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DUNS DUPATY. 



Burgundy), anil of the wife of Cany. Dunois made 

 the name "Bastard of Orleans'' illustrious hy his 

 military exploits. lie began his career with the 

 defeat of Warwick mid Suflblk, whom he pursued to 

 1'aris. Being besieged by the English, he defended 

 Orleans with the greatest courage until relieved by 

 the maid of Orleans. To the count of Orleans 

 belongs, almost entirely, the honour of expelling the 

 enemies of his country from Normandy and Guienne. 

 In 1441, lie gave them their death blow at Chatil- 

 lon ; and it may truly be said, that Charles VII. was 

 indebted to him for his crown. Dunois received from 

 him the title of " deliverer of his country," the county 

 >f Longueville, and the dignity of high-chamberlain 

 of France. Louis XI. valued him no less. Not- 

 withstanding this, Dunois was the soul of the league 

 which was formed against Louis, under the name of 

 the league for the public good. 



DUNS, JOHN, commonly called Duns Scotus, an 

 eminent scholastic divim- of the thirteenth and four 

 teenth centuries. The place of his birth has been 

 much disputed, but the best supported hypothesis is, 

 that he was a native of Duns in Scotland. He was 

 admitted, when young, into an institution belonging 

 to the Franciscan friars at Newcastle, whence he was 

 sent to Merton college, Oxford. Becoming cele- 

 brated for his skill in scholastic theology, civil law, 

 logic, and mathematics, he was, in 1301, appointed 

 divinity professor at Oxford ; and the feme of his 

 learning and talents drew crowds of scholars from all 

 parts. In 1304, he was sent by his superiors to 

 Fans, in the university of which city he was admit- 

 ted to the highest honours, and appointed professor 

 and regent in the theological schools, in which situa- 

 tion he acquired the title of " the most subtle doc- 

 tor." Nothing, however, could be more barren and 

 useless than the chimerical abstraction and metaphy- 

 sical refinements which obtained him this title. Duns 

 opposed Aquinas on the subject of grace ; and hence 

 the Scotists are opposed to the Thomists. The im- 

 maculate conception of the Virgin Mary was another 

 of the tenets which divided these fierce antagonists ; 

 and it is believed by many authors, that it was Duns 

 who first propounded it. In the year 1308, he was 

 sent to Cologne, by the head of his order, to teach 

 theology, but was cut off by an apoplexy, and, as a 

 disputed account asserts, buried before he was actually 

 dead, as was discovered by an examination of his 

 grave. His death happened, according to some 

 writers, in his thirty-fourth, and to others, in his 

 forty-third year. He left behind him numerous works, 

 which were collected by Lucas Waddingius, in 12 

 vols., folio, Lyons, 1639. 



DUNSE ; a market-town and parish in Berwick- 

 shire, the name of which is derived from the Celtic 

 Dun, a hill, the ancient town having occupied the 

 summit of the beautiful eminence, Dunse Law, which 

 comprises an area of thirty acres, elevated 630 feet 

 above the level of the sea, and whose base is about 

 three miles in circumference. At its foot stands the 

 modern town, forty-two miles south-east of Edin- 

 burgh, upon the banks of the YVhittadder, a neat 

 place, consisting of several spacious well paved 

 streets terminating in a square, where the markets 

 are held, and in the centre of which a new town- 

 house has been recently erected in the Gothic style. 

 Besides the church, an elegant fabric with a spire, 

 built in 1792, there are places of worship for various 

 denominations of dissenters, and a free grammar- 

 school in high repute. Dunse is the seat of a presby- 

 tery, and was constituted a burgh of barony before 

 1661, when it liecame the county-town, and continued 

 so about thirty-five years, at the end of which the 

 pre-eminence was again given to Greenlaw. Here 

 are manufactures of woollen cloth and tine linen, an 



extensive bleaching-ground, a large brewery, m J 

 several paper mills, established on the Whittaddcr, 

 which lias its source in the Laminermuir Hills, runs 

 through the parish, and yields excellent salmon. The 

 parish is eight miles in length by five in breadth 

 1'opulatiou in 1831, 3469. 



DUNSTAN, ST, an Anglo-Saxon divine and states- 

 man of the tenth century, alike celebrated in legend- 

 ary and authentic history, was born at Glastonbury, 

 in 925, and was educated under Irish ecclesiastics, 

 who were inmates of the famous abbey at that place. 

 He acquired a knowledge of the Latin language ;md 

 of philosophy, and studied the Scriptures and the 

 writings of the fathers ; besides which, he became 

 skilled in music, painting, carving, and working in 

 metals. He was introduced, early in life, to the 

 court of king Athelstan, by his uncle Athelm, arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury. Some indiscretion, or the 

 jealousy of rivals, compelled him to retire from court ; 

 and the disappointment of his prospects, together 

 with a dangerous fit of sickness, seriously impressed 

 his mind, and led him to seek for tranquillity in the 

 monastic lite. He took the vows at Glastonbury, 

 and devoted himself with ardour to the duties of his 

 profession. So entirely had he relinquished all views 

 of secular ambition, that he divided between the 

 church and the poor a valuable estate, bequeathed 

 to him by a wealthy Saxon lady, as well as his 

 paternal inheritance, which devolved to him at this 

 period. On the death of Athelstan, Edmund, the 

 brother and successor of that prince, invited liim to 

 court ; and Edred, the next king, made him his prime 

 minister and principal director in civil and ecclesias- 

 tical affairs. On the death of Edred, his nephew 

 Edwy, who was, probably, not more than fourteen 

 years of age, ascended the throne. The enmity of 

 the profligate courtiers was particularly directed 

 against Dunstan, who was obliged to flee from his 

 native country. He took refuge in Flanders, where 

 he remained till he was recalled to England by king 

 Edgar, to whom the imprudent Edwy had been oblig- 

 ed to cede a part of his dominions. Dunstan was 

 made bishop of Worcester, and, when Edgar became 

 possessed of the whole kingdom, was raised to the 

 see of Canterbury. In this station, his influence was 

 exerted in promoting the introduction of the rule of 

 St Benedict, which inculcated vows of chastity into 

 the monastic institutions in England. The secular 

 priests, who were generally married, were expelled 

 from religious houses, and replaced by Benedictine 

 monks, wherever the power of Dunstan extended. 

 During the reign of Edgar, he was supported in the 

 execution of his plans by the royal authority ; but, 

 under Edward the Martyr, he experienced great op- 

 position from the patrons of the secular clergy ; and, 

 after Ethelred II. became king, his influence still 

 further declined, and he thenceforward interfered but 

 little in public affairs. He died in 988. Few charac- 

 ters in English history have been more variously re- 

 presented than that of Dunstan. The monks repre- 

 sent him as the most learned and accomplished pre- 

 late, and most eminent statesman of his age. Popular 

 tradition paints him as a master of magic arts, sub- 

 jecting demons to his power. Modern Protestant 

 writers have imputed the imaginary miracles of Dun- 

 stan to his hypocrisy, overlooking their real origin in 

 popular misconception. Osbern, who wrote the life 

 of Dunstan a century after his decease, first appears 

 to have propagated the legendary tales which have 

 been so injurious to his fame, and of which no notice 

 is taken by a contemporary anonymous biographer, 

 whose memoir of the saint has been published by the 

 Bollandists, and has every mark of authenticity. 



DUPATY, JEAN BAPTISTE MERCIER ; born 1746, 

 at Rochelle. In 1767, he became advocate-general 



