DUBOS DUCK. 



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spite of his debauchery, lie was very industrious. 

 His wealth was immense, and liis revenue amounted 

 to millions of francs. His memory was liated and 

 ridiculed. Even the inscription on his tomb is a 

 satire j for, after enumerating all liis offices and 

 dignities, it concludes, solidiora ct stabiliora bona, 

 viator, mortuo precare." 



DUBOS, JEAN BAPTISTE ; one of the earliest 

 French writers who endeavoured to found a theory of 

 the arts on general principles. He enriched the 

 theory of the arts by Jiis comparison of poetry, paint- 

 ing, and music, (Reflexions sur la Poesie, la Pcinture 

 tt la Musiyue, Paris, 1719 ; 6th ed., 1755, in 3 vols.). 

 The foundation on which he rested his theory was, 

 the necessity which every one feels of exercising the 

 powers of his mind, and of setting his invention at 

 work. He was born at Beauvais, in 1670, studied 

 there and at Paris, and was placed, in 1695, in the 

 office of foreign affairs, under the minister De Torcy, 

 who gave him important commissions in Germany, 

 Italy, England, and Holland. In these journeys, he 

 collected the information concerning the arts which 

 his book contains. After his return to France, he 

 obtained a benefice, a pension, and, in 1722, was 

 elected perpetual secretary of the French academy 

 He distinguished himself as an historian by lusHistoire 

 de la Ligue de Cambray (Paris, 1721, 2 vols., 12mo), 

 and by his Histoire critique de V Etablissement de la 

 Monarchic Francaise dans les Gaules (Amsterdam, 

 1743, 2 vols, 4to and 12mo). Voltaire ranks him 

 among the writers who were an honour to the age of 

 Louis XIV. He died at Paris, 1742. 



DUCANGE. See Dufresne. 



DUCAT is a gold or silver coin. For its value, 

 see Coins. In Switzerland, ducats are called Sc/iild- 

 franken. The Dutch ducats, which are coined in 

 great numbers, are the most used in commerce, and 

 are to be found in all quarters of the world. In the 

 northern countries of Europe, and particularly in 

 Russia, the dealings in money and goods are carried 

 on mostly by means of this coin. The exportation of 

 ducats, is, therefore, an important branch of Dutch 

 commerce. This coin and the name are derived 

 from Longinus, a duke of Ravenna, in the sixth cen- 

 tury : the first issue of them has also been ascribed 

 to St Roger II., of Apulia, who, in 1140, coined 

 ducats bearing the figure of Christ, and the inscrip- 

 tion, Sit tibi, Christe, datus, quern tu regis, iste ducatus. 

 The Venetians took his ducats for their pattern in 

 1280 : they were found to constitute a convenient 

 medium of exchange, were adopted by Genoa, and 

 thus came into general use. This standard of coin 

 was also adopted in Hungary ; and, for a long time, 

 all foreign coins bore the name of Ongri or Hungar- 

 ians, in Italy, where the trade of the world was, at 

 this period, concentrated. They were, in many 

 kinds of business, the favourite standard of reckon- 

 ing. They did not become so common in Germany 

 till a much later date. The golden bull of Charles 

 IV. gave to all the members of the empire the 

 privilege of issuing gold coins, with any stamp they 

 chose; but these were only gold gilders, equivalent 

 to the favourite florin. The ducats most generally 

 met with are the old Dutch ducats, bearing the 

 impression of an armed figure, which gave way, for 

 a short time only, to the figure of Louis, king of 

 Holland. They circulated almost as merchandise, 

 but had been frequently counterfeited in theGrisons. 

 The counterfeits were very good to appearance, both 

 in weight and sound. See Coins. 



DUCATOON ; a Dutch gold coin (also called 

 Ruyder) worth about twenty florins (see Com*) : also 

 an Italian silver coin current for about five shillings. 

 The Dutch gold ducatoon is a national coin, only 

 circulating in the country. There is also a silver 



ducatoon, used particularly in the East India trade. 

 There is likewise a French silver coin of this name, 

 of nearly the same value as the Italian ducatoon. 



DUCHESNE, or DU CHESNE, ANDRE (Lat., 

 Chesnius, Duchenius, Quercetanus), from his histori- 

 cal researches, lias been called the father of French 

 history. He was born 1584, at Isle Bouchard, in 

 Touraine ; he studied at London and Paris, was 

 appointed royal geographer and historiographer, 

 and died in 1640. His most important works are 

 his collection of French historians (Historic Franco- 

 rum Scriptores, 3 vols., to which his son Francois 

 Duchesne added a fourth and fifth from the papers 

 left by his father), which the French government 

 have since several times expressed a wish to have 

 completed ; his Histories Normanorum Scriptores ab 

 Anno 838 1220 ; and his genealogical works, which 

 throw much light on the history of France. The: 

 number of his writings is very great ; some were 

 published by his son after his death. He left more 

 than a hundred folios in manuscript. 



DUCIS, JEAN FRANSOIS, a French dramatic poet, 

 known by his adaptation of many pieces of Shak- 

 speare to the French theatre, was born at Versailles, 

 and, late in life, became a writer for the stage. His 

 first piece, called Amelise, was unsuccessful, and 

 those which followed it shared the same fate. His 

 Hamlet attracted much attention, as it was the first 

 of Shakspeare's plays which appeared on the French 

 stage. This play and his next, Romeo and Juliet, 

 and likewise those which appeared later, were so 

 much changed, to adapt them to the French taste, 

 that the title, in some instances, is almost the only 

 thing which reminds us of the original. These 

 'changes, however, only added to the applause with 

 which they were received in France. He afterwards 

 endeavoured, in his (Edt'pe chez Admete, to imitate 

 the Greeks ; but he soon returned to Shakspeare, 

 and translated successively Lear, Macbeth, Othello, 

 and other plays. Abufar or the Arabian Family is 

 one of the best of his original pieces. His style is, 

 perhaps, harsh, but sometimes noble, and full ot 

 tragic dignity. He succeeded Voltaire, in the 

 academy, in 1778. He was subsequently secretary 

 to Louis XVIII. He remained true to this monarch 

 under all circumstances, and, while on the point of 

 starving, refused the place of a senator, with 40,000 

 francs a-year, and the cross of the legion of honour, 

 offered him by Bonaparte. The return of Louis 

 XVIII. made his old age happy. He was gratified 

 when the king recited some of his verses to him at 

 his first audience. " I am more happy," said he, 

 " than Boileau and Racine ; they recited their verses 

 to Louis XIV ; the king recites mine to me." He 

 died, March 31, 1817, at Versailles. His (Euvres 

 appeared, in 1819, at Paris, in 3 vols. Campenon 

 published, at Paris, in 1824, Lettres sur la Vie, le 

 Caract. et les Ecrits de J. F. Ducts. 



DUCK (anas, Lin.); a very extensive and natural 

 genus of water birds, which are found in all parts of 

 the world. It has been divided by naturalists into 

 an infinity of different genera ; to such a degree, 

 indeed, that, according to some of the distinctions 

 which liave been made, it would be impossible to 

 leave the females of several species in the same 

 genus with the males. The prince of Musignano is 

 of opinion, that they might be adv antageously separ- 

 ated into four sub-genera, in which we shall follow 

 him. These are anser, or goose, cygnus, or swan, 

 anas, or duck, Ka&fuligula. Thirty-two species of 

 this interesting genus inhabit Europe, and thirty- 

 one North America; of these, twenty-one are common 

 to the two continents, leaving ten peculiar toAmerica, 

 and eleven to Europe. The mallard, or common 

 wild duck (A. boschas), is found both in Europe and 



