Act 1880. In France it was abolished in 1867, in Belgium in 1871, in

Switzerland and Norway in 1874, and in Italy in 1877. In the United States imprisonment for debt was universal under the common law, but it has been abolished in every state, except in certain cases, as where there is any suspicion of fraud or where the debtor has an intention of removing out of the state to avoid his debts. (See also CONTRACT; BANKRUPTCY.)

DEBUSSY, CLAUDE ACHILLE (1862- ), French composer, was born at St Germain-en-Laye on the 22nd of August 1862, and educated at the Paris Conservatoire under Marmontel, Lavignac, Massenet and Guiraud. There between 1874 and 1884 he gained many prizes for solfège, pianoforte playing, accompanying, counterpoint and fugue, and, in the last-named year, the coveted Grand Prix de Rome by means of his cantata _L'Enfant prodigue_. In this composition already were thought to be noticeable the germs of unusual and "new" talent, though in the light of later developments it is not very easy to discern them, for then Debussy had not come under the influence which ultimately turned his mind to the system he afterwards used, not only with peculiar distinction but also with particular individual and complete success. Nevertheless, the mind had clearly been prepared by nature for the reception of this influence when it should arise; for, in order to fulfil that condition of the Prix de Rome which entails the submitting periodically of compositions to the judges, Debussy sent to them his symphonic suite _Printemps_, to which the judges took exception on the ground of its formlessness. Following in the wake of _Printemps_ came _La damoiselle élue_ for solo, female voice and orchestra--a setting of a French version of Rossetti's "The Blessed Damosel"--which in the eyes of the judges was even more unorthodox than its predecessor, though, be it said, fault was found as much with the libretto as with the music. Both works were denied the customary public performance.

The Rome period over, Debussy returned to Paris, whence shortly he went to Russia, where he came directly under the influence referred to above. In Russia he absorbed the native music, especially that of Moussorgsky, who, recently dead, had left behind him the reputation of a "musical nihilist," and on his return to Paris Debussy devoted himself to composition, the stream of his muse being even in 1908 as fluent as twenty years before. To him public recognition was slow in coming, but in 1893 the Société Nationale de Musique performed his _Damoiselle élue_, in 1894 the Ysaye Quartet introduced the string quartet, while in the same year the _Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Faune_ was heard, and brought Debussy's name into some prominence. As time passed the prominence grew, until the climax of Debussy's creative career was reached by the production at the Opéra Comique on the 30th of April 1902 of his masterpiece _Pelléas et Mélisande_. Herein lay the whole strength of Debussy's system, the perfection of his appeal to the mind and imagination as well as to the emotions and senses. Since its production the world has been enriched by _La Mer_, and by the _Ariettes oubliées_, but the lyric drama remains on its own lofty pedestal, a monument of elusive and subtle beauty, of emphatic originality and of charm. In an Apologia Debussy has declared that in composing _Pelléas_ he "wanted to dispense with parasitic musical phrases. Melody is, if I may say so, almost anti-lyric, and powerless to express the constant change of emotion or life. Melody is suitable only for the chanson, which confirms a fixed sentiment. I have never been willing that my music should hinder, through technical exigencies, the change of sentiment and passion felt by my characters. It is effaced as soon as it is necessary that these should have perfect liberty in their gestures or in their cries, in their joy, or in their sorrow."

The list of Debussy's works is a lengthy one. Several of them have been referred to already. Among the others, of which the complete list is too long to print here, are the dances for chromatic harp or pianoforte; _Images_; incidental music to _King Lear_; the _Petite Suite_; _Trois Nocturnes_; innumerable songs, as _Proses Lyriques_ (text by Debussy); two series of Verlaine's _Fêtes galantes_; _Cinq Poèmes de Baudelaire_; many pianoforte pieces.

In 1891 Debussy was appointed critic of the _Revue Blanche_. In his first notice he expressed his faith thus: "I shall endeavour to trace in a musical work the many different emotions which have helped to give it birth, also to demonstrate its inner life. This, surely, will be accounted of greater interest than the game which consists in dissecting it as if it were a curious timepiece."

As to the theories, so much debated, of this remarkable musician--probably in the whole range of musical history there has not appeared a more difficult theorist to "place." Unquestionably Debussy has introduced a new system of colour into music, which has begun already to exert widespread influence. Roughly, Debussy's system may be summarized thus:

His scale basis is of six whole tones (enharmonic), as (1) middle C, D, E, G[flat], A[flat], B[flat], which are of excellent sound when superimposed in the form of two augmented unrelated triads.

/ B[flat] / A[sharp] < G[flat]or enharmonically < F[sharp] \ D \ D

/ A[flat] / G[sharp] < E < E \ C \ C

used frequently incomplete (i.e. by the omission of one note) by Debussy.

E \ C | A > F[sharp] | D /

Now, upon the basis of an augmented triad a tune may be played above it provided that it be based upon the six-tone scale, and a fugue may be written, the re-entry of the subject of which may be made upon any note of the scale, and the harmony will be complete. To associate this scale with the ordinary diatonic scale let a major 9th be taken, e.g.: one may conventionally flatten or sharpen the fifth of this (A becoming [sharp] or [flat] as desired): if _both_ the flattened and sharpened fifths be taken in the one chord this chord is arrived at:

E C B[flat] A[flat] (A[sharp] enharmonically altered to B[flat]) F[sharp] D

which is composed of the notes of the aforesaid scale (1), and Debussy thereby proves his case to belong to the "primitifs." It will be noticed that chords of the 9th in sequence and in all forms occur in Debussy's music as well as the augmented triad harmonics, where the melodic line is based on the tonal scale. This, in all likelihood, is the outcome of Debussy's instinctive feeling for the association of his so-called discovery with the ordinary scale. The "secret," it may be added, comes not from Annamese music as has been frequently stated, but probably from Russia, where certainly it was used before Debussy's rise. (R. H. L.)

DECADE (from Gr. [Greek: deka], ten), a group or series containing ten members, particularly a period of ten years. In the new calendar made at the time of the French Revolution in 1793, a decade of ten days took the place of the week. The word is also used of the divisions containing ten books or parts into which the history of Livy was divided.

DECAEN, CHARLES MATHIEU ISIDORE, COUNT (1769-1832), French soldier, was born at Caen on the 13th of April 1769. He was educated for the bar, but soon showed a strong preference for the military career, in which he quickly made his way during the wars of the French Revolution under Kléber, Marceau and Jourdan, in the Rhenish campaigns. In 1799 he became general of division, and contributed to the success of the famous attack by General Richepanse on the Austrian flank and rear at Hohenlinden (December 1800). Becoming known for his Anglophobe tendencies, he was selected by Napoleon early in the year 1802 for the command of the French possessions in the East Indies. The secret instructions issued to him bade him prepare the way, so that in due course (September 1804 was hinted at as the suitable time) everything might be ready for an attack on the British power in India. Napoleon held out to him the hope of acquiring lasting glory in that enterprise. Decaen set sail with Admiral Linois early in March 1803 with a small expeditionary force, touched at the Cape of Good Hope (then in Dutch hands), and noted the condition of the fortifications there. On arriving at Pondicherry he found matters in a very critical condition. Though the outbreak of war in Europe had not yet been heard of, the hostile preparations adopted by the Marquis Wellesley caused Decaen to withdraw promptly to the Isle of France (Mauritius), where, during eight years, he sought to harass British trade and prepare for plans of alliance with the Mahratta princes of India. They all came to naught. Linois was captured by a British squadron, and ultimately, in 1811, Mauritius itself fell to the Union Jack. Returning to France on honourable terms, Decaen received the command of the French troops in Catalonia. The rest of his career calls for no special mention. He died of the cholera in 1832.

See M. L. E. Gautier, _Biographie du général Decaen_ (Caen, 1850). (J. Hl. R.)

DECALOGUE (in patristic Gr. [Greek: hê dekalogos], sc. [Greek: biblos] or [Greek: nomothesia]), another name for the biblical _Ten Commandments_, in Hebrew the _Ten Words_ (Deut. iv. 13, x. 4; Ex. xxxiv. 28), written by God on the two tables of stone (Ex. xxiv. 12, xxxii. 16), the so-called _Tables of the Revelation_ (E.V. "tables of testimony," Ex. xxxiv. 29), or _Tables of the Covenant_ (Deut. ix. 9, 11, 15). These tables were broken by Moses (Ex. xxxii. 19), and two new ones were hewn (xxxiv. 1), and upon them were written the words of the covenant by Moses (xxxiv. 27 sqq.) or, according to another view, by God himself (Deut. iv. 13, ix. 10). They were deposited in the Ark (Ex. xxv. 21; 1 Kings viii. 9). In Deuteronomy the inscription on these tables, which is briefly called the covenant (iv. 13), is expressly identified with the words spoken by Jehovah (Yahweh) out of the midst of the fire at Mt. Sinai or Horeb (according to the Deuteronomic tradition), in the ears of the whole people on the "day of the assembly," and rehearsed in v. 6-21. In the narrative of Exodus the relation of the "ten words" of xxxiv. to the words spoken from Sinai, xx. 2-17, is not so clearly indicated, and it is generally agreed that the Pentateuch presents divergent and irreconcilable views of the Sinaitic covenant.

As regards the Decalogue, as usually understood, and embodied in the parallel passages in Ex. xx. and Deut. v., certain preliminary points of detail have to be noticed. The variations in the parallel texts are partly verbal, partly stylistic (e.g. "Remember the Sabbath day," Ex.; but "observe," &c., Deut.), and partly consist of amplifications or divergent explanations. Thus the reason assigned for the institution of the Sabbath in Exodus is drawn from the creation, and agrees with Gen. ii. 3. In Deuteronomy the command is based on the duty of humanity to servants and the memory of Egyptian bondage. Again, in the tenth commandment, as given in Exodus, "house" means house and household, including the wife and all the particulars which are enumerated in ver. 17. In Deuteronomy, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife," comes first, and "house" following in association with field is to be taken in the literal restricted sense, and another verb ("thou shalt not desire") is used.

The construction of the second commandment in the Hebrew text is disputed, but the most natural sense seems to be, "Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image; (and) to no visible shape in heaven, &c., shalt thou bow down, &c." The third commandment might be rendered, "Thou shalt not utter the name of the Lord thy God vainly," but it is possible that the meaning is that Yahweh's name is not to be used for purposes of sorcery.

The order of the commandments relating to murder, adultery and stealing varies in the Vatican text of the Septuagint, viz. adultery, stealing, murder, in Ex.; adultery, murder, stealing, in Deut. The latter is supported by several passages in the New Testament (Rom. xiii. 9; Mark x. 19, A.V.; Luke xviii. 20; contrast Matt. xix. 18), and by the "Nash Papyrus."[1] It may be added that the double system of accentuation of the Decalogue in the Hebrew Bible seems to preserve traces of the ancient uncertainty concerning the numeration.

_Divisions of the Decalogue._--The division current in England and Scotland, and generally among the Reformed (Calvinistic) churches and in the Orthodox Eastern Church, is known as the Philonic division (Philo, _de Decalogo_, §12). It is sometimes called by the name of Origen, who adopts it in his _Homilies on Exodus_. On this scheme the preface, Ex. xx. 2, has been usually taken as part of the first commandment. The Church of Rome and the Lutherans adopt the Augustinian division (Aug., _Quaest. super Exod._, lxxi.), combining into one the first and second commandments of Philo, and splitting his tenth commandment into two. To gain a clear distinction between the ninth and tenth commandments on this scheme it has usually been felt to be necessary to follow the Deuteronomic text, and make the ninth commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife.[2] As few scholars will now claim priority for the text of Deuteronomy, this division may be viewed as exploded. But there is a third scheme (the Talmudic) still current among the Jews, and not unknown to early Christian writers, which is still a rival of the Philonic view, though less satisfactory. Here the preface, Ex. xx. 2, is taken as the first "word," and the second embraces verses 3-6.

See further Nestle, _Expository Times_ (1897), p. 427. The decision between Philo and the Talmud must turn on two questions. Can we take the preface as a separate "word"? And can we regard the prohibition of polytheism and the prohibition of idolatry as one commandment? Now, though the Hebrew certainly speaks of ten "words," not of ten "precepts," it is most unlikely that the first word can be different in character from those that follow. But the statement "I am the Lord thy God" is either no precept at all, or only enjoins by implication what is expressly commanded in the words "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Thus to take the preface as a distinct word is not reasonable unless there are cogent grounds for uniting the commandments against polytheism and idolatry. But that is far from being the case. The first precept of the Philonic scheme enjoins monolatry, the second expresses God's spiritual and transcendental nature. Accordingly Kuenen does not deny that the prohibition of images contains an element additional to the precept of monolatry, but, following De Goeje, regards the words from "thou shalt not make unto thyself" down to "the waters under the earth" as a later insertion in the original Decalogue. Unless this can be made out, the Philonic scheme is clearly best, and as such it is now accepted by most scholars.

How were the ten words disposed on the two tables? The natural arrangement (which is assumed by Philo and Josephus) would be five and five. And this, as Philo recognized, is a division appropriate to the sense of the precepts; for antiquity did not look on piety towards parents as a mere precept of probity, part of one's duty towards one's neighbour. The authority of parents and rulers is viewed in the Old Testament as a delegated divine authority, and the violation of it is akin to blasphemy (cf. Ex. xxi. 17 and Lev. xx. 9 with Lev. xxiv. 15, 16, and note the formula of treason, 1 Kings xxi. 13).

We have thus five precepts of piety on the first table, and five of probity, in negative form, on the second, an arrangement which is accepted by the best recent writers. But the current view of the Western Church since Augustine has been that the precept to honour parents heads the second table. The only argument of weight in favour of this view is that it makes the amount of writing on the two tables less unequal, while we know that the second table as well as the first was written on both sides (Ex. xxxii. 15). But we shall presently see that there may be another way out of this difficulty.

_Date._--It is much disputed what the original compass of the Decalogue was. Did the whole text of Ex. xx. 2-17 stand on the tables of stone? The answer to this question must start from the reason annexed to the fourth commandment, which is different in Deuteronomy. But the express words "and he added no more," in Deut. v. 22, show that there is no conscious omission by the Deuteronomic speaker of part of the original Decalogue, which cannot therefore have included the reason annexed in Exodus. On the other hand the reason annexed in Deuteronomy is rather a parenetic addition than an original element dropped in Exodus. Thus the original fourth commandment was simply "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."[3] When this is granted it must appear not improbable that the elucidations of other commandments may not have stood on the tables, and that Nos. 6-9 have survived in their original form. Thus in the second commandment, "Thou shalt not bow down to any visible form," &c., is a sort of explanatory addition to the precept "Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image." And so the promise attached to the fifth commandment was probably not on the tables, and the tenth commandment may have simply been, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house," which includes all that is expressed in the following clauses. Such a view gets over the difficulty arising from the unequal length of the two halves of the Decalogue.

It is quite another question whether there is any idea in the Decalogue which can be as old as Moses. It is urged by many critics that Moses cannot have prohibited the worship of Yahweh by images; for the subsequent history shows us a descendant of Moses as priest in the idolatrous sanctuary of Dan. There were teraphim in David's house, and the worship of Yahweh under the image of a calf was the state religion of the kingdom of Ephraim. Even Moses himself is said to have made a brazen serpent which, down to Hezekiah's time, continued to be worshipped at Jerusalem. It is argued from these facts that image-worship went on unchallenged, and that this would not have been possible had Moses forbidden it. The argument is supported by others of great cogency. Although the literary problems of the chapters which narrate the law-giving on Mt. Sinai are extremely intricate, it is generally agreed that Ex. xx. cannot be ascribed to the oldest source, and if, in accordance with many critics, this chapter is ascribed to the Elohist or Ephraimite school, its incorporation can scarcely be older than the middle of the 8th century, and is probably later. With this, the condemnation of adultery in Gen. xx. 1-17 (contrast xii. 10-20,