[1] Her death in 1853 was a great blow to him and embittered him. in
November 1856 he married Adele Cutts, a Maryland belle, a grandniece
of Dolly Madison, and a Roman Catholic, who became the leader of
Washington society, especially in the winter of 1857-1858, when
Douglas was in revolt against Buchanan.
DOUGLAS, the capital of the Isle of Man, a municipal borough and a
favourite watering-place. Pop. (1901) 19,223. It stands on a fine
semicircular bay on the east coast of the island, at the common mouth of
two streams, the Awin-Dhoo and Awin-Glass, 62 m. W.N.W. of Fleetwood and
80 m. N.W. of Liverpool. The older streets are irregular and narrow, but
the town has greatly extended in modern times, with numerous terraces of
good dwelling-houses. A fine parade sweeps round the bay, which, from
Derby Castle on the north to Douglas Head on the south, has a circuit
exceeding 2 m. Low hills, penetrated by the valleys of the Dhoo and
Glass, encircle the town on the north, west and south, the southern spur
projecting seaward in the promontory of Douglas Head. The harbour, in
the river mouth, lies immediately north of this; vessels drawing 9 ft.
may enter it during neap tides, and those drawing 13 ft. during spring
tides. A castellated building, called the Tower of Refuge, erected in
1832, marks the dangerous Conister rocks, north of the harbour entrance.
The Battery pier protects the entrance on the south-west, and there is a
short pier (the Red pier) within the harbour, while the Victoria pier on
the north, at which passengers can land and embark at all heights of the
tide, was erected in 1872. There is regular daily communication with
Liverpool by the steamers of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, and
during the season there are connexions with Fleetwood, Barrow, Dublin,
Belfast and Glasgow. Douglas is connected by electric tramway northward
with Laxey, the summit of the mountain of Snaefell and Ramsey, and
southward with Port Soderick, while the Isle of Man railway runs to Peel
in the west, and Castletown and Port Erin in the south-west. The town
has services of cable and horse trams. The various popular attractions
of Douglas include theatres, dancing halls, a race-course and two golf
links Howstrake and Quarter Bridge. The shore of the bay is of firm
sand (covered at high tide), and the sea-bathing is good. Among
buildings and institutions in Douglas may be mentioned the legislative
buildings (1893), the town hall (1899), the large free library, the
court house and the Isle of Man hospital. Castle Mona, erected in 1804
by John, 4th duke of Arrol and lord of Man, is transformed into an
hotel. St George's church, the oldest remaining in Douglas, dates from
1780. Douglas was incorporated in 1895, and is governed by a mayor, six
aldermen and eighteen councillors.
DOUGLAS, a village of Lanarkshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 1206. It is
situated on Douglas water, 3 m. from Douglas station on the branch line
from Carstairs to Ayr, 11 m. by road S.S.W. of Lanark. It is a place of
ancient aspect, bearing evident signs of decay, but possesses peculiar
interest as the original home of the great Douglas family. Of the old
castle, Scott's _Castle Dangerous_, only a tower exists. The stronghold
repeatedly changed hands during the wars waged against Edward I. for the
independence of Scotland. The modern castle is the seat of the earl of
Home. Only the choir and spire remain of the 12th-century church of St
Bride, the patron saint of the Douglases. The vault beneath the choir
was, until 1761, the burial-place of the family, and it contains a
silver case said to hold the ashes of the heart of the "good Sir James"
(1286-1330). In 1879 the choir was restored and the tombs (including
that of Sir James Douglas) repaired. David Hackston of Rathillet, the
Covenanter, is stated to have been captured in the village (in a house
still standing) after the battle of Aird's Moss in 1680. On the hill of
Auchensaugh (1286 ft.), 2-1/2 m. S.E., the Cameronians assembled in 1712
to renew the Solemn League and Covenant. This gathering, the
"Auchensaugh Wark," as it was called, led up to the secession of the
Reformed Presbyterians from the Kirk.
DOUGLASS, FREDERICK (1817-1895), American orator and journalist, was
born in Tuckahoe, Talbot county, Maryland, probably in February 1817.
His mother was a negro slave of exceptional intelligence, and his father
was a white man. Until nearly eight years of age, he was under the care
of his grandmother; then he lived for a year on the plantation of
Colonel Edward Lloyd, of whose vast estate his master, Captain Aaron
Anthony, was manager. After a year he was sent to Baltimore, where he
lived in the family of Hugh Auld, whose brother, Thomas, had married the
daughter of Captain Anthony; Mrs Auld treated him with marked kindness
and without her husband's knowledge began teaching him to read. With
money secretly earned by blacking boots he purchased his first book, the
_Columbian Orator_; he soon learned to write "free passes" for runaway
slaves. Upon the death of Captain Anthony in 1833, he was sent back to
the plantation to serve Thomas Auld, who hired him out for a year to one
Edward Covey, who had a wide reputation for disciplining slaves, but who
did not break Frederick's spirit. Although a new master, William
Freeland, who owned a large plantation near St Michael's, Md., treated
him with much kindness, he attempted to escape in 1836, but his plans
were suspected, and he was put in jail. From lack of evidence he was
soon released, and was then sent to Hugh Auld in Baltimore, where he was
apprenticed as a ship caulker. He learned his trade in one year, and in
September 1838, masquerading as a sailor, he escaped by railway train
from Baltimore to New York city. For the sake of greater safety he soon
removed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he changed his name from
Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey to Frederick Douglass, "Douglass"
being adopted at the suggestion of a friend who greatly admired Scott's
_Lady of the Lake_. For three years he worked as a day labourer in New
Bedford. An extempore speech made by him before an anti-slavery meeting
at Nantucket, Mass., in August 1841 led to his being appointed one of
the agents of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, and in this
capacity he delivered during the next four years numerous addresses
against slavery, chiefly in the New England and middle states. To quiet
the suspicion that he was an impostor, in 1845 he published the
_Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave_.
Fearing his recapture, his friends persuaded him to go to England, and
from August 1845 to April 1847 he lectured in Ireland, Scotland and
England, and did much to enlist the sympathy of the British public with
the Abolitionists in America. Before his return a sum of L150 was raised
by subscription to secure his legal manumission, thus relieving him from
the fear of being returned to slavery in pursuance of the Fugitive Slave
Law. From 1847 to 1860 he conducted an anti-slavery weekly journal,
known as _The North Star_, and later as _Frederick Douglass's Paper_, at
Rochester, New York, and, during this time, also was a frequent speaker
at anti-slavery meetings. At first a follower of Garrison and a
disunionist, he allied himself after 1851 with the more conservative
political abolitionists, who, under the leadership of James G. Birney,
adhered to the national Constitution and endeavoured to make slavery a
dominant political issue. He disapproved of John Brown's attack upon
Harper's Ferry in 1859, and declined to take any part in it. During the
Civil War he was among the first to suggest the employment of negro
troops by the United States government, and two of his sons served in
the Union army. After the war he was for several years a popular public
lecturer; in September 1866 he was a delegate to the national Loyalist
convention at Philadelphia; and in 1869 he became the editor, at
Washington, of a short-lived weekly paper, _The New National Era_,
devoted to the interests of the negro race. In 1871 he was assistant
secretary of the Santo Domingo commission, appointed by President Grant.
He was marshal of the District of Columbia from 1877 to 1881, was
recorder of deeds for the district from 1881 to 1886, and from 1889 to
1891 was the American minister resident and consul-general in the
Republic of Haiti. He died in Anacostia Heights, District of Columbia,
on the 20th of February 1895. He was widely known for his eloquence, and
was one of the most effective orators whom the negro race has produced
in America.
His autobiography appeared, after two revisions, as _The Life and
Times of Frederick Douglass_ (London, 1882). See F. M. Holland,
_Frederick Douglass, The Colored Orator_ (New York, 1891); C. W.
Chesnutt, _Frederick Douglass_, (Boston, 1899); and Booker T.
Washington, _Frederick Douglass_ (Philadelphia, 1907), in the series
of American Crisis Biographies.
DOUKHOBORS, a name given by the Russian Orthodox clergy to a community
of nonconformist peasants. The word etymologically signifies
"spirit-fighters," being originally intended by the priesthood to convey
that they fight against the Spirit of God; but the Doukhobors themselves
accepted the term as signifying that they fight, not against, but for
and with the Spirit. Of late, however, they have decided to give up this
name and call themselves "Christians of the Universal Brotherhood." This
religious community was first heard of in the middle of the 18th
century. By the end of that century or the beginning of the 19th their
doctrine had become so clearly defined, and the number of their members
had so greatly increased, that the Russian government and Church,
considering this sect to be peculiarly obnoxious, started an energetic
campaign against it. The foundation of the Doukhobors' teaching consists
in the belief that the Spirit of God is present in the soul of man, and
directs him by its word within him. They understand the coming of Christ
in the flesh, his works, teaching and sufferings, in a spiritual sense.
The object of the sufferings of Christ, in their view, was to give an
example of suffering for truth. Christ continues to suffer in us even
now when we do not live in accordance with the behests and spirit of his
teaching. The whole teaching of the Doukhobors is penetrated with the
Gospel spirit of love. Worshipping God in the spirit, they affirm that
the outward Church and all that is performed in it and concerns it has
no importance for them. The Church is where two or three are gathered
together, i.e. united in the name of Christ. They pray inwardly at all
times; on fixed days they assemble for prayer-meetings, at which they
greet each other fraternally with low bows, thereby acknowledging every
man as a bearer of the Divine Spirit. Their teaching is founded on
tradition, which is called among them the "Book of Life," because it
lives in their memory and hearts. It consists of sacred songs or chants,
partly composed independently, partly formed out of the contents of the
Bible, which, however, has evidently been gathered by them orally, as
until quite lately they were almost entirely illiterate and did not
possess any written book. They found alike their mutual relations and
their relations to other people--and not only to people, but to all
living creatures--exclusively on love, and therefore they hold all
people equal and brethren. They extend this idea of equality also to the
government authorities, obedience to whom they do not consider binding
upon them in those cases when the demands of these authorities are in
conflict with their conscience; while in all that does not infringe what
they regard as the will of God they willingly fulfil the desire of the
authorities. They consider killing, violence, and in general all
relations to living beings not based on love as opposed to their
conscience and to the will of God. They are industrious and abstemious
in their lives, and when living up to the standard of their faith they
present one of the nearest approaches to the realization of the
Christian ideal which have ever been attained. In many ways they have
thus a close resemblance to the Quakers or Society of Friends. For these
beliefs and practices the Doukhobors long endured cruel persecution.
Under Nicholas I., in the years 1840 and 1850, the Doukhobors, who on
religious grounds refused to participate in military service, were all
banished from the government of Tauris--whither they had been previously
transported from various parts of Russia by Alexander I.--to
Transcaucasia, near the Turkish frontier. But neither the severe climate
nor the neighbourhood of wild and warlike hillmen shook their faith, and
in the course of half a century, in one of the most unhealthy and
unfertile localities in the Caucasus, they transformed this wilderness
into flourishing colonies, and continued to live a Christian and
laborious life, making friends with, instead of fighting, the hillmen.
But the wealth to which they attained in the Caucasus weakened for a
time their moral fervour, and little by little they began to depart
somewhat from the requirements of their belief. As soon, however, as
events happened among them which disturbed their outward tranquillity,
the religious spirit which had guided their fathers immediately revived
within them. In 1887, in the reign of the tsar Alexander III., universal
military service was introduced in the Caucasus; and even those for
whom, as in the case of the Doukhobors, it had formerly been replaced
with banishment, were called upon to serve. This measure took the
Doukhobors unawares, and at first they outwardly submitted to it. About
the same time, by the decision of certain government officials, the
right to the possession of the public property of the Doukhobors (valued
at about L50,000) passed from the community to one of their members, who
had formed out of the more demoralized Doukhobors a group of his own
personal adherents, which was henceforth called the "Small Party." Soon
afterwards several of the most respected representatives of the
community were banished to the government of Archangel. This series of
calamities was accepted by the Doukhobors as a punishment from God, and
a spiritual awakening of a most energetic character ensued. The majority
(about 12,000 in number) resolved to revive in practice the traditions
left them by their fathers, which they had departed from during the
period of opulence. They again renounced tobacco, wine, meat and every
kind of excess, many of them dividing up all their property in order to
supply the needs of those who were in want, and they collected a new
public fund. They also renounced all participation in acts of violence,
and therefore refused military service. In confirmation of their
sincerity, in the summer of 1895 the Doukhobors of the "Great Party," as
they were called in distinction from the "Small Party," burnt all the
arms which they, like other inhabitants of the Caucasus, had taken up
for their protection from wild animals, and those who were in the army
refused to continue service. At the commencement of the reign of the
tsar Nicholas II., in 1895, the Doukhobors became the victims of a
series of persecutions, Cossack soldiers plundering, insulting, beating
and maltreating both men and women in every way. More than 400 families
of Doukhobors who were living in the province of Tiflis were ruined and
banished to Georgian villages. Of 4000 thus exiled, more than 1000 died
in the course of the first two years from exhaustion and disease; and
more would have perished had not information reached Count Leo Tolstoy
and his friends, and through them the Society of Friends in England.
Funds were immediately raised by sympathizers for alleviating the
sufferings of the starving victims. At the same time an appeal, written
by Tolstoy and some of his friends, requesting the help of public
opinion in favour of the oppressed Doukhobors, was circulated in St
Petersburg and sent to the emperor and higher government officials. The
Doukhobors themselves asked for permission to leave Russia, and the
Society of Friends petitioned the emperor to the same effect. In March
1898 the desired permission was granted, and the first party of
Doukhobors, 1126 in number, were able in the summer of 1898 to sail from
Batum for Cyprus, which was originally chosen for their settlement
because at that time funds were not sufficient for transferring them to
any other British territory. But as contributions accumulated, it was
found possible to send a number of Doukhobor emigrants to Canada,
whither they arrived in two parties, numbering above 4000, in January
1899. They were joined in the spring of the same year by the Cyprus
party, and another party of about 2000 arrived from the Caucasus. In all
about 7500 Doukhobor immigrants arrived in Canada. The Canadian
government did their best to facilitate the immigration, and allotted
land to the Doukhobors in the provinces of Assiniboia near Yorktown and
of Saskatchewan near Thunder Hill and Prince Albert. They were very
cordially received by the population of the Canadian port towns. In
April 1901, in the Canadian House of Commons, the minister of justice
made a statement about them in which he said that "not a single offence
had been committed by the Doukhobors; they were law-abiding, and if good
conduct was a recommendation, they were good immigrants.... The large
tracts of land demanded population, and if they were not given to crime,
the conclusion was that they would make good citizens." About eighteen
months after they arrived in Canada the Doukhobors sent the Society of
Friends a collective letter in which they sincerely thanked the English
and American Friends for all the generous help of every kind they had
received at their hands, but begged the Quakers to cease sending them
any more pecuniary support, as they were now able to stand on their own
feet, and therefore felt it right that any further help should be
directed to others who were more in need of it. At Yorktown in the
summer of 1907 the Doukhobors established one of the largest and best
brick-making plants in Canada, a significant testimony to the way in
which the leaders of the community were working in the interests of the
whole. Now and again small bodies broke off from the main community and
adopted a semi-nomadic life, but these formed a very small percentage of
the total number, which in 1908 was over 8000.
See also _Christian Martyrdom in Russia_, by V. Tchertkoff (The Free
Age Press, Christchurch, Hants); Aylmer Maude, _A Peculiar People, the
Doukhobors_. (V. T.)
DOULLENS, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the
department of Somme, on the Authie, 27 m. N. of Amiens by rail. Pop.
(1906) 4495. It has a citadel of the 15th and 16th centuries which has
often served as a state prison and is now used as a reformatory for
girls. There are also a belfry of the 17th century and two old churches.
The town is the seat of a sub-prefect and has a tribunal of first
instance; it has trade in phosphates, of which there are workings in the
vicinity, and carries on cotton-spinning and the manufacture of leather,
paper and sugar. Doullens, the ancient _Dulincum_, was seat of a
viscountship and an important stronghold in the middle ages. In 1475 it
was burnt by Louis XI. for openly siding with the house of Burgundy. In
1595 it was besieged and occupied by the Spaniards, but was restored to
France by the treaty of Vervins (1598).
DOULTON, SIR HENRY (1820-1897), English inventor and manufacturer of
pottery, born in Vauxhall on the 25th of July 1820, was from the age of
fifteen actively employed in the pottery works of his father, John
Doulton, at Lambeth. One of the first results of his many experiments
was the production of good enamel glazes. In 1846 he initiated in
Lambeth the pipe works, in which he superintended the manufacture of the
drainage and sanitary appliances which have helped to make the firm of
Doulton famous. In 1870 the manufacture of "Art pottery" was begun at
Lambeth, and in 1877 works were opened at Burslem, where almost every
variety of china and porcelain, as well as artistic earthenware, has
been produced. Works have since been opened at Rowley Regis, Smethwick,
St Helens, Paisley and Paris. After the Paris exhibition of 1878 Henry
Doulton was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 1872 the "Art
department" was instituted in the Doulton works, giving employment to
both male and female artists, amongst whom such workers as George
Tinworth and the Misses Barlow have obtained a reputation outside their
immediate sphere. In 1887 Doulton received the honour of knighthood, and
a few years later was awarded the Albert medal by the Society of Arts.
He married in 1849 the daughter of Mr J. L. Kennaby; she died in 1888.
Sir Henry Doulton took an active interest, as almoner, in St Thomas's
hospital. He died in London on the 18th of November 1897.
DOUMER, PAUL (1857- ), French politician, was born at Aurillac. He
studied law and made his debut in politics as _chef de cabinet_ to
Floquet, when president of the chamber in 1885. In 1888 he was elected
Radical deputy for the department of the Aisne. Defeated in the general
elections of September 1889, he was elected again in 1890 by the
arrondissement of Auxerre. As minister of finance in the Bourgeois
cabinet (from the 3rd of November 1895 to the 21st of April 1896) he
tried without success to introduce an income-tax. In January 1897 he
became governor of Indo-China, where he carried out important public
works. In 1902 he returned to France and was elected by Laon to the
chamber as a Radical. He refused, however, to support the Combes
ministry, and formed a Radical dissident group, which grew in strength
and eventually caused the fall of the ministry. Doumer became a
prominent personage in Paris and was elected president of the chamber in
January 1905, being re-elected in January 1906. At the presidential
election of the 17th of January 1906 he was a candidate in opposition to
M. Fallieres and obtained only 371 votes against 449; and the new
chamber passed him over as its new president in favour of Henri Brisson.
As an author he is known by his _L'Indo-Chine francaise_ (1904), and _Le
Livre de mes fils_ (1906).
DOUMIC, RENE (1860- ), French critic and man of letters, was born in
Paris, and after a distinguished career at the Ecole Normale began to
teach rhetoric at the College Stanislas. He was a contributor to the
_Moniteur_, the _Journal des Debats_ and the _Revue bleue_, but was best
known as the independent and uncompromising literary critic of the
_Revue des Deux Mondes_. His works include: _Elements d'histoire
litteraire_ (1888); _Portraits d'ecrivains_ (1892); _De Scribe a Ibsen_
(1893); _Ecrivains d'aujour-d'hui_ (1894); _Etudes sur la litterature
francaise_ (5 vols., 1896-1905); _Les Jeunes_ (1896); _Essais sur le
theatre contemporain_ (1897); _Les Hommes et les idees du XIX^e siecle_
(1903); and an edition of the _Lettres d'Elvire a Lamartine_ (1905).
DOUNE, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, 8-3/4 m. N.W. of Stirling by
the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1901) 930. It is situated on the left bank
of the Teith, here crossed by the bridge built in 1535 by Robert
Spittal, tailor to James IV. The town was once famous for its pistols
and sporrans (as the purses worn with the kilt are called), which were
in great request by the clansmen of the Highlands. Doune Castle, now in
ruins, occupies a commanding position on the Teith, at the point where
it is joined by the Ardoch. It is believed to have been built by
Murdoch, 2nd duke of Albany (d. 1425), and was sometimes a residence of
the sovereigns, among them James V. and Queen Mary. A nephew of Rob Roy
held it for Prince Charlie, and it figures in Scott's _Waverley_. It
belongs to the earl of Moray (Murray), who derives from it his title of
Lord Doune, and was the home of James Stewart, the "bonnie earl" of
Moray, murdered at Donibristle in Fife by the earl of Huntly (1592). The
braes of Doune lie to the north-west of the town and extend towards Uam
Var. Deanston (pop. 652), 1 m. S.W. of Doune, on the right bank of the
Teith, was the scene of the labours of James Smith (1789-1850), the
agricultural engineer, who was also manager of the cotton mills
established there in 1785. On his farm Smith carried out his experiments
in deep and thorough draining, and also invented a reaping machine, the
subsoil plough and numerous other valuable appliances.
DOURO (Span. _Duero_, Port. _Douro_, anc. _Durius_), a river of the
Iberian Peninsula. The Douro rises south of the Sierra de la Demanda, in
the Pico de Urbion, an isolated mountain mass 7389 ft. high. It
describes a wide curve eastwards past Soria, then flows westward across
the Castilian table-land, passing south of Valladolid, with Toro and
Zamora on its right bank; then from a point 3 m. E. of Paradella to
Barca d'Alva it flows south-west and forms the frontier between Spain
and Portugal for 65 m. It crosses Portugal in a westerly direction
through a narrow and tortuous bed, and enters the Atlantic 3 m. below
Oporto at Sao Joao da Foz. The length of the Douro, which is greater
than that of any other Iberian river except the Tagus and Guadiana, is
probably about 485 m.; but competent authorities differ widely in their
estimates, the extremes given being 420 and 507 m. In Spain the Douro
receives from the right the rivers Pisuerga, Valderaduey and Esla, and
from the left several small streams which drain the Sierra Guadarrama,
besides the more important rivers Adaja, Tormes and Yeltes; in Portugal
it receives the Agueda, Coa and Paiva from the left, and the Sabor, Tua
and Tamega from the right. The area drained by the Douro and its
tributaries is upwards of 37,500 sq. m., and includes the greater part
of the vast plateau of Old Castile, between the watersheds of the
Cantabrian Mountains, on the north, and the Guadarrama, Gredos, Gata and
Estrella ranges, on the south. The lower stream is beset with numerous
rapids, called _pontos_, and is subject to swift and violent
inundations. On this account navigation is attended with difficulties
and risks between its mouth and Barca d'Alva; but a railway, running for
the most part along the right bank, skirts the river during the greater
part of its course through Portugal. The mouth of the river is partly
blocked by a sandy bar; only ships of light draught can enter, while
those of greater burden are accommodated at the harbour of Leixoes, an
artificial basin constructed about 3 m. N. On its way through Portugal
the Douro traverses the Paiz do Vinho, one of the richest wine-producing
territories in the world; large quantities of wine are conveyed to
Oporto in sailing boats. The Douro yields an abundance of fish,
especially trout, shad and lampreys.
DOUROUCOULI, apparently the native name (perhaps derived from their
cries) of a small group of American monkeys ranging from Nicaragua to
Amazonia and eastern Peru, and forming the genus _Nyctipithecus_. In
addition to the absence of prehensile power in their tails,
douroucoulis, also known as night-apes, are distinguished by their large
eyes, the sockets of which occupy nearly the whole front of the upper
part of the skull, the partition between the nostrils being in
consequence narrower than usual. The ears are short, and the hair round
the eyes forms a disk. Douroucoulis live in parties, and are purely
nocturnal, sleeping during the day in hollow trees, and coming out at
night to feed on insects and fruits, when they utter piercing cat-like
screams.
DOUSA, JANUS [Jan van der Does], lord of Noordwyck (1545-1604), Dutch
statesman, historian, poet and philologist, and the heroic defender of
Leiden, was born at Noordwyck, in the province of Holland, on the 6th of
December 1545. He began his studies at Lier in Brabant, became a pupil
of Henry Junius at Delft in 1560, and then passed on in succession to
Louvain, Douai and Paris. Here he studied Greek under Pierre Dorat,
professor at the College Royal, and became acquainted with the
chancellor L'Hopital, Turnebus, Ronsard and other eminent men. On his
return in 1565 he married Elizabeth van Zuylen. His name stands in the
list of nobles who in that year formed a league against Philip II. of
Spain, but he does not appear to have taken any active part in public
affairs till 1572, when he was sent as a member of an embassy to
England. He was not, however, at first very eager to commit himself to
the fortunes of William the Silent, prince of Orange, but having once
chosen his side, he threw himself heart and soul into the struggle for
freedom from the Spanish yoke. Fortunately for Leiden he was residing in
the town at the time of the famous siege. He held no post in the
government, but in the hour of need he, though not trained to arms,
took the command of a company of troops. His fearlessness and unshaken
resolution had no small influence in encouraging the regents and the
citizens to prolong the defence. On the foundation of the university of
Leiden by William the Silent, Dousa was appointed first curator, and he
held this office for nearly thirty years. Through his friendships with
foreign scholars he drew to Leiden many illustrious teachers and
professors. After the assassination of the prince of Orange in 1584,
Dousa undertook a private journey to England to try and persuade Queen
Elizabeth to support the cause of the states, and in 1585 he went at the
head of a formal embassy for the same purpose. About the same time he
was appointed keeper of the archives of Holland (_registermeester van
Holland_), and the opportunities thus afforded him of historical
research he turned to good account. He had three sons and five
daughters. All his sons acquired a reputation for learning, but two of
them died before their father. Dousa was author of several volumes of
Latin verse and of philological commentaries on Horace, Plautus,
Catullus and other Latin poets. His principal work is the _Annals of
Holland_, which first appeared in a metrical form in 1599, and was
published in prose under the title of _Bataviae Hollandiaeque annales_
in 1601. Dousa also took part as editor or contributor in various other
publications. He died at Noordwyck on the 8th of October 1604, and was
interred at the Hague; but no monument was erected to his memory till
1792, when one of his descendants placed a tomb to his honour in the
church of Noordwyck. There are good portraits of the Great Dousa, as he
is often called, by Visscher and Houbraken.
DOUVILLE, JEAN BAPTISTE (1794?-1837), French traveller, was born at
Hambye, in the department of Manche. Having at an early age inherited a
fortune, he decided to gratify his taste for foreign travel. According
to his own profession he visited India, Kashmir, Khorasan, Persia, Asia
Minor and many parts of Europe. In 1826 he went to South America, and in
1827 left Brazil for the Portuguese possessions on the west coast of
Africa, where his presence in March 1828 is proved by the mention made
of him in letters of Castillo Branco, the governor-general of Loanda. In
May 1831 he reappeared in France, claiming to have pushed his
explorations into the very heart of central Africa. His story was
readily accepted by the Societe de Geographie of Paris, which hastened
to recognize his services by assigning him the great gold medal, and
appointing him their secretary for the year 1832. On the publication of
his narrative, _Voyage au Congo et dans l'interieur de l'Afrique
equinoxiale_, which occupied three volumes and was accompanied by an
elaborate atlas, public enthusiasm ran high. Before the year 1832 was
out, however, it was established that Douville's _Voyage_ was romance
and not verity. He had probably been inspired by the appearance of Rene
Caillie's account of his journey to Timbuktu, and wished to obtain a
share of the fame attaching to African explorers. Douville tried vainly
to establish the truth of his story in _Ma Defense_ (1832), and _Trente
mois de ma vie, ou quinze mois avant et quinze mois apres mon voyage au
Congo_ (1833). Mlle Audrun, a lady to whom he was about to be married,
committed suicide from grief at the disgrace; and the adventurer
withdrew in 1833 to Brazil, and proceeded to make explorations in the
valley of the Amazon. According to Dr G. Gardner, in his _Travels in the
Interior of Brazil_ (1846), he was murdered in 1837 on the banks of the
Sao Francisco for charging too high for his medical assistance. Douville
may well have explored part of the province of Angola, and Sir Richard
Burton maintained that the Frenchman's descriptions of the country of
the Congo were lifelike; that his observations on the anthropology,
ceremonies, customs and maladies of the people were remarkably accurate;
and that even the native words used in his narrative were "for the most
part given with unusual correctness." It has been shown, however, that
the chief source of Douville's inspiration was a number of unpublished
Portuguese manuscripts to which he had access.
DOUW (or DOW), GERHARD (1613-1680), Dutch painter, was born at Leiden on
the 7th of April 1613. His first instructor in drawing and design was
Bartholomew Dolendo, an engraver; and he afterwards learned the art of
glass-painting under Peter Kouwhoorn. At the age of fifteen he became a
pupil of Rembrandt, with whom he continued for three years. From the
great master of the Flemish school he acquired his skill in colouring,
and in the more subtle effects of chiaroscuro; and the style of
Rembrandt is reflected in several of his earlier pictures, notably in a
portrait of himself at the age of twenty-two, in the Bridgewater House
gallery, and in the "Blind Tobit going to meet his Son," at Wardour
Castle. At a comparatively early point in his career, however, he had
formed a manner of his own distinct from, and indeed in some respects
antagonistic to, that of his master. Gifted with unusual clearness of
vision and precision of manipulation, he cultivated a minute and
elaborate style of treatment; and probably few painters ever spent more
time and pains on all the details of their pictures down to the most
trivial. He is said to have spent five days in painting a hand; and his
work was so fine that he found it necessary to manufacture his own
brushes. Notwithstanding the minuteness of his touch, however, the
general effect was harmonious and free from stiffness, and his colour
was always admirably fresh and transparent. He was fond of representing
subjects in lantern or candle light, the effects of which he reproduced
with a fidelity and skill which no other master has equalled. He
frequently painted by the aid of a concave mirror, and to obtain
exactness looked at his subject through a frame crossed with squares of
silk thread. His practice as a portrait painter, which was at first
considerable, gradually declined, sitters being unwilling to give him
the time that he deemed necessary. His pictures were always small in
size, and represented chiefly subjects in still life. Upwards of 200 are
attributed to him, and specimens are to be found in most of the great
public collections of Europe. His _chef-d'oeuvre_ is generally
considered to be the "Woman sick of the Dropsy," in the Louvre. The
"Evening School," in the Amsterdam gallery, is the best example of the
candlelight scenes in which he excelled. In the National Gallery,
London, favourable specimens are to be seen in the "Poulterer's Shop,"
and a portrait of himself. Douw's pictures brought high prices, and it
is said that President Van Spiring of the Hague paid him 1000 florins a
year simply for the right of pre-emption. Douw died in 1680. His most
celebrated pupil was Francis Mieris.
DOVE, a river of England, tributary to the Trent, rising in Axe Edge,
Derbyshire, and through almost its entire course forming the boundary of
that county with Staffordshire. In its upper course it traverses a fine
narrow valley, where the limestone hills exhibit many picturesque
cliffs, gullies and caves. Dovedale, that part of the valley which lies
between Dove Holes and Thorpe Cloud (or with a wider significance
between the towns of Hartington and Ashbourne), is especially famous.
Below Thorpe Cloud the Dove receives on the west the waters of the
Manifold, which, like its tributary the Hamps, and other streams in the
limestone district, has part of its course below ground. Near the
village of Rocester the Churnet joins the Dove on the west, and then the
course of the main stream, hitherto southerly, bends nearly easterly on
passing Uttoxeter, and, winding through a widening valley, joins the
Trent at Newton Solney, a short distance below Burton-on-Trent. The
length of the valley is about 40 m. and the total fall of the river
about 1450 ft. The Dove is well known for its trout-fishing, and the
portion of the upper valley called Beresford Dale, below Hartington, has
a special interest for fishermen through its associations with Izaak
Walton and his friend Charles Cotton, whose fishing-house stands near
the Pike Pool, a reach of the river with a lofty rock rising from its
centre.
DOVE (Dutch _duyve_, Dan. _due_, Ice. _dufa_, Ger. _Taube_), a name most
commonly applied by ornithologists to the smaller members of the group
of birds usually called pigeons (_Columbae_); but no sharp distinction
can be drawn between pigeons and doves, and in general literature the
two words are used almost indifferently, while no one species can be
pointed out to which the word dove, taken alone, seems to be absolutely
proper. The largest of the group to which the name is applicable is
perhaps the ring-dove, or wood-pigeon, also called in many parts of
Britain cushat and queest (_Columba palumbus_, Linn.), a very common
bird throughout the British Islands and most parts of Europe. It
associates in winter in large flocks, the numbers of which (owing partly
to the destruction of predaceous animals, but still more to the modern
system of agriculture, and the growth of plantations in many districts
that were before treeless) have increased enormously. In former days,
when the breadth of land in Britain under green crops was comparatively
small, these birds found little food in the dead season, and this
scarcity was a natural check on their superabundance. But since the
extended cultivation of turnips and plants of similar use the case is
altered, and perhaps at no time of the year has provender become more
plentiful than in winter. The ring-dove may be easily distinguished from
other European species by its larger size, and especially by the white
spot on either side of its neck, forming a nearly continuous "ring,"
whence the bird takes its name, and the large white patches in its
wings, which are very conspicuous in flight. It breeds several times in
the year, making for its nest a slight platform of sticks on the
horizontal bough of a tree, and laying therein two eggs--which, as in
all the _Columbae_, are white. It is semi-domestic in the London parks.
PLATE I. (After the coloured drawings by Mme. Knip (Pauline de
Courcelles), painter to the Empress Marie Louise, in _Les Pigeons_.
Text by C. J. Themminck, Paris, 1811.)
[Illustration: ROCK DOVE OR BLUE ROCK PIGEON, _Columba livia_.]
[Illustration: STOCK DOVE, _Columba oenas_.]
[Illustration: AMERICAN WILD CARRIER PIGEON, _Ectopistes migratorius_.]
[Illustration: RING DOVE OR WOOD PIGEON, _Columba palumbus_.]
PLATE II. By permission of the proprietors of the _Racing Pigeon_.
[Illustration: CROWNED PIGEON, _Goura coronata_ (After Mme. Knip, as
above.)]
[Illustration: NICOBAR PIGEON, _Caloenas nicobarica_. (After Mme. Knip,
as above.)]
[Illustration: Photographs of two typical pedigree Homing or Racing
Pigeons, colours black and blue chequer, bred and shown by Frederick
Romer, Esq., prize-winners in races from France to England.]
The stock-dove (_C. aenas_ of most authors) is a smaller species, with
many of the habits of the former, but breeding by preference in the
stocks of hollow trees or in rabbit-holes. It is darker in colour than
the ring-dove, without any white on its neck or wings, and is much less
common and more locally distributed.
The rock-dove (_C. livia_, Temm.) much resembles the stock-dove, but is
of a lighter colour, with two black bars on its wings, and a white rump.
In its wild state it haunts most of the rocky parts of the coast of
Europe, from the Faeroes to the Cyclades, and, seldom going inland, is
comparatively rare. Yet, as it is without contradiction the parent-stem
of all British domestic pigeons, its numbers must far exceed those of
both the former put together. In Egypt and various parts of Asia it is
represented by what Charles Darwin has called "wild races," which are
commonly accounted good "species" (_C. schimperi_, _C. affinis_, _C.
intermedia_, _C. leuconota_, and so forth), though they differ from one
another far less than do nearly all the domestic forms, of which more
than 150 kinds that "breed true," and have been separately named, are
known to exist. Very many of these, if found wild, would have
unquestionably been ranked by the best ornithologists as distinct
"species" and several of them would as undoubtedly have been placed in
different genera. These various breeds are classified by Darwin[1] in
_four_ groups as follows:--
GROUP I., composed of a _single_ Race, that of the "Pouters," having
the gullet of great size, barely separated from the crop, and often
inflated, the body and legs elongated, and a moderate bill. The most
strongly marked sub-race, the _Improved English Pouter_, is considered
to be the most distinct of all domesticated pigeons.
GROUP II. includes _three_ Races:--(1) "Carriers," with a long pointed
bill, the eyes surrounded by much bare skin, and the neck and body
much elongated; (2) "Runts," with a long, massive bill, and the body
of great size; and (3) "Barbs," with a short, broad bill, much bare
skin round the eyes, and the skin over the nostrils swollen. Of the
first four and of the second five sub-races are distinguished.
GROUP III. is confessedly artificial, and to it are assigned _five_
Races:--(1) "Fan-tails," remarkable for the extraordinary development
of their tails, which may consist of as many as forty-two rectrices in
place of the ordinary twelve; (2) "Turbits" and "Owls," with the
feathers of the throat diverging, and a short thick bill; (3)
"Tumblers," possessing the marvellous habit of tumbling backwards
during flight, or, in some breeds, even on the ground, and having a
short, conical bill; (4) "Frill-backs," in which the feathers are
reversed; and (5) "Jacobins," with the feathers of the neck forming a
hood, and the wings and tail long.
GROUP IV. greatly resembles the normal form, and comprises _two_
Races:--(1) "Trumpeters," with a tuft of feathers at the base of the
neck curling forward, the face much feathered, and a very peculiar
voice, and (2) Pigeons scarcely differing in structure from the wild
stock.
Besides these some three or four other little-known breeds exist, and
the whole number of breeds and sub-breeds almost defies computation. The
difference between them is in many cases far from being superficial,
for Darwin has shown that there is scarcely any part of the skeleton
which is constant, and the modifications that have been effected in the
proportions of the head and sternal apparatus are very remarkable. Yet
the proof that all these different birds have descended from one common
stock is nearly certain. Here there is no need to point out its bearing
upon the theory of natural selection. The antiquity of some of these
breeds is not the least interesting part of the subject, nor is the use
to which one at least of them has long been applied. The dove from the
earliest period in history has been associated with the idea of a
messenger (Genesis viii. 8-12), and the employment of pigeons in that
capacity, developed successively by Greeks, Romans, Mussulmans and
Christians, has come down to modern times.
The various foreign species, if not truly belonging to the genus
_Columba_, are barely separable therefrom. Of these examples may be
found in the Indian, Ethiopian and Neotropical regions. Innumerable
other forms entitled to the name of "dove" are to be found in almost
every part of the world, and nowhere more abundantly than in the
Australian Region. A. R. Wallace (_Ibis_, 1865, pp. 365-400) considers
that they attain their maximum development in the Papuan Subregion,
where, though the land area is less than one-sixth that of Europe, more
than a quarter of all the species (some 300 in number) known to exist
are found--owing, he suggests, to the absence of forest-haunting and
fruit-eating mammals, which are in most cases destructive to eggs also.
To a small group of birds the name dove is, however, especially
applicable in common parlance. This is the group containing the
turtle-doves--the time-honoured emblem of tenderness and conjugal love.
The common turtle-dove of Europe (_Turtur auritus_) is one of those
species which are gradually extending their area. In England, in the
18th century, it seems to have been chiefly, if not solely, known in the
southern and western counties. Though in the character of a straggler
only, it now reaches the extreme north of Scotland, and is perhaps
nowhere more abundant than in many of the midland and eastern counties
of England. On the continent of Europe the same thing has been observed,
though indeed not so definitely; and this species has appeared as a
casual visitor within the Arctic Circle. Its graceful form and the
delicate harmony of its modest colouring are proverbial. The species is
migratory, reaching Europe late in April and retiring in September.
Another species, and one perhaps better known from being commonly kept
in confinement, is that called by many the collared or Barbary dove (_T.
risorius_)--the second English name probably indicating that it was by
way of the Barbary coast that it was brought to England. This is
distinguished by its cream-coloured plumage and black necklace.
(A. N.)