COUNTERGUARDS COUNTY. 



489 



mans liad officers chosen,, at least in some tribes, 

 by the people. These were a kind of inferior 

 judges. After the Franks became the ruling nation, 

 they made a change in their character. The kings 

 now appointed them, and they exercised jurisdiction 

 over certain districts in the king's name, with the 

 title of Grafen. The word has oeen derived very 

 variously from gratt (gray or venerable), from yoa.$ta, 

 to write (like the Galhco-Latin wordgrqffhre, whence 

 greffier), &c., from gej "era, signifying companion, and 

 corresponding to the Latin comes ; out there is little 

 doubt that it is really from the Saxon gerefa (gather- 

 er, and subsequently judge). These ancient officers 

 are, perhaps, as fairly entitled as the comites to be 

 considered the root of the subsequent counts. The 

 German title Graf corresponds to the title count in 

 other countries of Europe. From the instructions 

 given to these Grafen, which Marcalf has preserved, 

 it is evident that they superintended the administra- 

 tion of justice, the police, and the taxes. After the 

 time of the Carlovingian dynasty, the office and name 

 remained, but different classes of counts or Grafen 

 were formed ; thus pfalzgrafen, or comites Palutii, 

 the judges of the court, who decided whether a case 

 should be brought before the king; Markgrafen, 

 counts of the frontiers ; Holzgrafen, counts of the 

 forests, that is, inspectors, &c. These royal officers 

 soon usurped power which did not belong to 

 them, and treated the people so badly, that the em- 

 perors and kings were obliged to go themselves into 

 the provinces, and hold courts, or to send particular 

 officers for this purpose, called Sendgrafen, The 

 capitularies of Charlemagne contain very precise 

 instructions to these officers, on the subject of then- 

 duties. The sheriffs in England were originally the 

 deputies of the English counts or earls, who corre- 

 spond to the German Grafen. Then- Latin title is 

 still vice-comes. Their English title, derived from 

 shire and gerefa, has the same origin with the Ger- 

 man Graf. (See Sheriff.) In the German empire, 

 the power of the counts increased with the progress 

 of the nation, whilst the imperial government became 

 weaker and weaker. They even began to transmit 

 their titles to their children, as did also the dukes, 

 and other officers, in those times of unpunished usur- 

 pation. In the 12th century, the division of coun- 

 ties, on the continent of Europe, was abolished, and 

 thus the counts lost their jurisdiction, except on their 

 jwn possessions. In point of rank, the English earls 

 are considered as corresponding to the continental 

 counts. (See Earl.) 



COUNTERGUARDS, in fortification, are small 

 ramparts with parapets and ditches, to cover some 

 part of the body of a place. They are of several 

 shapes, and differently situated. They are generally 

 made before the bastion, in order to cover the oppo- 

 site flanks from being seen from the covert-way, and, 

 in this case, consist of two faces, making a salient 

 angle parallel to the faces of the bastion. They are 

 sometimes made before the ravelins. The cost of 

 building them is more tlian proportionate to their 

 value, especially when they are small, and without 

 cannon, in which case, particularly, they are called 

 couvrefaces. 



CONTERMARK, in numismatics (from counter 

 and mark). Antiquaries call by this name those 

 stamps or impressions which are found on ancient 

 coins or medals, and have been given since their first 

 impress in the mint. These countermarks or stamps 

 are often executed without any care, and frequently 

 obliterate the most interesting portion of the original 

 inscription. Thus they correspond with the codices 

 rescripti. In performing this operation, the new 

 mark was stamped upon the coin with a heavy blow 

 of a mallet upon a punch, on which was engraved 



the countermark of a round, oval, or square shape. 

 The use of countermarks appears to have been first 

 adopted by the Greeks, but it is impossible to say at 

 what period of their history. Upon the Greek coins 

 so altered, the countermarks are generally figures, 

 accompanied by inscriptions. Those of Rome seldom 

 contain anything more than inscriptions and mono- 

 grams. There have been various opinions respecting 

 the cause of these countermarks ; some antiquaries 

 thinking that they were to indicate an augmentation ot 

 the value of the money upon which they were stamp- 

 ed ; others, that they were vouchers for workmen ; 

 and, again, that they were only struck upon money 

 taken or received from foreign enemies. Jobert, 

 Millin, De Boze, Bimard, Mabudel, Pelleim, Flore . 

 and other antiquaries, have exercised their conjec- 

 tural skill on this subject. During the long was 

 with revolutionary France, Britain stamped millions 

 of Spanish dollars with small, oval countermarks of 

 the head of George III., upon the neck of the Spanish 

 monarch. Many of them were completely restamped 

 or countermarked in the mint, and both impressions 

 were sometimes visible, the English head and reverse 

 not completely destroying the Spanish head, armorial 

 bearings, and inscriptions. 



COUNTERPOINT signifies, in music, a part or 

 parts added to a given melody. In ancient times, 

 musical sounds were represented by certain letters of 

 the alphabet. A great improvement was made on 

 the old system by the celebrated Guido d'Arezzo, who 

 substituted points or dots in the place of letters. 

 The simple harmony of that period consisted of notes 

 equal in length, and the term contrapunctus or coun- 

 terpoint, which was applied to it in consequence of 

 the points by which it was represented being placed 

 under, or, as it were, against each other, on the staff. 

 By counterpoint, we understand, therefore, the 

 several parts which compose musical harmony ; and 

 the science of counterpoint consists in a knowledge 

 of the rules according to which those parts must be 

 constructed. On this account, the term is frequently 

 used for musical composition in general. When the 

 notes employed are of equal length, the counterpoint 

 is called simple. When notes of various length are 

 used, the counterpoint is said to \xfgurate or florid. 



COUNTERPROOF, in engraving; an impression 

 taken from a newly-printed proof of a copperplate, 

 for the purpose of a closer investigation of the state 

 of the plate, as the proof is, in every respect, the re- 

 verse of the plate, while the counterproof has every- 

 thing the same way. 



COUNTER-REMONSTRANTS (Cantraremon- 

 stranten). (See Remonstrants, and Gomarists, under 

 the article of Reformed Church). 



COUNTERSCARP, in fortification, is properly 

 the slope or talus of the exterior side of a ditch, to- 

 wards the field. The inner slope, on the side to- 

 wards the place, is called escarpe. Sometimes the 

 covert way and glacis are termed counterscarp. 



COUNTY ; originally, the district or territory 

 under the jurisdiction of a count or earl ; now, a 

 circuit, or particular portion of a state or kingdom, 

 separated from the rest of the territory, for certain 

 purposes, in the administration of justice. It is called 

 also a shire. (See Shire.) Each county has its 

 sheriff and its court, with other officers employed in 

 the administration of justice- and the execution of 

 the laws. In England, there are fifty-two counties, 

 and in each is a lord-lieutenant, who has command of 

 the militia. In Scotland there are thirty counties, 

 and in Ireland thirty-two. The several states of 

 A merica are divided by law into counties, in each of 

 which is a county court of inferior jurisdiction ; and, 

 in each, the supreme court of the state holds stated 



