sacrilegious deeds. On the other hand, the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of the people would appear to those who had obeyed D’s instructions as a well-merited punishment for national apostasy.
Moreover, D regarded religion as of the utmost moment to each individual Israelite; and it is certainly not by accident that the declaration of the individual’s duty towards God immediately follows the emphatic intimation to Israel of Yahweh’s unity. “Hear, O Israel, Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one: and thou shalt love Yahweh thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy strength” (vi. 4, 5).
In estimating the religious value of Deuteronomy it should never be forgotten that upon this passage the greatest eulogy ever pronounced on any scripture was pronounced by Christ himself, when he said “on these words hang all the law and the prophets,” and it is also well to remember that when tempted in the wilderness he repelled each suggestion of the Tempter by a quotation from Deuteronomy.
Nevertheless even such a writer as D could not escape the influence of the age and atmosphere in which he lived; and despite the spirit of love which breathes so strongly throughout the book, especially for the poor, the widow and the fatherless, the stranger and the homeless Levite (xxiv. 10-22), and the humanity shown towards both beasts and birds (xxii. 1, 4, 6 f., xxv. 4), there are elements in D which go far to explain the intense exclusiveness and the religious intolerance characteristic of Judaism. Should a man’s son or friend dear to him as his own soul seek to tempt him from the faith of his fathers, D’s pitiless order to that man is “Thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death.” From this single instance we see not only how far mankind has travelled along the path of religious toleration since Deuteronomy was written, but also how very far the criticism implied in Christ’s method of dealing with what “was said to them of old time” may be legitimately carried. (J. A. P.*)
DEUTSCH, IMMANUEL OSCAR MENAHEM (1829–1873), German oriental scholar, was born on the 28th of October 1829, at Neisse in Prussian Silesia, of Jewish extraction. On reaching his sixteenth year he began his studies at the university of Berlin, paying special attention to theology and the Talmud. He also mastered the English language and studied English literature. In 1855 Deutsch was appointed assistant in the library of the British Museum. He worked intensely on the Talmud and contributed no less than 190 papers to Chambers’s Encyclopaedia, in addition to essays in Kitto’s and Smith’s Biblical Dictionaries, and articles in periodicals. In October 1867 his article on “The Talmud,” published in the Quarterly Review, made him known. It was translated into French, German, Russian, Swedish, Dutch and Danish. He died at Alexandria on the 12th of May 1873.
His Literary Remains, edited by Lady Strangford, were published in 1874, consisting of nineteen papers on such subjects as “The Talmud,” “Islam,” “Semitic Culture,” “Egypt, Ancient and Modern,” “Semitic Languages,” “The Targums,” “The Samaritan Pentateuch,” and “Arabic Poetry.”
DEUTSCHKRONE, a town of Germany, kingdom of Prussia, between the two lakes of Arens and Radau, 15 m. N.W. of Schneidemühl, a railway junction 60 m. north of Posen. Pop. (1905) 7282. It is the seat of the public offices for the district, possesses an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, a synagogue, and a gymnasium established in the old Jesuit college, and has manufactures of machinery, woollens, tiles, brandy and beer.
DEUTZ (anc. Divitio), formerly an independent town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, on the right bank of the Rhine, opposite to Cologne, with which it has been incorporated since 1888. It contains the church of St Heribert, built in the 17th century, cavalry barracks, artillery magazines, and gas, porcelain, machine and carriage factories. It has a handsome railway station on the banks of the Rhine, negotiating the local traffic with Elberfeld and Königswinter. The fortifications of the town form part of the defences of Cologne. To the east is the manufacturing suburb of Kalk.
The old castle in Deutz was in 1002 made a Benedictine monastery by Heribert, archbishop of Cologne. Permission to fortify the town was in 1230 granted to the citizens by the archbishop of Cologne, between whom and the counts of Berg it was in 1240 divided. It was burnt in 1376, 1445 and 1583; and in 1678, after the peace of Nijmwegen, the fortifications were dismantled; rebuilt in 1816, they were again razed in 1888.
DEUX-SÈVRES, an inland department of western France, formed in 1790 mainly of the three districts of Poitou, Thouarsais, Gâtine and Niortais, added to a small portion of Saintonge and a still smaller portion of Aunis. Area, 2337 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 339,466. It is bounded N. by Maine-et-Loire, E. by Vienne, S.E. by Charente, S. by Charente-Inférieure and W. by Vendée. The department takes its name from two rivers—the Sèvre of Niort which traverses the southern portion, and the Sèvre of Nantes (an affluent of the Loire) which drains the north-west. There are three regions—the Gâtine, occupying the north and centre of the department, the Plaine in the south and the Marais,—distinguished by their geological character and their general physical appearance. The Gâtine, formed of primitive rocks (granite and schists), is the continuation of the “Bocage” of Vendée and Maine-et-Loire. Its surface is irregular and covered with hedges and clumps of wood or forests. The systematic application of lime has much improved the soil, which is naturally poor. The Plaine, resting on oolite limestone, is treeless but fertile. The Marais, a low-lying district in the extreme southwest, consists of alluvial clays which also are extremely productive when properly drained. The highest points, several of which exceed 700 ft., are found in a line of hills which begins in the centre of the department, to the south of Parthenay, and stretches north-west into the neighbouring department of Vendée. It divides the region drained by the Sèvre Nantaise and the Thouet (both affluents of the Loire) in the north from the basins of the Sèvre Niortaise and the Charente in the south. The climate is mild, the annual temperature at Niort being 54° Fahr., and the rainfall nearly 25 in. The winters are colder in the Gâtine, the summers warmer in the Plaine.
Three-quarters of the entire area of Deux-Sèvres, which is primarily an agricultural department, consists of arable land. Wheat and oats are the main cereals. Potatoes and mangold-wurzels are the chief root-crops. Niort is a centre for the growing Of vegetables (onions, asparagus, artichokes, &c.) and of angelica. Considerable quantities of beetroot are raised to supply the distilleries of Melle. Colza, hemp, rape and flax are also cultivated. Vineyards are numerous in the neighbourhood of Bressuire in the north, and of Niort and Melle in the south. The department is well known for the Parthenay breed of cattle and the Poitou breed of horses; and the mules reared in the southern arrondissements are much sought after both in France and in Spain. The system of co-operative dairying is practised in some localities. The apple-trees of the Gâtine and the walnut-trees of the Plaine bring a good return. Coal is mined, and the department produces building-stone and lime. A leading industry is the manufacture of textiles (serges, druggets, linen, handkerchiefs, flannels, swan-skins and knitted goods). Tanning and leather-dressing are carried on at Niort and other places, and gloves are made at Niort. Wool and cotton spinning, hat and shoe making, distilling, brewing, flour-milling and oil-refining are also main industries. The department exports cattle and sheep to Paris and Poitiers; also cereals, oils, wines, vegetables and its industrial products.
The Sèvre Niortaise and its tributary the Mignon furnish 19 m. of navigable waterway. The department is served by the Ouest-État railway. It contains a large proportion of Protestants, especially in the south-east. The four arrondissements are Niort, Bressuire, Melle and Parthenay; the cantons number 31, and the communes 356. Deux-Sèvres is part of the region of the IX. army corps, and of the diocese and the académie (educational circumscription) of Poitiers, where also is its court of appeal.
Niort (the capital), Bressuire, Melle, Parthenay, St Maixent, Thouars and Oiron are the principal places in the department. Several other towns contain features of interest. Among these
