Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/432

428 except the quills, streaked centrally with white; chin and upper part of throat whitish. Its flight is short and heavy, from the small concave wings, but it is a very rapid runner even on soft ground. Its note is a kind of cackle. It inhabits Florida and the West Indies. The nest is attached to reeds near the bayous, at a height above all danger from inundation; the eggs are five or six, large for the size of the bird. Its food consists principally of a large green snail which abounds in the everglades of Florida. The flesh of the young is good eating. The South American bird (A. scolopaceus, Vieill.) much resembles the former, but is larger, and the white streaks are mostly confined to the head and neck; the latter is the one figured by Audubon.

 COURLAND (Ger. Kurland), one of the Baltic provinces of Russia, bounded N. by the gulf of Riga and Livonia, E. by the government of Vitepsk, S. by that of Kovno, and W. by the Baltic; area, 10,555 sq. m., pop. in 1867, 597,288. The face of the country is level, but interspersed with some hills, the highest of which has an elevation of 700 ft. The province contains many forests, especially of pine and fir, and there are said to be no fewer than 300 lakes and ponds. Among the larger rivers are the Düna, Aa, and Windau; and there are many small streams and brooks. The soil is not rich, but when properly tilled is productive. The principal products are wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, beans, hemp, flax, and linseed. Clay, iron, lime, and gypsum are found, and are wrought to some extent. The manufactures are unimportant. The province is formed of the old duchies of Courland and Semgallia, united with the ancient bishopric of Pilten and the district of Polangen, which once formed part of the duchy of Lithuania. It is divided into six circles. It has two shipping ports, Libau and Windau. Capital, Mitau. The Protestants number 486,815, and their ecclesiastical affairs are conducted by the consistory of Mitau. There are about 18,000 members of the Greek church and 55,335 Roman Catholics, who together possess but 19 churches, and are subject respectively to the

bishops of Pskov and Samogitia. There are 35,841 Jews, and many Poles, Russians, and residents of various other nationalities, among whom are the Krevins, a race of Finnish descent. The nobility and the city population, and the higher classes generally, are of German descent, numbering about 77,000, while the peasantry and the lower classes are chiefly of Lettish origin. A provincial diet, composed exclusively of nobles, meets annually at Mitau.—Courland, having been together with Livonia Christianized and for centuries ruled by the knights sword-bearers, became a temporal hereditary duchy under Ketteler, the last grand master, about 1560, as a dependency of the Polish crown. Ketteler introduced the reformation. By the marriage in 1710 of Duke Frederick William with the princess Anna Ivanovna of Russia, the influence of that empire became predominant in Courland. It was strengthened in the following year, when after the duke's death Anna was appointed regent, under the protection of Peter the Great. After Anna's accession to the Russian throne in 1730, her uncle Ferdinand officiated as duke of Courland until his death in 1737. Subsequently the duchy was ruled by Anna's favorite, the adventurer Biron, who died in 1772, and bequeathed it to his eldest son Peter. The latter, failing to give satisfaction to the country, was obliged to cede Courland to Catharine II. in 1795. Since that time it has formed part of Russia, though retaining some ancient privileges.  COURT, in law, an institution having a two-fold object, viz.: the conservation of public order by the suppression of violence and crime, and the adjudication of disputes on civil matters between the individuals constituting a community. The first of these is most prominent in a rude state of society, the latter in an advanced stage of civilization. In the earlier and ruder condition, the laws have principal reference to protection from personal violence, and the judicial function is chiefly exercised in rendering speedy justice to the offenders. Another peculiar distinction is also observable in the administration of laws at the different periods above referred to. In the earlier it is vested in the executive, which at that time is usually the sole constituent of the government, and this continues to be the characteristic of every nation whose advance beyond semi-barbarism is arrested, or whenever from a state of partial civilization it returns again to its original rude condition. Such was the primitive administration of laws in the states of Greece; the king or chief of a people was not merely a military leader, but also a judge; and this is now the case in oriental autocracies, with only the modification that where the territorial jurisdiction is large, as in Turkey or Persia, the laws are administered by deputies, but who, in like manner as the sovereign of a small state, each within his respective district, perform the functions of executive and judicial officers. A third circumstance