Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/566

546 The works of Duns Scotus were very numerous, though in the collection edited by Luke Wadding, a Franciscan (12 vols. fol., Lyons, ), several are ascribed to him without sufficient ground. This edition contains a life full of legends, which was reprinted separately (Mons, ). The most important of the works of Duns Scotus consisted of questions and commentaries on the writings of Aristotle, and on the Sentences of Lombard.

1em  DUNSTABLE, a market-town and, since, a municipal borough of England, in the county of Bedford, 33 miles N.W. of London, and 18 miles S.S.W. of Bedford, with communication by both the North-Western and the Great Northern railways. Its parish church, a fine old building, formerly part of the August iuian priory, was restored about decorated west front, the ancient monuments of the Chew family, and, among the interior adornments, Sir James ThornhilTs painting of the Last Supper. The five dissenting churches, the temperance hall, several alms-houses, and the Ashton charity and other schools complete the list of public buildings. Straw-plaiting and the making of straw hats and bonnets are the principal industries ; and, as a consequence, the female considerably outnumbers the male population. The census of gave 2712 females out of a total of 4470 inhabitants; and that of, 2702 out of 4558.
 * the principal points of interest are the richly

1em  DUNSTAN, undefined ( or –), was born at Glastonbury in or. His father, Heorstan, was brother of yElfheah the Bold, bishop of Winchester ; and the tradition that he was connected with the royal house seems not improbable. As a child he was placed under the care of certain Irish teachers who had settled at Glastonbury ; and he devoted his boyhood to study with a fervour so intense that he at length brought on himself a severe attack of brain fever, the effects of which are apparent in the fantastic visions which troubled his after life. He was still a boy when he entered the household of Athelstan, and he was only fifteen or sixteen at the acces sion of Edmund ; but he had not been long at court before his ambitious and lofty temper had surrounded him with bitter enemies. In all the accomplishments of his time, except those of the warrior, he stood pre-eminent. His memory was stored with the ancient Irish ballads and legends, and he excelled in music, in painting, and even in the mechanical arts. But he soon found that his talents, while making him a favourite in the ladies bowers, only inflamed the jealousy of his rough, ignorant soldier rivals. He was accused of dealing in witchcraft, was driven with rude force from the court, and, perhaps under the pretext of testing whether he was really wizard or no, was Hung into a muddy pond, whence he was glad to escape to the protection of his uncle yElfhcah. The result of this outrage was a second attack of fever, from which he rose to yield to his uncle s persuasions, and take the vows as a monk. It was with great reluctance that ho took this step, for he was deeply in love with a lady at court ; but the feeling, natural in that age, that his illness was a direct indication of the will of providence, was likely to impress itself with peculiar force upon an imagination such as his, and he was also, doubtless, conscious that the only protection for his physical weakness lay in the power of the church. After his recovery, he spent some time quietly studying and teaching, and practising the austeri ties which gained him the reputation of a saint ; but it was not long before he returned to court. Again his enemies seemed likely to prove too powerful for him. He, how ever, gained the favour of King Edmund, who created him abbot of Glastonbury Avhen he was about twenty-two years of age. He became principal treasurer of the king dom, and we find him a few s later, on account of his tenure of that office, refusing an offer of the see of Credit-on. From to the throne was occupied by Edred, whose constant ill health threw the chief power into Dunstari s hands. In Edwy came to the throne ; and the party of Edgiva, to which Dunstan belonged, lost its influence. Of the details of the party struggles which ensued we have no trustworthy information ; but one incident of the quarrel between the king and the minister has become famous. Edwy, though then pro bably a mere boy, was deeply in love with his kinswoman Elgiva, whose mother Ethelgiva, a lady of the highest rank, is accused, with what degree of truth cannot now be determined, of having used the most shameful means to gain power over the young king. What relationship really existed between Edwy and Elgiva is unknown, but it was such as to be considered by the churchmen as an insuperable bar to marriage. Edwy, however, defied their opposition. On the evening of his coronation he withdrew from the banquet to the society of Elgiva. Dunstan was sent by the Witan to recall him, and ex hibited a violence which may be excused, when we consider that Edwy had both grievously insulted the Witan and openly sought, upon so solemn an occasion, the dangerous society of a girl whom the church forbade him to marry. A or so after Ethelgiva and her party triumphed, and Dunstan being outlawed, was obliged to flee to Ghent. In, however, a revolt placed Edwy s brother Edgar on the throne of Mercia and Northumbria, and at his court Dunstan resumed his old position of chief minister He was created bishop (perhaps at first without a see) , and, in defiance of strict ecclesiastical law, he obtained and held at once the sees of Worcester and London. By the death of Edwy in, Edgar gained the sovereignty of Wessex ; and a few months after Dunstan was appointed archbishop of Canterbury. On the death of Edgar, 