DUE 



181 



D U L 



sac- 

 ofit. 



of all laws as well divine as human, is but a brutal 

 fierceness, madness, and real pusillanimity." Upon this 

 subject Paley has some excellent observations. " The 

 law of honour is a system of rules constructed by peo- 

 ple of fashion, and calculated to facilitate their inter- 

 course with one another, and for no other purpose. It 

 prescribes and regulates the duties betwixt equals, omit- 

 ting such as relate to the supreme Being, as well as 

 those which we owe to our inferiors. For which rea- 

 son, profaneness, neglect of public worship, or private 

 devotion, cruelty to servants, rigorous treatment of te- 

 nants, or other dependents, want of charity to the poor, 

 injury done to tradesmen by insolvencies, or delay of 

 payment, with numberless examples of the same kind, 

 are accounted no breaches of honour, because a man is 

 not a less agreeable companion for these vices, nor the 

 worse to deal with in those concerns, which are usually 

 transacted between one gentleman and another. Again, 

 the law of honour being constituted by men occupied 

 in the pursuit of pleasure, and for the mutual conve- 

 niency of such men, will be found, as might be expect- 

 ed from the character and design of the law-makers, 

 to be, in most instances, favourable to the licentious 

 indulgence of the natural passions. Thus it allows of 

 fornication, adultery, drunkenness, prodigality, duel- 

 ling, and revenge in the extreme, and lays no stress 

 upon the virtues opposite to these." 



In the late case of Lieutenant Blundell, who fell in a 

 duel, in the Isle of Wight, not only his antagonist, and 

 his second, but also two others who were deemed ac- 

 cessories, were all four convicted of murder at the 

 Hampshire assizes, and sentenced to die. The royal 

 pardon, howeve*, was obtained for them ; but being 

 officers in the army, they were soon afterwards dis- 

 missed the service. And the commander in chief, in 

 his general orders, concluded by hoping, " that it will 

 give an useful and impressive lesson to the young of- 

 ficers of the army, and a warning to them of the fatal 

 consequences of allowing themselves to be misled by 

 erroneous notions and false principles of honour, which, 

 when rightly understood, and leading to its legitimate 

 object, is the brightest gem in the character of a soldier." 



Duelling hs no doubt contributed to soften the rude 

 manners of former times, and to promote that respectful 

 and delicate attention to one another, which distinguish- 

 es the inhabitants of modern Europe from the most 

 civilized nations of antiquity. But in checking ferocity, 

 it gave birth to punctilious refinement, and sowed the 

 first seeds of that fantastic honour, the bitter fruits of 

 which have been so extensively felt. Chivalry also had 

 a very considerable influence in polishing the manners 

 of a less refined age. In the progress of society, how- 

 ever, it passed away, and gave place to a more sober 

 mode of thinking and of acting ; but duelling still pre- 

 vails to testify, how weak are tle restraints of religion 

 and of law, when opposed to the domineering influence 

 of fashion. 



This custom originating in a period of ignorance and 

 superstition, has maintained its ground amidst all the im- 

 provements of society, and has come down to our times 

 with unabated force. This circumstance is very much 

 owing to the laws which have been passed against it 

 not being carried into effect. When Louis XIV. alarm- 

 ed at the extent of this growing evil, set himself strenu- 

 ously to oppose it, it is wonderful with how much suc- 

 cess his exertions were attended. And were the go- 

 vernments of Europe now equally strict in enforcing 

 the laws against it, there is every reason to think that 

 tke practice might soon be abolished. But when laws 



are passed and not executed, instead of deterring, they Duel 

 serve rather to encourage offenders. The trifling da- 

 mages too that are frequently recovered in prosecutions 

 for this offence, serve only to make the sufferer ridiculous. 



The most effectual plan for putting a stop to this evil, Means pro- 

 would certainly be to enforce the laws that are now in posed for 

 existence against it. But, perhaps, something more _abolihicg 

 than this might be done. A court of honour might be ** 

 established, especially for the army, where the point of 

 honour is cultivated with exquisite attention and re- 

 finement, with a power of adjudging those submissions 

 and acknowledgments, which it is generally the object 

 of a challenge to obtain. Similar institutions might be 

 formed for other professions, which might go to eradi- 

 cate this inveterate disorder of modern times. 



There is some probability, however, that the evil may 

 correct itself. If it descend from the higher to the 

 lower orders, and become common among all classes of 

 the community, the great may be led to renounce a prac- 

 tice which can no longer be regarded as honourable. 

 And if it lose their sanction and authority, there is every 

 reason to think that it will gradually be abolished. See 

 Moore OH Duelling. Cockburne's Histori/ of Duelling. 

 An account of the Abolishing of Duels in France. Mon- 

 tesquieu's Spirit of Laws, vol. ii. () 



DVIN'A, a river of Russia, and one of the largest in 

 Europe. It is navigable, and a great trade is carried 

 on by it and its tributary streams with Archangel. It 

 falls into the White Sea by five different channels, only 

 two of which are navigable. The following rivers fall 

 into the Dvina : 



The Pinega, down which a great quantity of timber 

 is floated. 



The Vitzegda, which receives the northern Keltma, 

 a river which the Russian government proposed to 

 unite with a southern river of the same name that joins 

 the Kama. A canal was actually begun, but it was 

 discontinued upon the breaking out of the war. 



The Vaga, which rises in a morass, is not well adapted 

 for navigation, but some timber is floated down it. 



The Uga, and the Lower Souchona, are two of the 

 principal brandies of the Dvina. Great quantities of 

 n-rain, and other merchandise, are conveyed down the 

 Lower Souchona, from Vologda and its neighbourhood 

 to Archangel. It rises in the lake Koubenska, by 

 means of which it is proposed to open a communication 

 between the Souchona and the river Seleksa. 



The Russian government has proposed to unite the 

 Dvina with the Niemcn, by means of the rivers Ne- 

 vesha and Lavenna ; and a plan and estimate have been 

 given iu by General de Witt. This plan would be of 

 the greatest advantage to all the adjacent country, but 

 particularly to Livonia, Lithuania, Courland, and the 

 country beyond the Oginsky canal. The productions 

 of these fertile regions, instead of being carried into the 

 Prussian ports of Konigsberg, Memel, Pilau, &c. would 

 be conveyed to Riga, Kofna, &c. and the native mer- 

 chant would thus derive all the advantage which ac- 

 crues from the sale of his goods in his own country. See 

 the Report of the Hoard of Hussion Engineers on the 

 state of the internal Navigation of Russia, in Clarke's 

 TraWts, vol. i. Appendix, No. viii. () 



DULCIANA STOP, in music, is one of the ranges of 

 metal pipes in an organ, long and slender, of a peculiar 

 sweetness of tone, which Mr Suetzler introduced into 

 the choir organ as a solo reed stop. It is tuned in uni- 

 son with the diapasons, but has less compass than them, 

 descending only to C-gamut. It is a stop that usually 

 stands well in tune. (;) 



