces
the history of the moral and intellectual world.
The work was the fruit of 20 years' severe
labor, and was to have embraced several
additional volumes, the preparation of which was
prevented by the author's death. The most
valuable part of it, L'histoire naturelle de la
parole, was republished separately in 1816.
He sympathized deeply with the American
struggle for independence, and in 1776
coöpeerated with Franklin and others in the
publication of a work advocating the American
cause, entitled Affaires de l'Angleterre et de
l'Amérique. He early established in Paris a
bureau for the collection and dissemination of
facts and arguments in favor of Protestantism
and liberty of conscience; and in later life he
became president of a literary business
association which involved him in financial ruin.
He was the author of a defence of animal
magnetism, and of a variety of works, historical,
philosophical, and political.
COURTEN. I. William, an English manufacturer and merchant, born in London about 1570, died there in May, 1636. His father had been a tailor at Menin in the Netherlands, and in 1568 fled to London from the persecution of the duke of Alva. He manufactured French hoods, then much in fashion. In 1606 William entered into partnership with his brother Peter, and greatly enlarged the business. They built more than 20 ships, and employed fully 1,000 sailors. Their income reached £150,000, and they lent £200,000 to James I. and Charles I. They were both knighted in 1631. In 1627 William obtained letters patent for a colony on the island of Barbadoes; but this possession was subsequently wrested from him by Lord Carlisle. After this loss, the Dutch murdered his agents at Amboyna, and destroyed all his property there. Engaging in the Chinese trade, the loss of two richly laden ships completed his disasters, reducing him to poverty a short time before his death. II. William, last male descendant of the Courten family of merchants, born in London in 1642, died at Kensington Gravelpits in 1702. Educated by his wealthy relatives, he began early to travel and to display a love of natural history. He resided and studied at Montpellier, and when of age returned to England to claim the shattered fortune of his family. After a long lawsuit he changed his name for that of William Charle-
