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DURANGO DURHAM. 



his sect, occasioned by the repeal of the edict o 

 Naiites. lie died at I'nris, in 1(>SH. Mildness ant 

 modesty tempered his heroic character; and Di 

 Ruyter was his model. He left four sons, of whon 

 the most famous, Henry, marquis of Duqiiesne, was 

 also distinguished as a navnl character. 



DUKANGO; a town in Mexico, capital of the 

 province of New Biscay, or Durango ; 335 miles 

 N.W. Mexico; Ion. 103 35f W.; lat. 24 25' N. 

 population, according to Humboldt, 12,000; accord- 

 ing to Pike, 40,000. It is a bishop's see. The 

 town is situated on an elevation, 6845 feet above the 

 sea. The air is healthy, the surrounding country 

 fertile, producing an abundance of wheat, maiz:', 

 fruits, &c., and the trade of the town is considerable. 

 DURANTE, FRANCESCO, a celebrated composer, 

 was born in 1 <>!)3, .at Naples, and received liis first 

 instruction from the famous Alexander Scarlatti. 

 The fame of Pasquini and Pittoni drew him to Rome, 

 whither he went to perfect himself in the knowledge 

 of counterpoint. He then returned to Naples, as 

 maestro di capella (director of the musical choir), and 

 composed, almost exclusively, for the church. In 

 vocal church music, he attained a high degree of 

 eminence. He also educated the most celebrated 

 musical masters of the eighteenth century in Naples 

 Pergolese, Sacchini, Piccini, Guglielmi, Traetta, 

 Jomelli, &c. and died at Naples, 1755, at the age 

 of sixty-two. 



DURER, ALBERT ; bom at Nuremberg, 1471. 

 His father was a skilful goldsmith of Hungary, and 

 himself instructed his son Albert. Durer's talent 

 early developed itself; and, although he had made 

 great progress in his father's profession by the time 

 he was fifteen, his inclination took a decided turn 

 for painting. Michael Wohlgemuth, then the best 

 painter in Nuremberg, became his instructer in 1486. 

 Having finished his studies, he entered upon his 

 travels, and, in 1490, travelled through Germany 

 and Alsace. In 1492, he passed through Colmar 

 and Basle, and, in 1494, returned home. Here he 

 executed his masterpiece, a drawing of Orpheus. 

 To please his father, he married the daughter of 

 Hans Fritz, a celebrated mechanic ; but this con- 

 nexion imbittered his life, and perhaps brought him 

 to an early grave. In 1505, he went to Venice to 

 accomplish himself in his art. His abilities excited 

 envy and admiration. He painted the Martyrdom 

 of Bartholomew, for St Mark's church, which paint- 

 ing was purchased by the emperor Rodolph, and 

 removed to Prague. He also travelled to Bologna, 

 to improve his knowledge of perspective. This 

 journey had no effect upon his style. At his return, 

 in 1507, begins the proper era of his greatness. In 

 1520, he again visited the Netherlands, probably 

 for amusement only. His fame spread far and wide. 

 Maximilian I. appointed him his court-painter, and 

 Charles V. confirmed him in this office, bestowing 

 upon him, at the same time, the painter's coat of 

 arms, viz., three escutcheons argent, in a deep azure 

 field. Durer was in favour witn high and low. All 

 the artists and learned men of his time honoured and 

 loved him, and his early death, in 1528, was greatly 

 lamented. Profound application, great facility in the 

 mechanical part of his art, and a remarkable talent 

 of imitation, were the characteristics of Durer, and 

 enabled him to exert a great influence on the charac- 

 ter of German art. He was the first in Germany 

 who taught the rules of perspective, and of the pro- 

 portions of the human body, according to mathe- 

 matical principles. His treatise on proportions was 

 occasioned, it is said, by his studies on the picture of 

 Adam and Eve. He not only made use of the burin, 

 like his predecessors, but was also the inventor of 

 etching, or, if not the inventor, the first who excel- 



led in the art. He invented the method of printing 

 wood-cuts with two colours. His great mathenmti- 

 cal knowledge enabled him to form a regular system 

 of rules for drawing and painting. He wrote die 

 first book on fortification, in Germany, and showed 

 how to cast the letters of the alphabet according to 

 fixed proportions, by geometrical calculations. He 

 was particularly eminent as a portrait painter. He 

 had the power of catching the exact expression of 

 the features, and of delineating all the passions. 

 Among his best engravings in copper are his 

 Fortune, Melancholy, Adam and Eve in Para- 

 dise, St Hubert, St Jerome, and the Smaller 

 Passion, (so called), in sixteen plates. Among 

 his best wood-cuts are the Greater Puss'um (so 

 called), in thirteen plates ; the Smaller Passion 

 with the frontispiece, thirty-seven pieces ; the Re- 

 velation of St John, with the frontispiece, fit'tet n 

 plates ; the Life of Mary, two prints, with the fron- 

 tispiece. Bartsch, however, has made it more than 

 probable, tlrnt Durer himself did not engrave in 

 wood. He only made the drawings on wooden 

 tablets, which were then cut by form-cutters, of whom 

 there were many skilful ones at that time. Durer 

 lias, also, much merit as a writer. He laboured t<> 

 purify and elevate the German language, in which 

 he was assisted by his friend, W. Pirkheimer. His 

 writings, which were afterwards translated into 

 Latin, French, &c., were published, in a collected 

 form, at Arnheim, by J. Jansen (1G03, fob'o). J. J. 

 Roth has written a life of him (Leipsic, 1791). 



DURESS, in law, is restraint or compulsion ; and 

 it is a general principle, that a contract made under 

 compulsion is not binding ; and many acts will be 

 excused on this ground, which would otherwise be 

 blamable. There may be very different degrees of 

 constraint, from absolute necessity down to a slight 

 motive of fear ; and the motives of fear may be of 

 very different strength ; for, if a man's life is endan- 

 gered by his refusal to do an act, the law considers 

 him to be under the highest compulsion, and contracts 

 made under such motives are not binding. Dure.-s 

 may take place in two different ways : 1. by actual 

 imprisonment, and, 2. by threats, per minus. If a 

 man be illegally confined to compel him to sign a 

 deed, he may avoid it ; but, if he be legally impri- 

 soned, and, to gain his liberty, signs a deed or agree- 

 ment, it will bind him. This is not the duress con- 

 templated by the law. Compulsion will excuse acts, 

 which, done voluntarily, and from choice, would be 

 capital crimes ; for, by compulsion of an enemy, a 

 man may do acts which, had they been of his free 

 choice, would liave been treason, and yet be excused. 

 But the evil committed must be in some proportion 

 o that feared, as a man would not be excused for 

 icmicide, to avoid even a serious injury to himself. 

 But in regard to civil transactions, a smaller degree 

 of restraint will be the ground of avoiding an obliga- 

 ion. It has been adjudged that, if one make a deed 

 jo avoid the duress done by merely taking his cattle, 

 n other words, to procure their liberation, if they 

 were unlawfully detained, the deed may be avoided. 

 A son may allege the duress of a father, a husband 

 that of his wife, a servant that of his master, and a 

 master that of liis servant, in avoidance of a deed. 

 A marriage, as well as any other contract, made by 

 me under duress, may, on this ground, be avoided. 



DURHAM, BISHOPRIC OF, the only county palatine 

 remaining in England. It is called a county palatine 

 a palatio, because the owners thereof had the 

 luthority to use the royal prerogative as fully as the 

 ting had in his palace. It has a court of chancery, 

 and the bishop is at the head of the administration 

 jf justice. Durham is bounded on the east by the 

 German Ocean, on the north by Northumberland, 



