DEBOEAH. 27 DEBT. of Ephraim (Judges iv. 4-5). For twenty years, the story goes, Israel had been ojjpiessed by the Canaauites, wlicu Deborah stirred up Barak, son of Abinoara of Kedesh in Xapthali, and the two with an army went against Sisera. leader of the force of the Canaanite King Jabin, descended upon him from ilount Tabor, and routed his army (ib. iv. 10-16). Sisera himself, in fliglit, was slain while asleep by a woman, .Jael, wife of Heber, the Kenite (ib. iv. 11-22). A forty years peace followed this success (ib. v. 31), though it should be added that the number forty is to be regarded as a general term for a generation. The so-called "Soiig of Deborah" (ib. v. 2-31) celebrates this victory, but there are some strik- ing discrepancies between the song and the prose narrative in chap. iv. That the song is a con- temi)orary record may be inferred from the archaic language and its general character. It is universally regarded by scholars as one of the oldest bits of literature in the Old Testa- ment, but it makes no mention of .Jabin, and commemorates the discomfiture of Sisera. Geo- graphical discrepancies are also to be noted, and it would appear that the prose narrative, which is of course considerably later, refers to another event in which Jabin is chiefly involved, and that the two occurrences have been welded to- gether by making Sisera the leader of Jabin's army. On the Song of Deborah, consult Cooke, The History and Song of Deborah (London, 1892). The text is obscure in some places and corrupt in others, but there is enough left to give this composition a unique position in the history of ancient poetry among the Semites. DEBOUCHING, de-biSosh'ing (Fr. dchoucher, from dc, from + houcher, to stop up, from houchc, mouth, from Lat. hucca, cheek). In military usage, the issuing of troops from out a narrow passage, wood, defile, or any other roadway which has compelled them to advance in column or otiier narrow formation. DE BOW, Jajies Duxwoodt Browxson ( 1820-67 ) . An American journalist and statis- tician, bom at Charleston, S. C. He began active life in business in Charleston, was admitted to the bar, and about the same time became editor of the Southern Quarterly Revieic, to which he contributed an article on the 'Oregon Question.' which attracted wide attention. In 1S4.5 he left the Southern Quiirterty, and established De Bow's Commercial Rerieu' in Xew Orleans ( 184G), which was at once successful and was for many years an organ of ultra-sectional opinion. In 1848 he became professor of political economy in the University of Louisiana, and in 1850 head of the State Census Bureau, which he managed ith such distinction that he was appointed superin- tendent of the United States Census (1853-55). He continued to edit his review, and wrote much on statistics and finance, contributing numerous articles on American afl'airs to the eighth edi- tion of the Encyclop(Edia Britannicci. and foster- ing, by lectures and pen, the material and intel- lectual interests of the South, and later of the Confederacy. His review was suspended during the Civil War, but was resumed at its close, in New York and Xashville, De Bow linving become a convert to the economy of free labor. He ■wrote Industrial Resources of the Southern and Western States (3 vols.. 1853) ; and the greater part of The Statistical View of the United States, Vol,. VI.— 3. a compendium of the seventh census (1854) ; be- sides many statistical pamphlets. DE3BECZEN, de'bret-sen. A free imperial city ut Hungary, capital of the County of Hajdu, situated on a sandy btit fertile plain, about 137 miles east of Budapest by rail (ilap: Hungary, G 3). The town, with its sub- urbs, occupies a large area; its old fortifications have been converted into promenades. It pos- sesses a number of handsome modern buildings, among which are the Rathaus, tlicatre, and Protestant Church, from the pulpit of which, in 1819, Kossuth proclaimed the deposition of the Hapsburg dynasty. Among its numerous educa- tional institutions is the famous Protestant col- lege founded in 1531, with a library of 100,000 volumes. The manufactures for which the town is particularly famous are clay pipes, soap, and sausages. Its yearly cattle markets are of con- siderable importance. Population, in 1890. 57,- 000; in 1900, 72,588, mostly Hungarian Protes- tants. Debreczen sufl'ered severely during the Turkish War, and in the seventeentli century, when it had become a Protestant town, was att.Tcked by the Imperialists. In 1849 the Hun- garian Diet and Government fled to Debreczen on the fall of Budapest. On July 3, 1849, it was taken by the Prussians, and on August 3 it was the scene of a fierce battle between the Hun- garians and the Russians. DEBBY, de-bre', or DEBRIE' Theodore (I52S-9S). A Flemish engraver, goldsmith, and printer, born at Li6ge. He settled at Frankfort- on-the-^tain about 1580, where he worked as printer, engraver, and bookseller until his death. He executed a number of plates, which are of great value, but rather on account of the invention and originality displayed in them, than as works of art. His subjects are sometimes grotesque and fanciful, but more often processions or dances with numerous figures. Among his most cele- brated plates are those for Boissard's Roman Antiquities, and 123 plates which he engraved for the Collectiones Perefjrinationum in Indiam Orientalem et Occidentalem (1590). There were many editions of this work in different languages. An excellent collection is in the Lenox Library, New York City. He was also a medalist and designer for jewelrv and plate. His sons, JoitJf THfeoDonE (1561-1(521) and JoHX I.sr.el ( ? - 1611), assisted him, and together they completed The Antiquities. John Theodore had less imagi- nation than his father, but was the better artist. DEBS, EunE>-E Victor ( 1855 — ) . An Ameri- can labor leader, born at Terre Haute. Ind. He w-as early a locomotive fireman, and subsequently became connected with the wholesale grocery trade. In 1885 he sat in the Indiana Legisla- ture. He was grand seeretar}' and treasurer of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen from 1880 to 1893, and president of the American Railway Union from 1893 to 1897, and during the latter incumbency managed the important strike of Western railways (1894), in the prog- ress of which he was charged with the violation of an injunction, and imprisaned for six months for contempt of court. In 1900 he was the candi- date of the Social Democratic Party for the Presidency of the United States. DEBT (OF. detfe, deUe, Lat. dehitum, that which is owed, from dehere. to owe, from de. from + habere, to have). In law, strictly speaking.
