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# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curaçao

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​CURAÇAO, or Curaçoa, an island in the Dutch West Indies. It lies 40 m. from the north coast of Venezuela, in 12° N. and 69° W., being 40 m. long from N.W. to S.E., with an average width of 10 m. and an area of 212 sq. m. The surface is generally flat, but in the south-west there are hills attaining an elevation of 1200 ft. The shores are in places deeply indented, forming several natural harbours, the chief of which is that of St Anna on the south-west coast. Curaçao consists of eruptive rocks, chiefly diorite and diabase, and is surrounded by coral reefs. Streams are few and the rainfall is scanty, averaging only 16 in. per annum. Although the plains are for the most part arid wastes, sugar, aloes, tobacco and divi-divi are produced with much toil in the more fertile glens. Salt, phosphates and cattle are exported. The commerce is mainly with the United States, and there is a large carrying trade with Venezuela. The famous Curaçoa liqueur (see below) was originally made on the island from a peculiar variety of orange, the Citrus Aurantium curassuviensis. Willemstad (pop. about 8000), on the harbour of St. Anna, is the principal town. It bears a strong resemblance to a Dutch town, for the houses are built in the style of those of Amsterdam, and the narrow channel separating it from its western suburb of Overzijde and the waters of the Waigat, which intersect it, recall the canals. The narrow entrance leading to the Schottegat or Inner Harbour is protected by forts. The negroes of the island speak a curious dialect called Papaimento, composed of Spanish, Dutch, English and native words. Curaçao gives name to the government of the Dutch West Indies, which consists of Aruba, an island lying W. of Curaçao, with an area of 69 sq. m. and a population of 9591; Buen Ayre, lying 20 m. N.E., with an area of 95 sq. m. and a population of 4926; together with St Eustatius, Saba and part of St Martin. The governor is assisted by a council of four members and a colonial council of eight members nominated by the crown. The island of Curaçao has a population of 30,119; and altogether the Dutch West Indies have a population of 51,693.
Curaçao was discovered by Hojeda about 1499 and occupied by the Spaniards in 1527. In 1634 it fell into the hands of the Dutch, who have held it ever since, except during the year 1798 and from 1806 to 1814 when it passed into the possession of Great Britain.
See Wynmalen, “Les Colonies néerlandaises dans les Antilles,” Revue colon. internat. (1887), ii. p. 391; K. Martin, West-Indische Skizzen (Leiden, 1887); De Veer, La Colonie de Curaçoa (Les Pays Bas, 1898). Also several articles on all the islands in Tijdschrift v. h. Ned. Aardr. Genootschap (1883–1886).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curci, Carlo Maria

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​CURCI, CARLO MARIA (1810–1891), Italian theologian, was born at Naples. He joined the Jesuits in 1826, and for some time was devoted to educational work and the care of the poor and prisoners. He became one of the first editors of the Jesuit organ, the Civiltà Cattolica; but then came under the influence of Gioberti, Rosmini and other advocates for reform. He wrote a preface to Gioberti’s Primato (1843), but dissented from his Prolegomena. After the events of 1870, Curci, at Florence, delivered a course on Christian philosophy; and in 1874 began to publish several Scriptural works. In his edition of the New Testament (1879–1880) he makes some severe remarks on the neglect of the study of Scripture amongst the Italian clergy. In the meantime he began to attack the political action of the Vatican, and in his Il Moderno Dissidio tra la Chiesa e l’Italia (1878) he advocated an understanding between the church and state. This was followed by La Nuova Italia ed i Vecchi Zelanti (1881), another attack on the Vatican policy; and by his Vaticano Regio (1883), in which he accuses the Vatican of trafficking in holy things and declares that the taint of worldliness came from the false principles accepted by the Curia. His former work at Naples drew him also in the direction of Christian Socialism. He was condemned at Rome, and in a letter to The Times (10th of September 1884) declares that it was on account of his disobedience to the decrees of the Roman Congregation: “I am a dutiful son of the Church who hesitates to obey an order of his mother because he does not see clear enough the maternal authority in it.” He was cast out of the Society of Jesus and suspended, and during this time Cardinal Manning put his purse at Curci’s disposal. Finally he accepted the decrees against him and retracted “all that he said contrary to the faith, morals and discipline of the Church.” He passed the remainder of his life in retirement at Florence, and, a few months before his death, was readmitted to the Jesuit Society. He died on the 8th of June 1891.  (E. Tn.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curetus

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​CURETUS, a tribe of South American Indians, inhabiting the country between the rivers of Japura and Uaupés, north-western Brazil. They are short but sturdy, wear their hair long, and paint their bodies. Their houses are circular, with walls of thatch and a high conical roof. They are a peaceable people, living in small villages, each of which is governed by a chief.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curaçoa

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​CURAÇOA, a liqueur, chiefly manufactured in Holland. It is relatively simple in composition, the predominating flavour being obtained from the dried peel of the Curaçoa orange. The method of preparation is in principle as follows. The peel is first softened by maceration; then a part of the softened peel is distilled with spirit and water, and the remainder is macerated in a portion of the distillate so obtained. After two or three days the infusion is strained and added to the remainder of the original distillate. This simple method is subject to variations in manufacture, and the addition of a small quantity of Jamaica rum, in particular, is said to much improve the flavour. Dry Curaçoa contains about 39%, the sweet variety about 36% of alcohol. A lighter variety of Curaçoa, made with fine brandy, is known as “Grand Marnier.”
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Curfew

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​CURFEW, Curfeu or Couvre-feu, a signal, as by tolling a bell, to warn the inhabitants of a town to extinguish their fires or cover them up (hence the name) and retire to rest. This was a common practice throughout Europe during the middle ages, especially in cities taken in war. In the law Latin of those times it was termed ignitegium or pyritegium. In medieval Venice it was a regulation from which only the Barbers’ Quarter was exempt, doubtless because they were also surgeons and their services might be needed during the night. The curfew originated in the fear of fire when most cities were built of timber. That it was a most useful and practical measure is obvious when it is remembered that the household fire was usually made in a hole in the middle of the floor, under an opening in the roof through which the smoke escaped. The custom is commonly said to have been introduced into England by William the Conqueror, who ordained, under severe penalties, that at the ringing of the curfew-bell at eight o’clock in the evening all lights and fires should be extinguished. But as there is good reason to believe that the curfew-bell was rung each night at Carfax, Oxford (see Peshall, Hist. of Oxford), in the reign of Alfred the Great, it would seem that all William did was to enforce more strictly an existing regulation. The absolute prohibition of lights after the ringing of the curfew-bell was abolished by Henry I. in 1100. The practice of tolling a bell at a fixed hour in the evening, still extant in many places, is a survival of the ancient curfew. The common hour was at first seven, and it was gradually advanced to eight, and in some places to nine o’clock. In Scotland ten was not an unusual hour. In early Roman times curfew may possibly have served a political purpose by obliging people to keep within doors, thus preventing treasonable nocturnal assemblies, and generally assisting in the preservation of law and order. The ringing of the “prayer-bell,” as it is called, which is still practised in some Protestant countries, originated in that of the curfew-bell. In 1848 the curfew was still rung at Hastings, Sussex, from Michaelmas to Lady-Day, and this was the custom too at Wrexham, N. Wales.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dover (Delaware)

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​DOVER, the capital of Delaware, U.S.A., and the county seat of Kent county, on the St Jones River, in the central part of the state, about 48 m. S. of Wilmington and about 9 m. from Delaware Bay. Pop. (1890) 3061; (1900) 3329 (772 negroes); (1910) 3720. Dover is served by the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington railway (Pennsylvania system). The state house, built about 1722 for a court house, was remodelled for its present purpose in 1791; it contains the state library, which in 1908 had about 50,000 bound volumes. Dover is the seat of the Wilmington Conference Academy (Methodist Episcopal); and about 2 m. N. is the state college for coloured students (co-educational; opened in 1892), an agricultural and manual training school. The surrounding country is largely devoted to the raising of small fruit. Among the manufactures are canned fruit and meat (especially poultry), timber, machine shop products, baskets and crates, and silk. The town was laid out in 1717; in 1777 it replaced New Castle as the capital of the state, and in 1829 it was incorporated as a town. Dover was the birthplace of the American patriot, Caesar Rodney (1728–1784), whose home near Dover is still standing.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dover, Robert

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​DOVER, ROBERT (1575–1641), English captain and attorney, is known as the founder and director for many years of the “Cotswold Games,” which he originated as a protest against the growing Puritanism of the day. These sports, which were referred to by contemporary writers as “Mr Robert Dover’s Olimpick Games upon the Cotswold Hills,” consisted of cudgel-playing, wrestling, running at the quintain, jumping, casting the bar and hammer, hand-ball, gymnastics, rural dances and games and horse-racing, the winners in which received valuable prizes. They continued from about the year 1604 until three years after the death of Dover, which took place in 1641. They were revived for a brief period in the reign of Charles II.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Douville, Jean Baptiste

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​DOUVILLE, JEAN BAPTISTE (1794?–1837), French traveller, was born at Hambye, in the department of Manche. Having at an early age inherited a fortune, he decided to gratify his taste for foreign travel. According to his own profession he visited India, Kashmir, Khorasan, Persia, Asia Minor and many parts of Europe. In 1826 he went to South America, and in 1827 left Brazil for the Portuguese possessions on the west coast of Africa, where his presence in March 1828 is proved by the mention made of him in letters of Castillo Branco, the governor-general of Loanda. In May 1831 he reappeared in France, claiming to have pushed his explorations into the very heart of central Africa. His story was readily accepted by the Société de Géographie of Paris, which hastened to recognize his services by assigning him the great gold medal, and appointing him their secretary for the year 1832. On the publication of his narrative, Voyage au Congo et dans l’intérieur de l’Afrique équinoxiale, which occupied three volumes and was accompanied by an elaborate atlas, public enthusiasm ran high. Before the year 1832 was out, however, it was established that Douville’s Voyage was romance and not verity. He had probably been inspired by the appearance of René Caillié’s account of his journey to Timbuktu, and wished to obtain a share of the fame attaching to African explorers. Douville tried vainly to establish the truth of his story in Ma Défense (1832), and Trente mois de ma vie, ou quinze mois avant et quinze mois après mon voyage au Congo (1833). Mlle Audrun, a lady to whom he was about to be married, committed suicide from grief at the disgrace; and the adventurer withdrew in 1833 to Brazil, and proceeded to make explorations in the valley of the Amazon. According to Dr G. Gardner, in his Travels in the Interior of Brazil (1846), he was murdered in 1837 on the banks of the Sao Francisco for charging too high for his medical assistance. Douville may well have explored part of the province of Angola, and Sir Richard Burton maintained that the Frenchman’s descriptions of the country of the Congo were lifelike; that his observations on the anthropology, ceremonies, customs and maladies of the people were remarkably accurate; and that even the native words used in his narrative were “for the most part given with unusual correctness.” It has been shown, however, that the chief source of Douville’s inspiration was a number of unpublished Portuguese manuscripts to which he had access.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dover, George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, Baron

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​DOVER, GEORGE JAMES WELBORE AGAR-ELLIS, Baron (1797–1833), English man of letters, born on the 14th of January 1797, was the only son of the 2nd Viscount Clifden. He was educated at Westminster school and at Christ Church, Oxford. In 1818 he was returned to parliament as member for Heytesbury. He afterwards represented Seaford (1820), Ludgershall (1826) and Okehampton (1830). He seconded Canning’s motion in 1822 for a bill to relieve the disabilities of Roman Catholic peers, and consistently supported liberal principles. In party politics, however, he took little interest, but he zealously advocated in parliament and elsewhere that state encouragement should be given to the cause of literature and the fine arts. In 1824 he was the leading promoter of the grant of £57,000 for the purchase of John Julius Angerstein’s collection of pictures, which formed the foundation of the National Gallery. On the formation of Lord Grey’s administration, in November 1830, he was appointed chief commissioner of woods and forests, but was compelled by delicate health to resign it after two months’ occupancy. In June 1831, during the lifetime of his father, he was raised to the House of Lords, receiving an English peerage with the title of Baron Dover. He was president (1832) of the Royal Society of Literature, a trustee of the British Museum and of the National Gallery, and a commissioner of public records. He died on the 10th of July ​1833. Lord Dover’s works are chiefly historical, and include The True History of the Iron Mask, extracted from Documents in The French Archives (1826), Inquiries respecting the Character of Clarendon (1827), and a Life of Frederick II. (1831). He also edited the Ellis Correspondence (1829) and Walpole’s Letters to Sir Horace Mann (1833).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Douw, Gerhard

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​DOUW (or Dow), GERHARD (1613–1680), Dutch painter, was born at Leiden on the 7th of April 1613. His first instructor in drawing and design was Bartholomew Dolendo, an engraver; and he afterwards learned the art of glass-painting under Peter Kouwhoorn. At the age of fifteen he became a pupil of Rembrandt, with whom he continued for three years. From the great master of the Flemish school he acquired his skill in colouring, and in the more subtle effects of chiaroscuro; and the style of Rembrandt is reflected in several of his earlier pictures, notably in a portrait of himself at the age of twenty-two, in the Bridgewater House gallery, and in the “Blind Tobit going to meet his Son,” at Wardour Castle. At a comparatively early point in his career, however, he had formed a manner of his own distinct from, and indeed in some respects antagonistic to, that of his master. Gifted with unusual clearness of vision and precision of manipulation, he cultivated a minute and elaborate style of treatment; and probably few painters ever spent more time and pains on all the details of their pictures down to the most trivial. He is said to have spent five days in painting a hand; and his work was so fine that he found it necessary to manufacture his own brushes. Notwithstanding the minuteness of his touch, however, the general effect was harmonious and free from stiffness, and his colour was always admirably fresh and transparent. He was fond of representing subjects in lantern or candle light, the effects of which he reproduced with a fidelity and skill which no other master has equalled. He frequently painted by the aid of a concave mirror, and to obtain exactness looked at his subject through a frame crossed with squares of silk thread. His practice as a portrait painter, which was at first considerable, gradually declined, sitters being unwilling to give him the time that he deemed necessary. His pictures were always small in size, and represented chiefly subjects in still life. Upwards of 200 are attributed to him, and specimens are to be found in most of the great public collections of Europe. His chef-d’œuvre is generally considered to be the “Woman sick of the Dropsy,” in the Louvre. The “Evening School,” in the Amsterdam gallery, is the best example of the candlelight scenes in which he excelled. In the National Gallery, London, favourable specimens are to be seen in the “Poulterer’s Shop,” and a portrait of himself. Douw’s pictures brought high prices, and it is said that President Van Spiring of the Hague paid him 1000 florins a year simply for the right of pre-emption. Douw died in 1680. His most celebrated pupil was Francis Mieris.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dover, Henry Jermyn, Earl of

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​DOVER, HENRY JERMYN, Earl of (c. 1636–1708), was the second son of Sir Thomas Jermyn, of Rushbroke, Suffolk, elder brother of Henry Jermyn, earl of St Albans (q.v.). Jermyn surpassed his uncle, St Albans, in reputation for profligacy, figuring frequently as “the little Jermyn” in the Grammont Memoirs, as the lover of Lady Castlemaine, Lady Shrewsbury, Miss Jennings and other beauties of the court of Charles II. He was also a noted duellist and a lifelong gambler. While the court was in exile, he obtained a post in the household of the duke of York, to whom he became master of the horse at the Restoration. Being a Roman Catholic he enjoyed a position of influence with James II., who on his accession raised Jermyn to the peerage as Baron Dover in 1685, and appointed him lieutenant-general of the royal guard in 1686. At the Revolution, Dover adhered to James, whom he followed abroad, and in July 1689 the deposed sovereign created him Baron Jermyn of Royston, Baron Ipswich, Viscount Cheveley and earl of Dover; these honours being among the “Jacobite peerages” which were not recognized by the English government, though Jermyn became generally known as the earl of Dover. He commanded a troop at the battle of the Boyne; but shortly afterwards made his submission to William III. He succeeded his brother Thomas as 3rd Baron Jermyn of St Edmundsbury in 1703, and died in 1708. As he left no children by his wife, Judith, daughter of Sir Edmund Poley, of Badley, Suffolk, his titles became extinct at his death.
See Samuel Pepys, Diary, edited by H. B. Wheatley, 9 vols. (London, 1893); Anthony Hamilton, Memoirs of Grammont (Bohn edition, London, 1846); J. S. Clarke, Life of James II., 2 vols. (London, 1816); Narcissus Luttrell, Brief Relation of State Affairs 1678–1714, 6 vols. (Oxford, 1857).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dove (river)

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​DOVE, a river of England, tributary to the Trent, rising in Axe Edge, Derbyshire, and through almost its entire course forming the boundary of that county with Staffordshire. In its upper course it traverses a fine narrow valley, where the limestone hills exhibit many picturesque cliffs, gullies and caves. Dovedale, that part of the valley which lies between Dove Holes and Thorpe Cloud (or with a wider significance between the towns of Hartington and Ashbourne), is especially famous. Below Thorpe Cloud the Dove receives on the west the waters of the Manifold, which, like its tributary the Hamps, and other streams in the limestone district, has part of its course below ground. Near the village of Rocester the Churnet joins the Dove on the west, and then the course of the main stream, hitherto southerly, bends nearly easterly on passing Uttoxeter, and, winding through a widening valley, joins the Trent at Newton Solney, a short distance below Burton-on-Trent. The length of the valley is about 40 m. and the total fall of the river about 1450 ft. The Dove is well known for its trout-fishing, and the portion of the upper valley called Beresford Dale, below Hartington, has a special interest for fishermen through its associations with Izaak Walton and his friend Charles Cotton, whose fishing-house stands near the Pike Pool, a reach of the river with a lofty rock rising from its centre.