488 



COUNCIL COUNT. 



tonnes. In Spain, when the constitution of the cor- 

 tes was in force, a constitutional council of state ex- 

 isted. In Prussia, an assembly composed of the 

 highest civil and military officers, with the princes, 

 is called Staatsrath (council of state), but of cmir-f, 

 no power is vested in that body. They give their 

 opinion on questions laid before them by the king. 

 The prince royal is its president. In some of the 

 United States of America there are councils, which 

 the governors are obliged to consult upon executive 

 business, and which have a negative upon their ap- 

 pointments to office. 



COUNCIL, PRIVY, in England, is the principal 

 council belonging to the king. In 1679 the number 

 of members, having become inconveniently large, was 

 limited to 30. It is now, however, again, indefinite, 

 but only such members attend as are summoned on 

 each particular occasion. The lord president of the 

 council is the fourth great officer of state. He is ap- 

 pointed by letters patent under the great seal, during 

 pleasure. Privy councillors are nominated by the 

 king, without patent or grant, and removable at his 

 pleasure. The power of the privy council, in offen- 

 ces against the government, extends only to inquiry, 

 and their committal is not privileged beyond that of 

 an ordinary justice of the peace. But in plantation 

 or admiralty causes, in disputes of colonies concern- 

 ing their charters, and in some other cases, an ap- 

 peal lies to the king in council. The privy council 

 continues for six months after the accession of a new 

 prince, unless he previously dissolve it. Proclama- 

 tions, which, if consonant to the law of the land, are 

 binding on the subject, are issued with the advice of 

 this council. 



COUNCIL AND SESSION, LORDS OF; the su- 

 preme judges of the highest court of Scotland. See 

 Scotland. 



COUNCIL BLUFFS ; a military post belonging 

 to the United States of America on the west bank of 

 the Missouri, about 50 miles above the junction of 

 the La Platte, and 650 above the junction of the 

 Missouri with the Mississippi. Lon. 96 42* W. ; 

 lat. 41 31' N. It is an important station, the high- 

 est up the Missouri, that is occupied by the United 

 States as a military position. Before the United 

 States occupied this post, the Ottoes alid Missouris 

 held a council there, Aug. 3, 1814, which gave rise 

 to the name. Bluff was originally a sea term mean- 

 ing high land. See Pickering's Vocabulary of Ameri- 

 canisms. 



COUNSEL ; those who give counsel in law; any 

 counsellor or advocate, or any number of counsellors, 

 Ixirristers or sergeants, as the plaintiff's counsel, or 

 the defendant's counsel. In this sense, the word has 

 no plural, but it is applicable, in the singular num- 

 ber, to one or more persons. 



COUNSELLOR, in law, is one whose profession 

 is to give advice in questions of law, and to manage 

 causes for clients. See Advocate. 



Counsellor (in German, Rath). In Germany, the 

 mania for titles is carried to a greater degree 

 than in any other country in Europe. Almost every 

 man is desirous of possessing one, and the title of 

 even the lowest officer is reverently repeated, with a 

 preceding Mr, as often as the individual is address- 

 ed by persons of equal or lower rank ; for instance, 

 we have Mr Lieutennnt, nay, sometimes, Mr Tax- 

 gatherer, and even Mrs Taxgatheress (Frau Steuer- 

 einnehmerin). The title Rath (counsellor), in par- 

 ticular, has been distributed with a most ridiculous 

 profusion. In all branches of government, you meet 

 counsellors in abundance. Every one is a counsel- 

 lor who has passed through certain preparatory de- 

 grees, particularly in Prussia. In fact, the term, in 

 Prussia, is as common as mandarin in China. The 



judges are not judges, but court counsellor!, which 

 title, for the sake ot precision, is amplified to country, 

 or city, or high-country-court counsellor (Oberlandes- 

 gerichtsrath. There are also Finanz- Raethe, Medizinat 

 Raethe, Regierungs- Raethe, &c. ; and, in all branch- 

 es, Geheiiur liuctlic, &s,Geheime-Mediziiinl liurthe, &C. 

 Moreover, as it always happens, tliat honours and 

 titles gradually decline in value, new ones must be 

 invented : thus, in Prussia, the title Gehcime Raethe 

 being given to persons who have nothing to do with 

 the private deliberations of the government, it lias 

 been deemed necessary to give to the actual counsel- 

 lors a new and distinguishing title : they are called 

 real-privy-counsellors. And you find, therefore, in 

 Prussia IVirklichc-Gehevme-Qber-Vinnnz-Raetlie (real- 

 privy-high-finance-counsellors) ! and so in all branch- 

 es. And who are these real privy-high-&c.'s? You 

 would think they were at least several degrees higher 

 than the privy counsellors of Britain. They are, 

 in fact, however, mere assistants of the minister. Be- 

 sides this host of Raethe, who have actually official du- 

 ties to discharge, there is another swarm, equally nu- 

 merous, of people whose title of counsellor is a mere 

 title of honour, like the Chinese peacock's feather. 

 The title most generally bestowed in this way is Ho- 

 frath (counsellor of the court). Hofraethe andGeheime- 

 Hofraethe are so common in Germany, that a traveller 

 observes, if you spit out of the window on a crowd, 

 it is ten to one that you hit a Hofrath. 1'here are 

 also Bau Raethe (building-counsellors), Steuer Raethe 

 (tax-counsellors), Universitaets- Raethe Commerzien- 

 Raethe and again the same titles, with the honorary 

 term Geheime (privy) prefixed, asGehehne-Bau-Raethe, 

 &c. The title of Kriegs-Rath (counsellor of war) is 

 often given to men who have nothing military in their 

 occupation or habits. The old proverb says, Sat ver- 

 bum sapienti, but here we are tempted to exclaim, 

 Sat verbum stulto. 



COUNT, COUNTEE, or COUNTY (from the 

 Latin comes), appears to have been first used, as a 

 title of dignity, under the reign of Constantine. Dur- 

 ing the existence of the republic, the inferior officers, 

 as tribuni, prcefecti, scribce, medici, hantspices, ac- 

 censi, prcecones, who accompanied iheproconsules and 

 proprcetores into their provincial governments, were 

 known as the comites or cohors of their provincial. 

 (Cic. pro. Rab. Post. 6.) On the establishment of 

 the imperial government, the name was applied to the 

 court and household of the prince ; and Dio (53) 

 mentions a council of senators, selected by Augustus, 

 as his comites. (Salmas. ad Sueton. Tib. 40.) On the 

 first distribution of his dominions, and the foundation 

 of the new capital by Constantine, 10 out of 35 pro- 

 vincial generals received the title of comes. The civil 

 officers, likewise, who were honoured with this dis- 

 tinction, gradually became very numerous, and lists 

 of them may be found in the Cod. Theod. vi. 12 20, 

 in the Notitia Jmper., and in the glossaries of Spel 

 man and Du Cange. After the fall of the Roman 

 power, the title was retained by the conquerors ; 

 and, under Charlemagne, it denoted equally a mili- 

 tary or civil employment. About the end of the 

 15th century, in Germany, and under the last prin- 

 ces of the Merovingian race in France, the title 

 appears to have become hereditary in families, from 

 the weakness of the crown, which was unable to 

 recall the dignity that it had once bestowed. 

 Selden, in his Titles of Honour, treats the origin 

 and progress of the title at much length, and with 

 his usual learning. Such is the account usually 

 given of the origin of the counts of modern times. 

 The institutions of the ancient German tribes may, 

 however, have contributed much to the establish- 

 ment of this class of nobles. In early times, 

 I efore the existence of the Latin comites, the Ger- 



