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liberal party. In 1818 he became home minister, and in Nov. 1819, premier. The opposition of the royalist party broke out with renewed virulence on occasion of the assassination of the duke de Berry, in 1820, when a deputy charged him openly with being an accomplice of the murderer; and Châteaubriand, then an ultra royalist, wrote in the Conservateur: "His foot slipped in the blood." He then resigned, when Louis XVIII. made him a duke, and his ambassador to England, where he remained till Dec. 1821. Under the reign of Charles X. he opposed the extreme measures of the government, and after the revolution of 1830, adhered to Louis Philippe. In 1834 he was appointed grand referendary of the chamber of peers. Of late years he has devoted his activity to the superintendence of large iron works at Decazeville in Aveyron. On his marriage in 1818 with his second wife, Mlle. de Saint-Aulaire, a relative of the late duke of Holstein-Glücksburg, the title of duke of Glücksburg was conferred on him by Frederic VI. of Denmark.-His eldest son by his second wife, LOUIS CHARLES ÉLIE AMANIEU, marquis Decazes, duke of Glücksburg, born May 9, 1819, officiated previous to the revolution of 1848 as French ambassador in Spain and Portugal.

DECCAN, a country of British India, lying between the Nerbudda and Kistnah rivers. Under the Moguls the country N. of the Vindhya mountains was called Hindostan, and that lying to the S. the Deccan. Assigning it the less extended signification, it comprises nearly the whole of the Bombay presidency except Sinde; Nagpoor, Berar, Sumbulpoor, Cuttack, and part of the Saugur and Nerbudda territories, in the Bengal presidency; the Northern Circars, Guntoor excepted, in the Madras presidency; and the dominions of the Nizam, parts of those of Sindia and Holkar, and several petty native states, toward the N. E. The general aspect of this immense territory is an elevated table-land of triangular shape, supported by the mountain walls of the Ghauts on the E. and W., and by the Vindhya range on the N. The dip of the country is toward the E., all the rivers of magnitude flowing eastward to the bay of Bengal. The principal of these rivers are the Godavery, flowing E. with a course of 850 m., and the Mahanuddy, 650 m. The seaward declivity of this table-land, facing the bay of Bengal, consists of a series of terraced steeps, abrupt but not precipitous. The interior table-land mostly consists of rolling prairie. A variety of races, numbering perhaps 50,000,000 souls, differing in manners and customs, inhabit this territory. The remote history of the Deccan is lost in obscurity. An ancient division of the country into 5 kingdoms is indicated by its 5 languages. The first irruption of Mohammedans from the north took place in 1294, under Aladdin, afterward king of Delhi. He was followed by Mohammed Togluck, who, in 1325, completed the subjugation of the country. Revolts followed, and wars for 300 years, ending in distribution and re-distribution of the territory, until in 1686 it passed

under the sway of the Mogul emperor Aurungzebe. After Aurungzebe's death it fell piecemeal into the hands of the Mahrattas, and was subsequently broken up into the feudal sovereignties which yet exist in name. About the middle of the last century British influence became predominant, and by conquest and annexation, especially since 1818, the greater part of the Deccan has been absorbed into the British Indian empire, and was little disturbed by the recent insurrection.

DECEMBER, the 12th month of the year, from the Latin decem, 10. The Roman year began with March, so that September was the 7th and December the 10th month.

DECEMVIRI (ten men), the name of the members of several Roman magistracies, distinguished by an additional denomination. The decemviri legibus scribendis (appointed to digest a written code of laws) were first elected in the year 451 B. C., during the long dissensions between the two orders after the establishment of the tribunate. The tribune Terentius (or Terentillus) Arsa, after a violent exhibition of the grievances of the plebeians, and the usurpations of the patricians, proposed (460) the appointment of 10 commissioners to digest a regular body of laws which should secure the rights of all, and be binding alike on consuls, senators, patricians, and plebs. This was accomplished after 9 years of continued disputes and struggles. An embassy, it is said, was sent to Greece to obtain information concerning the laws of the different states, and particularly concerning those of Solon; and after their return 10 distinguished patricians were appointed for a year, with supreme power, to frame the new laws. They commenced and continued their work with zeal and accuracy, and exercised their power with justice, impartiality, and moderation, each presiding by turns, day by day, and he only using the fasces. The new laws, engraved on 10 tables of brass, were placed in the forum and sanctioned by general acclamation, as well as by the sacred rites of the augurs. But the addition of two new tables being required, a new decemvirate was elected for the next year, in which the ambitious patrician Appius Claudius managed to be reëlected, and to introduce a few plebeian members. He thus became the favorite of the people, while aiming to become their master. The laws were completed, and afterward known under the name of "Laws of the XII. Tables," and were admired for their wisdom, which, according to Cicero, surpassed that of all the books of philosophy. But now the decemvirs changed their conduct, exercised their power over all classes of the people with oppressive rigor, and continued in office illegally after the expiration of their term, maintaining themselves by terror. Their oppression was endured for some time without resistance, until the attempted rape of Virginia by Appius Claudius, under the guise of a public judgment, and the blood of the virgin shed by her own father to save her honor, roused the public indigna

tion to an outbreak, which overthrew the decemvirate, and caused its abolition.-The decemvirilitibus (or more anciently slitibus) judicandis formed a judicial magistracy, which replaced the former authority of the pontifices in matters relating to persons and taxable property, and had the management of the subhastationes; under the emperors they were the presidents of the centumviral court.—The decemviri sacris faciundis (or more briefly sacrorum) formed a priestly college for the interpretation of the Sibylline books (established 368 B. C., instead of the ancient patrician duumviri); they were chosen for life, partly from the patrician, partly from the plebeian order, and had the management of the Apollinian and secular games. At a later period their number was increased, probably by Sylla, to 15.

ĎECHAMPS, ADOLPHE, a Belgian journalist and statesman, born at Melle, June 17, 1807. Early in life a disciple of Lamennais, he subsequently became an orthodox Roman Catholic. From 1843 to 1845 he was minister of public works, and from 1845 until Aug. 1847, when the triumph of the liberal party led to his secession, minister of foreign affairs. From 1837 to 1851 he conducted the Catholic Revue de Bruxelles, founded by himself and Dedecker. He is an able administrator and an influential parliamentary speaker.

DE CHARMS, RICHARD, an American clergyman and author, born in Philadelphia, Oct. 17, 1796. His ancestors on the male side were Huguenots, who took refuge in England upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes. In 1793 his father, a physician by profession, emigrated to America, and died of the yellow fever a few weeks before the birth of his son. The latter, when 14 years of age, supported his mother and himself by working in a printing office, until ill health compelled him to desist. Subsequently he found the means to enter Yale college, at which he was graduated in 1826, and at the suggestion of a female friend, to whom he was indebted for his education, commenced the study of theology in London, with a view of fitting himself for the ministry of the church of the New Jerusalem. During the 2 years he remained in England he supported himself by his labor as a journeyman printer. He has been settled at Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and has published several collections of sermons and lectures on the fundamental doctrines of Swedenborg. To the periodical literature of his church he has also rendered valuable service in the establishment of the "New Jerusalem Magazine" in Boston, the first 3 numbers of which were printed by his own hands, and by editing the "Precursor" and "New Churchman." His chief work is the "New Churchman Extra" (1 vol. 8vo.), which is devoted to polemics and church history. DECIDUOUS (Lat. deciduus, from decido, to fall), in botany, a term applied to such plants as drop their leaves at periodical seasons. In the temperate and northern latitudes this occurs for the most part on the approach of win

ter, or in early autumn. There are, however, marked exceptions; many kinds of oak retain their dry foliage until the next spring, in which case the leaves are called persistent.

DECIGRAMME. See GRAMME.

DECIMAL, a calculation proceeding in a geometrical progression whose ratio is 10; that is, by tens, hundreds, &c., or by tenths, hundredths, and so on. Decimal arithmetic is the system in common use, in which the value of a figure increases tenfold with every remove to the left, and decreases a tenth by every remove to the right, the point between the units and tenths being designated by a period. Decimal division was doubtless suggested by the fingers of the hand, and therefore may be called natural; but other systems, as the binary and duodecimal, possess certain advantages over it. long, however, as arithmetic uses a decimal ratio, it will be most convenient, for all purposes of calculation, to have money, weights, and measures divided decimally, as was done under the French republic.

So

DECIMATION, a Roman military punishment which was inflicted when the entire body of criminals was too large for condemnation. The names of the guilty were put into an urn or helmet, and as many having been drawn out as amounted to of the entire number, these were punished.-Blücher decimated a corps of Saxon mutineers just before the battle of Waterloo.

DECIUS, CAIUS MESSIUS QUINTUS TRAJANUS, emperor of Rome from 249 to 251, born in Pannonia, was the successor of Philip. When the legions of Moesia revolted against that emperor, Decius, who had spoken in the senate against submissive measures, was sent to bring them back to their allegiance. But the revolted army compelled him, under threats of death, to assume himself the purple, and to march at their head against Philip. While so doing he is said to have still secretly assured his former master of his fidelity, and promised submission as soon as he should reach Italy. Philip hastened to meet him in the field, but lost the battle of Verona and his life. The short reign of Decius is remarkable for a severe persecution of the Christians, an attempt to restore the ancient independent censorship, and with it the former virtuous manners and habits of the republic, and for the first invasion of the Goths from the neighborhood of the Black sea. To defend the northern provinces of the empire against this people, Decius hastened to the Danube, but fell with his son in battle.

DECIUS MUS, PUBLIUS, the name of 3 celebrated Roman plebeian consuls, father, son, and grandson. The first distinguished himself, in the year 343 B. C., in the war against the Samnites, and commanded, in 340, with his colleague Titus Manlius Torquatus, against the Latins, who at that time were trying to shake off the yoke of the Romans. Before a decisive battle, it is said, both consuls had a vision informing them that the infernal gods required one of the contending armies and the opposing commander to be

devoted to them. The consuls agreed between themselves that he whose wing should first waver should devote himself and his enemies to death. The wing of Decius gave way; he immediately caused the pontifex maximus to perform the consecrating rites, wrapped himself closely in his robe, spurred his horse into the thickest of the enemy, and perished. His legions, sure of success, rushed on anew and were victorious. His son imitated this act of selfsacrifice in the battle of Sentinum (295), where he was opposed to the Gauls. Similar patriotism is attributed to the grandson in the war against Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, which, however, he survived.

DECIZE (anc. Decetia), a French town, arrondissement of Nevers, department of Nièvre, pop. 4,000, built on an island in the Loire, at the junction of the Aron with that river and at the head of the Nivernais canal, connected with one bank of the Loire by a suspension, and with the other by an immense stone bridge. On a rock which forms the highest point of the island stands an old castle formerly belonging to the dukes of Nevers, and used since 1849 as a hospital. In the same year a monument was dedicated here to Guy-Coquille, the famous jurist of the 16th century. The country around Decize contains some of the richest coal mines in France, and the town has large iron works and an extensive manufactory of bottles. The navigation through the canal of Decize, which is a branch of the lateral canal of the Loire, amounted in 1852 to 61,356 tons.

DECKER, or DEKKER, JEREMIAS DE, a Dutch poet, born at Dort about 1610, died in Amsterdam in Nov. 1666. His writings consist of a paraphrase of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, translations and imitations of classic poets, and a great number of epigrams. The most celebrated of his poems, the "Praise of Avarice" (Lof der Geldzucht), has earned for itself a place beside the Moria Encomium of Erasmus. A first edition of these appeared in Amsterdam in 1656, another edition with additions in 1702, and a complete collection of his poetry in 1726. Selections of his epigrams are contained in Geysbeck's Epigrammatische Anthologie (1821), and of his poetry in Siegenbeck's Proeven van Nederduitsche Dichtkunde (1823).

DECKER, THOMAS, an English dramatic author, of the reign of James I., supposed to have died about 1638. He is now chiefly remembered by his quarrel with Ben Jonson, who, representing himself as Horace, satirized him as Crispinus in the "Poetaster," to which Decker replied by attacking Jonson in his "Satyromastix" under the name of "Young Horace." Decker wrote plays in conjunction with Massinger, Webster, and Ford, and was the sole author of several plays of considerable merit. Hazlitt remarks of one of them that it unites "the simplicity of prose with the graces of poetry." He wrote also many small works of a humorous cast, in the most important of which, "Gull's Hornbook" (London, 1609; a new edition by Dr.

Nott, 4to., 1812), he ridicules the follies of London fashionable life.

DECLINATION of a heavenly body corresponds to latitude upon the earth; that is to say, it is the angle which a line drawn from the centre of the earth to the heavenly body makes with the plane of the equator. On June 20, the sun's declination is about 23° 28' N.; Dec. 20, 23° 28' S.; and March and Sept. 20, 0° 0'.

DECRESCENDO, in music, a direction to the performer to decrease the volume of sound from loud to soft. It is marked thus >:

DECRETALS, letters sent by the pope to bishops or churches for the regulation of ecclesiastical affairs. They form an important part of canon law, and enter largely into the collections of decrees bearing on that branch of legislation. The earliest known decretals are those of Pope Siricius, and the most ancient regular collection of them is found in the famous work of Dionysius Exiguus, who wrote in the 6th century. In a synod held at Rome in 494 decretals were pronounced of equal authority with the decrees of councils. (See CANON LAW.)

DECURIONES, magistrates in the provincial municipia of the Roman state, corresponding to the senate at Rome. In the later times of the republic, the state was distinguished into two distinct parts, Italy and the provinces. Italy consisted, so to say, of a multitude of republics, whose citizens finally became members of the sovereign people, maintaining the internal administration of their own affairs. This municipal constitution was of great importance in the development of Italy. Originally the popular assemblies had the sovereign power in the municipia, and conferred the executive authority upon the decuriones. They consisted at first of 10 men, but in later times they frequently numbered more, and sometimes even amounted to 100. Each curia decurionum was presided over by 2 members who were called duumviri, and whose powers within their municipium resembled those of the Roman consuls during peace. Under the republic the whole administration of the internal affairs of their respective cities was in the hands of the decuriones, but after the establishment of the empire they exercised nearly all the circumscribed rights of the communities, though finally they were little more than receivers of taxes. decuriones were created by election, and each decurio was required to be at least 25 years old, and to possess a certain annual income. Their election took place on the kalends of March.

The

DEDECKER, PIERRE JACQUES FRANÇOIS, a Belgian statesman, born at Zele, in East Flanders, Jan. 25, 1812. In 1837 he established, in concert with Dechamps, the Catholic Revue de Bruxelles, which was continued until 1851. Since 1839 he has been a member of the chamber of representatives, in which he is one of the leaders of the Catholic party. With his friend Count Vilain he formed the ministry of March 30, 1855, in which he took for himself the department of the interior. When the

parliamentary debates on a new charity law called forth an uncommon political excitement, he tendered his resignation, with all his colleagues, Oct. 31, 1857. This step was severely censured by a large portion of his own party, but he was reelected to the new chamber. He has written numerous works, among which are Religion et amour (1835 et seq.); Du pétitionnement en faveur de la langue Flamande (1840); De l'influence du clergé en Belgique (1843); and De l'influence du libre arbitre de l'homme sur les faits sociaux (1848).

DEDHAM, a township and the capital of Norfolk co., Mass., on Charles river, 10 m. S. W. from Boston; pop. in 1855, 5,633. It is connected with Boston by a branch of the Boston and Providence railroad, and is a favorite residence for persons doing business in that city. The court house is a handsome granite building, having a Doric portico on each front. The gaol is of hewn stone and well arranged. A canal 3 m. long, excavated in 1639 from Charles to Neponset river, gives a good supply of water power, which is used chiefly for cotton and woollen mills. Of the former there are 2, with a capital of $68,000, and of the latter there is 1, with a capital of $200,000. There are 2 furnaces, 1 machine shop, 1 soap and candle factory, 1 sugar refinery, 1 card factory, 2 tanneries, gas works, 1 bank, a savings bank, 1 newspaper office, a high school, 9 grammar schools, a library organized in 1855, 2 fire insurance companies, and 10 churches, viz.: 1 Episcopal, 2 Congregational, 2 Unitarian, 2 Baptist, 1 Methodist, 1 Universalist, and 1 Catholic. DEE, the name of several rivers. I. A river of N. Wales, rising among the mountains of Merionethshire, in a small lake called Bala or Llyn Tegid, flowing N. E. through the vale of Llangollen, and forming part of the boundary between Cheshire and Denbighshire. At Aldford it enters Cheshire, and passes on to Chester, which it nearly encompasses, and where it has a width of 300 feet. Thence it is conveyed in an artificial channel along the marshes, a distance of 9 m., and finally empties into the Irish sea, through an estuary 14 m. long and from 2 to 6 m. broad. Its length, exclusive of the estuary, is about 80 m. It is much obstructed by sand banks at its mouth, and is not naturally navigable, but has been improved to admit of the passage of small vessels to a point 2 or 3 m. above Chester. Near Trevor it is spanned by an aqueduct 1,007 feet long, 120 feet above the water, and supported by 18 stone piers, which carries the Ellesmere canal across the vale of Llangollen; and at a short distance from this structure is another of still greater size and beauty, on which the Shrewsbury and Chester railway crosses the Dee at a height of 150 feet above its surface. This viaduct has 19 arches of 90 feet span, is 1,530 feet long, and is built almost wholly of stone. II. A river of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, rising in the Cairngorm mountains, flowing E. about 96 m., and entering the North sea at Aberdeen. It has

valuable salmon fisheries, which have lately yielded $40,000 a year. III. A river of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, with valuable salmon fisheries. It enters Solway frith after a course of about 50 m. IV. A river of Ireland, counties of Meath and Louth, 21 m. long, flowing into Dundalk bay. V. A branch of the river Derwent, in Van Diemen's Land, co. of Cumberland.

DEE, JOHN, an English mathematician and astrologer, born in London, July 13, 1527, died at Mortlake in 1607 or 1608. He was educated at Cambridge university, and attained much proficiency in the science of the time. After a short tour in Holland he was elected fellow of Trinity college, and in 1548 took his degree of master of arts. Incurring the suspicion of being a conjurer, he repaired to the continent, resided 2 years at the university of Louvain, and visited France, spending some time at the college of Rheims, where he gave several lectures on mathematical theorems, which he however elaborated into metaphysical and astrological dogmas which were received with great applause. On his return to England in 1551 Dee's learning recommended him to the patronage of Edward VI., who conferred on him a pension of 100 crowns, which he afterward relinquished for the rectory of Upton on Severn. Shortly after the accession of Mary he was accused of practising against the queen's life by enchantment, and he was subjected to a protracted trial and long imprisonment, but released in 1555. On Elizabeth's accession he was introduced to the queen, and requested to name a propitious day for the coronation. He again returned to the continent for some time, where he was supposed to have acted as a secret agent of the English government, and visited the court of Maximilian, to whom he presented and dedicated one of his works. When in 1571 he fell dangerously ill abroad, the queen sent 2 of her own physicians to his relief. After his return he settled at Mortlake, Surrey, where he was engaged for some years in his favorite pursuits and studies, and calculated horoscopes and nativities for private patrons. In 1576 the people in the neighborhood attacked his house from prejudice against his occult science, and he barely escaped with life, his furniture and apparatus being all destroyed. He was sent abroad again in 1578, ostensibly on a mission to consult with German physicians touching Elizabeth's health, but probably for some secret political object. On his return he began that career on which his celebrity principally rests. In 1581 he made the acquaintance of one Edward Kelly, an apothecary of depraved character, who had had his ears cropped for forgery, but of considerable talent. This man pretended to be as sincere a devotee to magic as was Dee himself; and with his assistance spirits were raised and information obtained by use of a crystal, or magic mirror, in which, after invocation, responses were granted to their inquiries. In 1583 they made the acquaintance of Albert Laski, a Polish nobleman, an inquirer into kindred subjects, and at his request they

accompanied him abroad. They exhibited before the emperor at Prague, and resided there for a time, asserting that they had the art of transmuting metals, which enabled them to live in considerable splendor. At Prague Dee and Kelly separated. The former returned to England, and was appointed (Dec. 8, 1594) chancellor of St. Paul's cathedral, and in the following year warden of Manchester college, which he left in 1602 or 1604 to return to his old residence near London. A catalogue of his printed and published writings is contained in his "Compendious Rehearsal of his Life and Studies," prepared in 1592, on the appointment of a commission by Elizabeth to inquire into his circumstances. His diary was printed in 1842 by the Camden society, together with the catalogue of his library of MSS., which he had made himself before the pillage of his house by the mob, and which contains the titles of several medieval works, not now known to be in exist ence. Dr. Dee's "Relation of what passed for many years between him and some Spirits," edited by Casaubon, appeared in London in 1659. One of his magic mirrors is in the British museum. DEED (Lat. factum, Nor. Fr. fait), a term originally employed to express an act for the disposition of lands, which at an early period was by the actual or symbolical delivery of possession in the presence of witnesses; but when a writing was substituted in place of this formality, the same name continued to be applied. A deed is now understood to be an instrument in writing and under seal whereby real estate or some interest therein is transferred. In English conveyanc ing it is designated as an indenture, where there are several parties, counterparts being made on parchment the edges of which are cut like the teeth of a saw to correspond each with the other. A deed poll (polled or shaved even) is one purporting to be executed by a single party. The term indenture is used in this country simply as expressing that there are several parties; and though in form the deed usually purports to be executed by all the parties named, yet in fact the ordinary deed of lands is executed by the grantor only. The deed which is chiefly used in the United States is what in the English law is called a conveyance by bargain and sale (see that article). In some of the states, however, no particular form is required if the intention be clearly expressed; as in Massachusetts by a provincial act, in New York by the Revised Statutes of 1830 (1 R. S. 738), and in several other states by a similar provision. Even in those states where no statute regulation has been adopted, a simple form has generally come into use, having very little analogy to the English bargain and sale, except that the technical words "bargain and sell" are retained. By the New York statute the word "grant" is substituted in place of all the phraseology used in the different forms of English conveyances. By a singular confusion of the original intent of the phrases peculiar to each conveyance, before the enacting of that statute the whole were combined together in a deed drawn

with much professional care, as enfeoff or grant, give, bargain and sell, demise, release, confirm, &c.; in which we have the operative words of a feoffment, donation or gift in tail, the conveyance by bargain and sale under the statute of uses, and the conveyance by lease and release; and this undiscriminating use of terms is still kept up to some extent for the satisfaction of those who attach importance to old forms of expression. A consideration is said to be essential to the validity of a deed, but this is to be understood with reference to other persons than the parties to the deed. A gift or voluntary conveyance is effectual except as it may affect creditors or subsequent purchasers. Under the statutes in England and this country against fraudulent conveyances, a deed wholly without consideration would be held void as against the creditors of the grantor or subsequent purchaser without notice. In England it is held to be void even if the purchase was made with knowledge of the prior voluntary deed; but a different rule prevails here. A consideration may be either good or valuable, the former being founded upon natural affection between near relations, and it is presumable that it may extend to those who hold such relationship by adoption; the latter (i. e. valuable) is what has a pecuniary value, as money or its equivalent. It is not altogether settled how far a consideration of natural affection will sustain a deed against creditors; it probably would be held sufficient if there was no other circumstance from which it could be inferred that the intent was to remove the property out of the reach of creditors. Insolvency at the time of executing the deed would be such a circumstance; yet if not known to the grantor at the time, it would give rise to a serious question. The Revised Statutes of New York declare that the want of a valuable consideration shall not alone be sufficient to avoid a deed as fraudulent (2 R. S. 137). In common law conveyances it was not necessary that the consideration should be expressed, nor was it necessary to prove one, the conveyance itself being an act of such formality that the law raised the presumption of a consideration; but in deeds which were introduced under the doctrine of uses held in courts of equity, it was essential that a consideration should be shown, which might be either by being expressed in the deed, and then, under the general rule applicable to sealed instruments, it could not be controverted by parties or their privies; or it might be proved whenever the deed was brought in question. It was necessary, however, that the deed should purport to be for a pecuniary consideration, as this was essential in order to raise a use, but the sum need not be mentioned; and whatever might be the sum expressed or proved, it was sufficient to give effect to the deed. Hence arose the common form of expressing a consideration of $1; and this again gave rise to an anomaly in respect to sealed instruments, viz.: that the actual amount of the consideration, and whether paid or not, might

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