DUK 



qhaUenge. This custom came originally 

 from the northern nations, among whom 

 it was usual to decide all their controver- 

 sies by arms. Both the accuser and ac- 

 cused gave pledges to the judges on their 

 respective behalf ; and the custom pre- 

 vailed so far amongst the Germans, Danes, 

 and Franks, that none were excused from 

 it but women, sick people, cripples, and 

 such as were under 21 years of age, or 

 above 60. Even ecclesiastics, priests, 

 and monks, were obliged to find champi- 

 ons to fight in their stead. The punishment 

 of the vanquished was, either death by 

 hanging or beheading ; or mutilation of 

 members, according to the circumstances 

 of the case. Duels were at first admitted 

 not only on criminal occasions,but on some 

 civil ones, for the maintenance of rights to 

 estates, and the like : in latter times, how- 

 ever, before they were entirely abolish- 

 ed, they were restrained to these four 

 cases : 1. That the crime should be capi- 

 tal. 2 That it should be certain the 

 crime was perpetrated. 3. The accused 

 must, by common fame, be supposed guil- 

 ty. And, 4. The matter not capable of 

 proof by witnesses. In England, though 

 the trial of duel is disused, the law on 

 which it is founded is still in force. See 

 CHAMPION. 



DUEL, at present, is used for a single 

 combat on some private qHarrel, and 

 must be premeditated, otherwise it is 

 called a rencounter. If a person be kill- 

 ed in a duel, both the principals and se- 

 conds are guilty of murder, whether the 

 seconds engage or not. It is also a very 

 high offence to challenge a person, either 

 by word or letter, or to be the messen- 

 ger of a challenge. 



DUET, in music, a composition ex- 

 'pressly written for two voices or instru- 

 ments, with or without a bass and accom- 

 paniments. In good duets the execution 

 is pretty equally distributed between the 

 two parts, and the melodies so connected, 

 intermingled, and dependent on each 

 other, as to lose every effect when sepa- 

 rated, but to be perfectly related and 

 concinnous when heard together. 



DUKE, is either the title of a sovereign 

 prince, as the Duke of Savoy, Parrna, &c. 

 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Muscovy, 

 &c. or it is the title of honour and nobi- 

 lity next below princes. The command- 

 ers of armies in time of war, the go- 

 vernors of provinces, and wardens of 

 marches, in time of peace, were called 

 duces> under the latter emperors. The 

 Goths and Vandals divided all Gaul into 

 dutchies and counties, the governors of 



BUM 



which they sometimes call dnces, 

 sometimes comites. In France, under t 

 second race of kings, though they 

 tained the name and form of ducal 

 vernment, there were scarce any duk 

 except those of Burgundy, Aquitain, a 

 France. In England, among the Saxo 

 the commanders of armies., &c. were call 

 ed dukes, duces, without any addition, 

 till Edward 111. made his son, the Black 

 Prince, Duke of Cornwall ; after whom 

 there were more made in the same man. 

 ner, the title descending to their poste- 

 rity. Duke, then, at present, is a mere 

 title of dignity, without giving any do- 

 main, territory, or jurisdiction, over the 

 place from whence the title it taken. A 

 duke is created by patent, cincture of 

 sword, mantle of state, imposition of a cap 

 and coronet of gold on his head, and 

 a verge of gold put into his hand. His 

 title is Grace; and in the style of the he- 

 ralds, Most high, potent, high-born, and 

 noble prince. 



DULCIMER, in music, is a triangular 

 instrument, strung with about fifty wires 

 cast over a bridge at each end, the short- 

 est or most acute of which is about 

 eighteen inches long, and the longest 

 or most grave thiriy-six. It is perform- 

 ed upon by striking- the wires by little 

 iron rods. 



DUMBNESS, the privation of the fa- 

 culty of speech. The most general, or 

 rather the sole couse of dumbness, is the 

 want of the sense of hearing. The use of 

 language is originally acquired by imitat- 

 ing articulate sounds. From this source 

 of intelligence deaf people are entirely 

 excluded; they cannot acquire articulate 

 sounds by the ear: unless, therefore, ar- 

 ticulation be communicated to them by 

 some other medium, these unhappv peo- 

 ple must for ever be deprived of the use 

 of language : and as language is the prin- 

 cipal source of knowledge, whoever has 

 the misfortune to want the sense of hear- 

 ing must remain in a state little superi- 

 or to that of the brute creation. Deaf- 

 ness has in all ages been considered as 

 such a total obstruction to speech or 

 written language, that an attempt to 

 teach the deaf to speak or read has been 

 uniformly regarded as impracticable, till 

 Dr. Wallis, and some others, have of late 

 shown, that although deaf people cannot 

 learn to speak or read by the direction of 

 the ear, there are other sources of imi- 

 tation by which the same effect may be 

 produced. The organs of hearing and 

 of speech have little or no connection* 

 Persons deprived of the former general- 



