Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/583

* COUNTY COURT. 499 COUPLET. tribunal of appeal fiom the judgments, of the cuunty tourt, but after the Coniiuesl the superior autliurity of the new national tribunal, the Ciiriii Jirgis, or King's Court, drew to it appeals from the eounty courts. The rapid growtli in jjower and importance of tlte King's courts, espe- cially of the so-called common-law courts — the King's Bench and Common Pleas — tended to re- duce the authority of the more ancient tribunals, and their jurisdiction was impaired by succes- sive acts oif Parliament. They still exist, how- ever, with a limited but still considerable au- thority, which has been expressly defined by re- cent statutes. See County Courts Act, 1888 (51 and 52 Vict. c. 43). For the modern organization of county courts in England and the United States, see the article Court. See also CtiiiA Regis : Sheriff. Con- sult Encyclopedia of the Laics of England (Lon- don, 1897), title "Count.y Courts" (vol. iii., 527); also the authorities referred to under Court, and Raikes, Admiralti/ Jurisdiction and Practice in Countt/ Courts (London, 1896). COUP, koo ( Fr., stroke ). A word often used in a figurative sense. Coup d'etat, "stroke of State,' means an arbitrary encroacliment suddenly ef- fected by the governing authorities upon the constitution of the State, altering or setting aside the prerogatives of other parts of the body politic. The coup d'etat Avhich is usually under- stood by this term is that effected by Louis Napoleon when he dispersed the legislative body, imprisoned the Republican leaders, and made himself practicallj' dictator (December 2, 1S51). €oup de main, a 'stroke of the hand,' is applied, in the language of war, to a sudden and successful attack. Coup de foudre, a thun- derbolt; applied figuratively to any astonishing occurrence. Coup d'ccil, 'a stroke (or glance) of the eye,' is applied in speaking of persons who have the faculty of comprehending all the relations of a complicated matter at one survey; or, in art, it expresses the general effect of a picture or group at first sight. Coup de theiiire means properly a trick of the stage to produce a shock hy surprise, and is hence applied to any analogous dramatic effect. COUPE, koC'pn' (Fr.. literally, section, cut, from coupcr, to cut). A four-wheeled, one-horse, closed carriage, holding two persons, with sepa- rate seat for the driver. (See Carriage.) The name is also given to a compartment of a rail- way carriage in Continental Europe. COUPED, koopt (Hybrid Engl., p.p. of Fr. couper, to cut). In heraldry, a term used to describe the head or any limb of an animal cut off smoothly from the trunk. It is distinguished from erased — i.e. forcibly torn off. and therefore ragged and uneven. A distinction is also made between eoupcd and coupcd close, the latter sig- nifying that the head or limb is cut off close, leaving no part of the neck or trunk attached to it. ^Yhen crosses, bars, bends, and the like are cut so as not to toich the sides of the escutcheon, they are also said to be couped. COUPE'RIN, koo'p'-rfix', Francois (1668- 173.'?). A French organist of high repute. He was probably the greatest of a family of great musicians which began with his grandfather. Armand Louis (1600-05), and continued through several generations of liisv own descendants. He was born in Paris, and comparatively early in life earned for himself the title of Ic Grand. He is historically imi)ortant cliiefly because he was one of the first great composers for the liarpsi- chord known to musical history. He is consid- ered to lune influenced materially the work of Scarlatti, Handel, and Bach, and is by many musical liistorians regarded as the actual pioneer of modern music. Ho died in Paris, having at- tained great popularity as a composer, and liigli distinction as the clavierist of the King's cliani- ber and organist of the Chapel Royal. He left several important compositions and writings, among them four Lirres de pieces de clavecin (Paris, 1713, 1716, 1722, and 1730 respectively). COUPERUS, kno-p;Vrus, LouLS (1863—). A Dutch autlior, born at The Hague. He attracted attention by his collection of poems, Bos Lent t^an Vaerzen (A' Springtide of 'Verse) (1884), followed bj' a second entitled Orc/iirfeoi (Orchids) (1887). Subsequently he turned to fiction, his best work in which is Majesteit (Majesty) (1893; a (tcr- man translation by Rache, 1895). He is ranked among the most important of recent Dutch writers. COUPLE (OF. cuple, coplc, Fr. couple, Sp. copula, from Lat. coptila, bond, from co-, together -f- apere, Gk. dirreiv. haptein, to join). A couple is the name given in statics to a pair of equal parallel forces acting in opposite directions and at different points of a body. It is shown in the article JIeciiaxics (q.v.) that when two paral- lel forces act in opposite directions on a body, they may be replaced by one equal to their dif- ference, acting parallel to them and in the same plane with them, the point of application of this resultant being hcijond the points where they are applied. This point recedes farther from the points of application of the original forces the nearer they approach equality, getting to an infinite distance when they become equal, and when their resultant accordingly is zero. In tiiis limiting case, the forces constitute a couple. They have no tendency to translate the body; their action goes wholly to make it rotate about an axis passing through its centre of inertia, and perpendicular to the plane in which the couple acts. Such being the case, a couple cannot be replaced or counteracted by any single force, for such a force wouhl produce translation; it can only be replaced or balanced by other cou- ples. The length of the straight line which meets the lines of action of the forces at right angles is called the 'arm' of the couple, and the product of the arm and either force is called the "strength' or the 'moment' of the couple. It is evident that a couple can be replaced by one of equal strength. For a complete discussion of the composition and resolutions of couples, reference should be made to some treatise on statics, such as Routh, Treatise on Anali/tical Statics (Cambridge. Eng., 1S92) : or Minehin, Statics (New York, 1892). See JIechanics. COUPLET (Fr., dim. of couple, pair, from Lat. copula, bond). Any two lines which rhyme together. The term is, however, more frequently used by critics to denote two lines which con- tain the complete expression of an idea, and are, tlu'refore, to a certain extent independent of wliat goes before or what follows. The poetic wits of the age of Queen Anne excelled in this