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DUCHA'T (Jacob le), an eflimable men of letters, 
born at Metz, in 16 5S. His father was a com miliary at 
war, of a family from Troyes in Champagne, which had 
become refugees on account of protedantifrri. Duchat 
dudied law at Strafburg, and purfned it profellionally till 
the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He then retired 
to Berlin, where he was made counfellor of the upper 
court of French judicature, and member of the Royal 
Academy of Sciences. He lived in celibacy, devoted to 
the purfuit of literature and the fociety of his friends, 
and died in 1735. Duchat was well acquainted with the 
old French authors who wrote previoufly to the reign of 
Henry IV. He gave editions of feveral of them, enriched 
with notes and anecdotes, of which the principal are : 1. 
Confeffion Catholique- du Sieur de Saucy, 1693, 1720. 2. La 
Satyre Mcnippe'e , 1696, 1714. 3. Les Oeuvres de Rabelais , 
5 vols. 8vo. 3 vols. 4to. 1715. 4. Les Aventures du Ba- 
ron de Fcr/rfe, 1729. 5. Les Quinzc Joies du Manage, 1734. 
6. UApologie pour Herodote, 1735. After his death were 
ptiblifhed Ducatiana, 2 vols. Svo, a compilation of his 
remarks, &c. 
DUCHE' de VANCY (Jofeph Francis) a French poet, 
born at Paris, in <668. He was brought up to letters, 
and wrote fome poems, which fo much pleafed madame 
de M.iintenon, that fhe made choice of him to compofe 
facred poems for the young ladies of St. Cyr. He was of 
an amiable character, and cherifhed in fociety, which he 
enlivened by an extraordinary talent for declamation. He 
was admitted into the academy of inferiptions and belles, 
lettres, and died in 1704, at the age of thirty-feven. He 
compofed, in imitation of Racine, fome tragedies from 
feripture fubjefts; of which his Abfalom contained fome 
pathetic feenes, which gave it a permanent place on the 
itage. He alfo wrote a collection of Edifying Hidories. 
Of the pieces he wrote at an early period, the belt is his 
Iphigenia in Tatiris, an opera in the grand fly 1 e, which, 
according to Voltaire, affords a lively idea of the bell 
parts in th ■ Greek tragedies. 
DU'CHESS, or Dutchess, \_duchefc, Fr. ] The lady 
of a duke. A lady who has the lovereignty of a duke¬ 
dom : 
The gen’rous god who wit and gold refines. 
And ripens fpirits as he ripens mines, 
Kept drofs for duchejfes , tiie world fhall know it, 
To you gave fenfe, good humour, and a poet. Pope. 
The only remedy for thefe evils, was concluded to be 
the efpoufals of the dutchefs of Britanny and the king of 
France. Hume .—A title of dignity for a female : 
What think you of a dutchefs? have you limbs 
To bear that load of title > Shakefpeare. 
DU'CHESS COUNTY, a county of the American 
States, in the date of New York, on the ead fide of Hud- 
fan river. It has the date of Connecticut on the ead, 
Wed Cheder on the foutli, and Columbia county on the 
north. It is about forty-eight miles long and twenty- 
three broad, and contains fifteen townfiiips, of which 
Poughkeepfie and Fifh Kill are the chief. It contains 
45,266 inhabitants ; and fends feven reprefentatives to 
the affembly of the date. In 1792, a remarkable cavern 
was difeovered in this county, at a place called by the 
Indians Sepafcot, at Rhynbeck. A lad, by chance, pair¬ 
ing near its entrance, which lies between two huge rocks, 
on the declivity of a deep hill, on prying into the gloomy 
recefs, favv the top of a ladder, by which he defeended 
about ten feet, and found himfelf in a fubterraneous 
apartment, more capacious than he chofe to invedigate. 
He found, however, that it had been the abode of per- 
fons, who, probably, during the American war, had taken 
fhelter here, as bits of cloth and pieces of leather were 
fcattered about its floor. Like many other caverns in 
the United States, it poffefihs a petrifying quality; and 
the water, which is condantly percolating through the 
Vol. VI. No. 334. 
roofs of its apartments, has formed a variety of tranfpa- 
rent and beautiful dalaftites. But what is mod to be 
admired is the dceleton of a large fnakc, turned into folid 
done by the petrifying quality of the water, yet having 
all its parts as perfect and complete as in real life. 
DU'CHESS (La), a town of Italy, in the kingdom of 
Naples, and province of Abruzzo Ultra : eleven miles 
fouth-fouth-wed of Aquila. 
DU'CHY, f [ducke, Fr.] A territory which gives title 
to a duke, or has a duke for its fovereign. 
DU'CHY COURT, /'. A court wherein all matters be¬ 
longing to the duchy or county palatine of Lane .der are' 
decided. See the article Chancellor of the Duchy 
of Lancaster, vol. iv. p. 87. 
DUCHOVTSCHLNA, a town ofRuffia, in the govern¬ 
ment of Smolendc : twenty-four miles north of Smolenfk, 
and 30offouth-fouth-ead of Peterfburg. 
DUCK, f [duckcn , Dtit. to dip.] A water-fowl, both 
wild and tame. See Anas, vol. i. p. 515. 
The ducks , that heard the proclamation cry’d. 
And fear’d a profecution might betide, 
Full twenty mile from town their voyage take, 
Obfcure in ruflies of the liquid lake. Drydcn . 
A word of endearment, or fondnefs : 
Will you buy any tape or lace for your cap, 
My dainty duck , my dear-a > Shakefpeare. 
A declination of the head ; fo called from the frequent 
aiffion of a duck in the watci : 
Back, diepherds, back ; enough your play 
Till next funfhine holyday ; 
Here be without duck or nod, 
Other trippings to be trod. Milton. 
A done thrown obliquely on the water, fo as to drikeit 
and rebound.—Neither crofs and pile, nor ducks and 
drakes, are quite fo ancient as handy-dandy. Arbuthnot. 
To DUCK, v. n. To dive under water as a duck : 
Let the labouring bark climb hills of feas 
Olympus high, and duck again as low 
As hell’s from heaven. Shakefpeare. 
To drop down the head, as a duck : 
When at a fkirmifli fird he hears 
The bullets whidling round his ears, 
Will duck his head aiide, will dart. 
And feel a trembling at his heart. Swift. 
To bow low ; to cringe. In Scottidi, duyk, or juyk, to 
make obeifance, is dill ufed : 
The learned pate 
Ducks to the golden fool. Shakefpeare. 
To DUCK, v. a. To put under water. 
DUCK, a river of North America, in Tenneffee, which 
rifeson the north-wed fide of the Cumberland mountain. 
It runs a north-wed courfe, and empties into the Tenneffee 
in north lat. 36. It is 200 yards wide five miles from its 
mouth, which is fifty-feven miles wederly of Nafhville; 
and is boatable ninety miles. 
DUCK ISLAND, a finall ifland in the Atlantic, near 
the coad of Main, in North America, belonging to the 
American States. Lat. 44. 45. N. Ion. 67. 43.W. Green¬ 
wich. 
DUCK’s-FOOT. See Podophyllum. 
DUCK’s-MEAT. See Lemna. 
DUCK'CREEK, a town of the American States, in 
the date of Delaware, now named Salisbury. 
DUCK'COY,/; Any means of enticing and enfnaring. 
—Seducers have found it the mod compendious way to 
their defigns, to lead captive filly women, and make them 
the duckcoys to their whole family. Decay of Piety. 
DUCK.'ER,y. A diver ; one that ducks another. A 
cringer. 
DUCK'INGSTOOL, f. A chair in which fcolds are 
E e tied. 
