and Paul, which were among his last, as they are generally esteemed his grandest works, and which he presented to the council of his native city. Dürer had at this time embraced the doctrines of the reformation, and these paintings, the fruit of earnest reflection and of deep religious conviction, are supposed to have conveyed the artist's exhortation to his countrymen to stand firm in the new faith. In dignity and sublimity of composition, and in richness of color, they are masterpieces of art.-As an engraver and a painter Dürer was one of the most remarkable men of an age prolific of great artists. In grandeur of conception and invention he was in fact before the age. His rich and inexhaustible spirit grasped at many things. In painting, he raised German art to an excellence which passed away with him; he found engraving in its infancy, and carried it to a perfection never since surpassed; he cultivated architecture and sculpture, and as a theorist wrote valuable treatises on geometry and fortification, with a purity of style evincing a profound knowledge of the German language. He was the first German artist who taught the rules of perspective, and insisted on the study of anatomy. His works exhibit a deep sense of the sublime and solemn, as also of simple grace and tenderness, and a feeling for art such as could only have inspired a great master. Above all, his imagination seemed boundless. But the tendency to the fantastic, a striking attribute of old German art, obstructed the pure development of his power as an artist. This tendency, which has been ascribed to the peculiar physical aspects of northern nature, and of which we have illustrations in the wild legends and the grotesque ornamentation of the architecture of medieval Germany, seems to have culminated in that age; and with his countrymen Dürer felt its influence, and reflected it in his works. Independence of thought in matters of religious belief necessarily suggested a greater freedom of imagination, and he rejected the classic ideal which Raphael and his contemporaries had so successfully realized, to wander in the realms of fancy. Hence his strange attitudes, his fanciful draperies, his over-elaborate costumes and accessories, and the Gothic element, so to speak, which seems to pervade all his works. His wonderful creations, nevertheless, surprised and delighted the Italians, and Vasari confesses that he would have been an extraordinary artist had he enjoyed an Italian instead of a German education. Raphael had the highest admiration of his genius, and sent him a drawing executed by his own hand. In so great estimation were his prints held, that the engraver Marc Antonio Raimondi was induced to execute at Venice a set of the "Passion" and the "Life of the Virgin," with facsimiles of Dürer's monogram attached, which were sold as originals. The artist was obliged to visit Venice to obtain redress. The memory of Dürer is held in great veneration by the people of Nuremberg, who preserve the house in which he lived with religious care.

On the 300th anniversary of his birth the corner stone of a monument to his memory was laid in Nuremberg; and in May, 1840, the work was completed by the addition of a bronze statue of the artist by Rauch.

DURESS (law Lat. durities, Fr. duresse). Constraint, either by actual violence or the threat of some injury, is in law an excuse for many acts which would otherwise be criminal; so it is also a ground for avoiding conveyances, contracts, and other civil acts which have been compelled by such violence or threat. A distinction is however made as to the nature and extent of the duress, in the two classes of cases above referred to. When set up as an excuse for a criminal act, it is subject to several qualifications. 1. It cannot in general be admitted in justification of a capital offence, but only for lesser crimes, called misdemeanors. This limitation applies only when innocent parties are involved, for a man has the right to kill an assailant who puts him in peril of life or of griev ous bodily injury. 2. The apprehension of danger must be such as might be reasonably entertained by a person of ordinary courage; talis qui cadere possit in virum constantem, non timidum et meticulosum. 3. The injury which is threatened must be such as to endanger loss of life or limb. Fear of assault and battery merely would not justify, according to the old cases, even a misdemeanor. 4. Command by a father or master is not a justification to a child or servant for the commission of a crime, yet the wife was by the common law held to be in the power of the husband so far that what was done by her in his presence was deemed to be done under duress, and was a justification even for capital offences, except treason and murder. This was upon the legal presumption that if the husband was present, the wife acted by his coercion; still greater would be her claim to exemption if actual coercion could be proved. There was, however, a singular inconsistency in not allowing the same excuse on the ground of coercion, actual or presumed, in respect to mere misdemeanors. It has been plausibly suggested that the reason of this anomaly was that the wife was not entitled to the benefit of clergy, while the husband was so entitled; and as he could therefore escape from punishment for certain offences, but the wife was subject to the penalty, the law humanely interposed and relieved her from all legal liability in cases where husband and wife were jointly chargeable, but in which a claim to benefit of clergy was allowed, and this privilege did not apply to misdemeanors, nor to murder or treason. 5. Duress of imprisonment, by which is meant illegal arrest or deprivation of liberty, is referred to in the English cases only as a ground of avoiding contracts; but upon the principle asserted by the common law that a man's liberty is as sacred as the security of life, any interference therewith, unless by process of law, should be held a justification for any degree of force necessary to resist an unlawful restraint of liberty; and by

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analogy to other cases of duress, actual imprisonment, or menace of imprisonment, should also be an excuse to some extent, even if not a full justification, for offences which would be excused by fear of bodily injury. On the other hand, it may be said that wrongful imprisonment is not a permanent injury, like bodily mutilation, and can be compensated in damages. Resistance to an unlawful attempt to deprive a man of liberty would, however, it may be presumed, be justified, even to the extent of taking the life of the wrong doer, if that were necessary; but neither actual nor threatened imprisonment will justify the commission of a criminal offence affecting any other person.-Duress in relation to contracts or other civil acts, is not limited to bodily injury or loss of personal liberty, but may be founded upon apprehension of damage in respect to property. The apprehended injury must, however, be something extraordinary, and which does not admit of exact pecuniary indemnity; but great allowance will be made for the effect of any threatened loss in the disturbance of a man's judgment and self-possession, and probably in our courts a contract would be held void which had been procured by the menace of any considerable damage when made suddenly, and time not allowed for reflection. Bacon mentions the perturbation of mind as a reason why coercion, or what he calls necessity, "carrieth a privilege" as respects crime (Bacon's "Maxims," regula 5); and the reason ought to have equal force in avoidance of a contract. The rule as stated by Blackstone is much narrower, and excludes not only damage to property, but even personal injury, except what involves danger to life or limb. A fear of battery, therefore, or of having one's house burned, or goods taken away, he says, is no duress, because in these cases there can be pecuniary compensation. But he does not seem to have sufficiently observed the distinction between duress as an excuse for a criminal offence and duress as a ground of avoiding a contract. Bacon with more discrimination states the rule in the latter case that restraint of a man's person, or threat of a battery, or of burning his house, is a duress which will avoid a bond given under such restraint or menace. In the courts of the United States the rule has been extended to pecuniary loss affecting personal property. This at least has been decided in the states of South Carolina and New York. (See 1 Bray's Rep. 470; 2 id. 211; 5 Hill, N. Y., 154.)

DURFEE, JOB, an American author and jurist, born in Tiverton, R. I., Sept. 20, 1790, died there, July 26, 1847. He was graduated at Brown university in 1813, afterward studied law, was elected to the state legislature in 1814, and in 1820 was chosen representative in congress, where he served during 2 terms. He was a member of the state legislature again in 1826, and in 1833 was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island. In 1835 he became chief justice, an office which he held until his death. In 1832 he published a poem VOL. VI.-44

in 9 cantos, entitled "Whatcheer," being an account of the departure of Roger Williams from Salem, his adventures in the wilderness, and the settlement of Rhode Island. He also wrote a philosophical treatise called "Panidea," to prove the pervading influence and presence of God throughout nature. His works were collected and published with a memoir by his son (8vo., Providence, 1849).

D'URFEY, THOMAS, a humorous English poet, died at an advanced age, Feb. 26, 1723. He was of a French Protestant family which had fled from La Rochelle in 1628, when it was besieged by Louis XIII., and had settled in Exeter, where the poet was born. Abandoning the profession of law for the more congenial pursuits of literature, he wrote ballads, sonnets, irregular odes, and more than 30 pieces for the theatre. His dramatic pieces were very successful; but as they are written in the licentious style prevalent after the restoration, they are not now represented upon the stage. His works show the character of the author, who was sufficiently amusing to count among his patrons King Charles II., Queen Anne, and even the stern and sombre William III. Steele and Addison in the "Guardian" befriended him, and solicited the attendance of their readers to a play for his benefit. His best known work, beside his plays, was a collection of songs and ballads, partly by himself, entitled "Wit and Mirth, or Pills to purge Melancholy" (6 vols. 12mo., London, 1719-20).

DURHAM, a maritime co. in the N. of England; area, 973 sq. m.; pop. in 1851, 390,997. The general aspect of the county is mountainous, particularly in the western part, where it is traversed by branches of that range of hills to which the name of the English Apennines has been applied. From these several ridges shoot off in different directions, and some of them, projecting as far as the sea, terminate in tall cliffs and headlands. Numerous rivers rising among the mountains in the west flow through the valleys and empty into the ocean. Among these are the Tyne, the Tees, and the Wear, all of which are navigable for a considerable part of their course, and have important towns and tolerable harbors at their mouths. The valley of the Tees, particularly near its estuary, has a great deal of rich alluvial soil, under careful cultivation, or devoted to pasturage. It is here that the Durham cattle, so famous for their many excellent qualities, are most extensively reared. The Teesdale sheep, noted for their unusual size and tender flesh, are scarcely less celebrated than the Durham cattle, and are more highly prized than any other English breed. In the bleak table-lands of the western part, where cultivation is not attempted, are found rich veins of lead, and east of this region occurs the most extensive coal field of Great Britain, known as the Newcastle coal region. In addition to these important productions, iron, firestone, and millstones are found in large quantities. Limestone, some of it of a peculiar excellence, underlies an exten

sive portion of the county. The value of all these products is vastly increased by the facilities of transportation from the mining district to the seaboard. Beside the navigable rivers, there are many railways traversing the county and connecting the great coal region with the coast, with Scotland, and with some of the most important towns of England. The principal manufactures are iron work, pottery, glass, coal tar, salt, linen, and woollen. Durham is deficient in timber, and with the exception of the groves attached to country seats of the nobility, and some portions of the vale of Derwent, there is little woodland of any value. Durham, Chester, and Lancaster were formerly counties palatine, so called because the bishop of Durham, the earl of Chester, and the duke of Lancaster had royal rights in their respective territories as fully as the king in his palace. The jurisdiction of the bishop of Durham was transferred to the crown in the reign of William IV. The county consists politically of 2 divisions, each of which sends 2 members to the house of commons.-DURHAM (anc. Dunelmia, Dunelmum, Dunholmum, Dunholme), the capital of the county, is an ancient episcopal city and parliamentary borough, built on 7 small hills, and nearly encompassed by the river Wear, which is here crossed by several bridges; pop. in 1851, 13,188. Its external appearance is at once attractive and imposing. The river banks are skirted by plantations, hanging gardens, and beautiful public walks, beyond which the houses rise one above another, until they are crowned by the grand cathedral and an ancient Norman castle, which occupy the summit of a rocky eminence. The city consists of several divisions, of which the one situated between the cathedral and the river has many elegant residences. The old town, which lies N. of the castle, contains most of the shops, and a market place with a fountain. There are suburbs on each side of the river, some of which are occupied chiefly by the poorer classes. Among the public buildings and institutions are a town hall, built in the Tudor baronial style, a great number of schools, an infirmary, hospitals, reading rooms, libraries, assembly rooms, a theatre, 6 parish churches, various chapels, and a university. A college was founded here as early as 1290 by the prior and convent of Durham, which was afterward enlarged, and under Henry VIII. was transferred with all its endowments to the dean and chapter. Under Cromwell the funds were employed by a new corporation, but on the restoration they reverted to the former trustees. The present university owes its foundation mainly to Dr. Charles Thorp, archdeacon of Durham. It was opened to students in 1833, and incorporated in 1837. Bishop Hatfield's hall was instituted in 1846 for divinity students. The most interesting edifice in Durham is the cathedral, founded in 1093 by King Malcolm and Bishop Carilepho. Its length, including the western porch, is 507 feet, its greatest breadth 200 feet, and it has a central tower 214 feet high, beside 2 low towers,

once surmounted by spires. The predominant style of architecture is the early Norman, but in the various additions made to the church from time to time, we have specimens of the different styles which had prevailed in England up to the close of the 14th century. The Galilee chapel at its W. end, built by Bishop Pudsey between 1153 and 1195, contains the remains of the venerable Bede; those of St. Cuthbert, the patron of the church, rest in the chapel of the nine altars. The old church of St. Nicholas was partly repaired and partly rebuilt in 1858, and is now considered one of the finest specimens of modern church architecture in the N. of England. There is a school house attached to it. Immediately opposite the cathedral stands the castle, founded by William the Conqueror for the twofold purpose of maintaining the royal authority in the adjoining districts and protecting the country from the inroads of the Scots. Many additions have been made to it, and it is doubtful whether any part of the original keep, except the foundation, now remains. For many years it was the residence of the bishop of the palatinate, but of late it has been given up to the uses of the university. The see of Durham was long the richest in England, and for the 3 years ending with 1831, the average annual net revenue of the bishop was £19,066; but in 1836 his income was fixed at £8,000, the surplus revenue being applied to the augmentation of the incomes of poorer bishops. to the opening of the collieries, and the construction of the numerous railways which now intersect the county, Durham made little progress, but the activity awakened by these great works has given a powerful impetus to its trade and population. It has manufactories of carpeting and mustard. In the vicinity are Neville's Cross, erected by Lord Neville in commemoration of the defeat of David II. of Scotland, in 1346, and the site of an old Roman fortress, called the Maiden castle. The town sends 2 members to the house of commons.

Prior

DURHAM, JOHN George LAMBTON, earl of, an English statesman, born in Durham, April 12, 1792, died in the isle of Wight, July 28, 1840. He was educated at Eton, served a short time in a regiment of hussars, married at the age of 20, and had hardly attained his majority when he was returned to parliament for his native county. His first speech, delivered in 1814, was an unsuccessful appeal in behalf of the people of Norway struggling under Prince Christian of Denmark for their national independence, in opposition to the stipulations of the allies at Kiel. The next year he introduced a motion in behalf of Genoa, to which the reestablishment of its ancient constitution had been promised by Lord Bentinck in the name of England, but which was by the stipulations of the congress of Vienna annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia. When the Castlereagh ministry in 1816 proposed to add more rigorous conditions to the alien act, he opposed the measure with great energy. During the chartist excitement of 1819, he vindicated the rights

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of the people, not only in parliament, but in numerous public meetings. He was one of the defenders of Queen Caroline in 1821, and seconded Lord Tavistock's motion of censure on the ministry for their proceedings against her. The same year he promulgated a scheme of parliamentary reform, and though his bill was rejected by a manoeuvre before discussion, yet 10 years later he saw his ideas revived in the celebrated reform act, in the passage of which he then assisted as a member of the cabinet. In 1826 the feebleness of his health obliged him to relax his labors, and he passed a year in Naples, and on his return to England was raised by Lord Goderich to the peerage, under the title of Baron Durham. Upon the formation of the ministry of his father-in-law, Lord Grey, in 1830, he was called into the cabinet as lord privy seal. This administration was formed upon the basis of making parliamentary reform a cabinet question, and the preparation of the plan of reform was intrusted to Lord Durham, Lord John Russell, Sir James Graham, and Lord Duncannon. To Lord Durham fell the task of defending the bill in the house of lords, a difficult labor, since he had to contend not only against the open opposition of the tories, but against the secret repugnance of many of his colleagues and political associates. His health suffered a heavy shock at this time by the death of his eldest son, and though he afterward spoke a few times upon the 2d and 3d bills, he retired from the administration in 1833, and was raised to an earldom. He was sent the same year upon a special mission to Russia; but he was unsuccessful in his main object, which was to induce the Russian government to mitigate its severity toward the Poles, who had lately made an unsuccessful attempt to recover their independence. Returning to England, his liberal views brought him into collision with the existing government. His separation from his former colleagues was clearly manifested in remarks which he made at a public dinner given to Lord Grey at Edinburgh, which caused him to be generally regarded as the leader of the movement party. The insurrection in Canada in 1837 and the following years opened a new field to his activity, and in 1838 he was sent thither as governor with extraordinary powers, the ministry hoping that his liberality of sentiment and large political experience would secure the confidence of the people. Yet his administration there was brief. Trying at once to conciliate and to punish, he gained only the ill will of the Canadians; and surpassing his powers by transporting the leaders of the rebellion for an indefinite time to Bermuda, a disapproval of his conduct was voted by parliament. Lord Durham complained that he was not vigorously supported by the ministry, resigned his office, and suddenly returned to England. He prepared an elaborate report on Canadian affairs, setting forth liberal principles of colonial government, and proposing the union of the two provinces, which has had much influence on British colonial administra

tion. His policy and plans were adopted by his successor, and vindicated by himself in the house of lords. His political views giving him an almost solitary position, and being unable by reason of feeble health, under which he had long suffered, to sustain alone a struggle in parlia ment, he afterward took but little part in public affairs.

DÜRINGSFELD, IDA VON, a German authoress, born in Lower Silesia, Nov. 12, 1815, married in 1845 Baron Reinsberg, visited Italy and Switzerland, and wrote interesting sketches of her travels (Reiseskizzen, vol. i., Switzerland, 1850; vol. ii., Italy, 1857; vol. iii., Carinthia, 1857; vols. iv. and v., Dalmatia, 1857), and a series of sketches of high life, or Skizzen aus der vornehmen Welt (6 vols., 1842-'45). The most recent of her numerous works are Esther (Breslau, 1851), and Clotilde (Berlin, 1855). She has also written poetry and songs, and translated Bohemian national songs into German (Böhmische Rosen, Breslau, 1851). Several of her original songs were set to music, and her Lieder aus Toscana appeared in Dresden in 1855.

DUROC, GÉRARD CHRISTOPHE MICHEL, duke of Friuli, a French general, born in Pont-à-Mousson, near Nancy, Oct. 25, 1772, killed near Markersdorf, in the vicinity of Görlitz, Prussia, May 23, 1813. After having served in the first wars of the revolution as adjutant of Gen. L'Espinasse, he joined the army of Italy in 1796, became brigadier-general in 1797, took part in the Egyptian campaign, and after Napoleon's return to France and the 18th Brumaire, in which he was a chief actor, he was made lieutenant-general and governor of the Tuileries. Subsequently he was employed on diplomatic missions in Stockholm, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Dresden; took part in 1805 in the battle of Austerlitz as successor of Gen. Oudinot, who had been wounded; and accompanied Napoleon in his campaigns in 1806 and 1807. In 1809 he was with the emperor in Austria, and negotiated the truce of Znaym. In 1812 he was in the Russian campaign, always enthusiastically devoted to the cause of Napoleon, of whom he was a great favorite. After the battle of Bautzen, while escorting the emperor to an adjoining elevation for the purpose of inspecting the battle ground, he was killed by a cannon shot. The farm house in which he died the same evening was purchased by Napoleon, who caused a monument to be erected there to Duroc's memory. His remains were interred in 1845 in the church of the Invalides in Paris.

DÜRRENSTEIN, a town of Lower Austria, on the Danube, 41 m. W. by N. from Vienna, belonging to the princely house of Starhemberg; pop. 500. It is famous for its ruins of the old castle in which Richard Coeur de Lion, while returning from his crusade in Palestine in 1193, was kept a prisoner during 15 months by Duke Leopold of Austria. The castle is seen on a naked and lofty rock back of the village, on the border of the dark heights of the Wunderberg. Here on Nov. 11, 1805, the French un

der Mortier defeated the Austrians and Russians under Kutusoff.

DÜSSELTHAL, formerly a convent of Trappists between Düsseldorf and Elberfeld; at present an educational institution, established in 1821 by a Prussian nobleman for the benefit of helpless children, and of converted Jews who wish to become mechanics or farmers.

DÜSSELDORF, a district of Rhenish Prussia, bounded N. and W. by Holland, and traversed by the Rhine; area, 2,096 sq. m.; pop. in 1855, 1,017,500. The 14 circles of the district include the circle of Düsseldorf (pop. in 1855, 85,560), and the most celebrated manufacturing towns of the country, as Elberfeld, Crefeld, Solingen, Lennep, &c. The industrial interests absorb the best energies of the inhabitants, and agricultural pursuits are comparatively neglected. On the left shore of the Rhine, however, the richness of the soil is great, and the trade in cereals and cattle is not inconsiderable, although a more steady attention to the resources of husbandry might enhance its importance. The district abounds in mineral wealth, especially in coal and iron.-DÜSSELDORF, the capital of the district and circle of the same name, is situated at the confluence of the Düssel with the Rhine, 22 m. by railway N. from Cologne; pop. in 1855, 45,000. As a great focus of railway and steamboat communication, a fair proportion of the transit trade of the Rhine is carried on by the merchants of Düsseldorf. The manufacturing interest is not as fully represented as in Elberfeld and other neighboring towns, but there are many carriage, tapestry, cotton, tobacco, and mustard manufactories, tanneries, and dyeing establishments. In 1288 Düsseldorf became a municipality. In modern times it has been successively under the dominion of Brandenburg and Neuburg, under French and Bavarian rule, and was for some time the capital of the duchy of Berg, until in 1815 it passed with the whole duchy under the sway of Prussia. It is divided into 4 sections, the Altstadt, the Karlstadt, the Friedrichsstadt, and the Neustadt. The last was laid out by Johann Wilhelm, the elector palatine, whose statue adorns the market square and the palace yard. The Karlstadt is the most modern part of the town, and derives its name from Karl Theodor, its founder, the same public-spirited prince who established in 1767 the academy of painting. The town possesses many delightful parks or gardens, and the Hofgarten is one of the finest in Prussia. New and beautiful streets have been laid out within the last 15 years in the southern and eastern portions of the town. The prominent public buildings are the governor's palace, the town hall, the cabinet of antiquities and that of scientific instruments, the tribunals, the observatory, which occupies the former collegiate buildings of the Jesuits, the St. Andreas church, which also belonged to the Jesuits in former times, and the church of St. Lambert. Both churches contain monuments of the ancient sovereign princes of Düsseldorf. There are numerous charitable and literary associations, a

gymnasium, a primary school, a polytechnic institute, an academy of commerce, and a good theatre. The celebrated picture gallery, which was established here in 1690, and which contained superb specimens of the best Flemish and Dutch masters, was transferred to Munich in 1805. The collection of 14,000 original drawings and 24,000 engravings and casts, however, which formed part of the same gallery, still remains in Düsseldorf, and received in 1841 an addition of 300 water-color drawings after Italian masters. Art has flourished here more than in any other German town, especially since 1822, when Frederic William III. renovated the building of the academy, and when at the same time Cornelius, Schadow, and other artists of genius arose to give a powerful impulse to art generally, by laying the foundation of the Düsseldorf school of painters. The art union for Rhenish Prussia and Westphalia was founded here in 1828. The engravers' establishment of the royal academy of Schulgen-Bettendorf was removed from Bonn to Düsseldorf in 1837. Beside the academy of painting, there is a school for painters and one for architects. The average annual attendance of art students at the various institutions is about 400. There are 2 political and several literary and humorous papers and magazines published in Düsseldorf. Among the many eminent persons born in the town were Heine the poet, and Cornelius the painter.

DUTCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. See NETHERLANDS.

DUTCHESS, a S. E. co. of N. Y., bounded W. by the Hudson river, and E. by Connecticut; area, 816 sq. m.; pop. in 1855, 60,635. The surface is uneven and in many parts hilly. Fishkill river and Wappinger's creek supply it with good water power, which is employed in a number of mills. Much of the soil is best adapted to grazing, but the cultivated portions are carefully improved and very fertile, yielding large crops of grain and potatoes. The productions in 1855 were 558,308 bushels of Indian corn, 626,347 of oats, 54,720 of wheat, 205,498 of potatoes, 83,878 tons of hay, and 1,681,595 lbs. of butter. There were 39 grist mills, 12 saw mills, 6 cotton and 6 woollen factories, 9 furnaces, 132 churches, 10 newspaper offices, and 206 school houses. Limestone, slate, marble, iron, and lead are the most important minerals. The county has great facilities for communication with New York, Albany, and other parts of the Union, by means of the Hudson river, navigable along its western border, and the Hudson river and Harlem railroads, which intersect it. Capital, Poughkeepsie.

DUTENS, JOSEPH MICHEL, & French political economist, born in Tours, Oct. 15, 1765, died Aug. 6, 1848. He was educated as a civil engineer, and in 1800 published a topographical description of the arrondissement of Louviers (Eure). He first became known as an economist by his Analyse raisonnée des principes fondamentaux de l'économie politique (8vo., Paris, 1804). In 1818, being appointed by the French government to examine the system of interior