Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/48

* DECAISNE. 36 appointed to a similar post at the Jardin des Plantes. His j)ublislied works iiitluile the fol- lowing: Uvrbarii Timorieiisis Descriplio (1835) ; j'laiites de I'Arabie hctireusc, recueillies par liolla ( 18-Jl) ; HiMoirc dc la maladie des pommes de ierre (1845); Rccherches anatomiques et physioloyiques siir la garance (1847) ; Flore iU- mentaire des jardiiis et des chtivips, jointly with I^maout (1S55; 2d eel. 1805); Traile yineral de botanique descripliie et analytique, jointly with Loniaout (ISOZ); Le jardin fruitier du Museum (9 vols., l8o8-78) ; Manuel de I'amateur des jardins, jointly with Xaudin (4 vols., 1802-72). DECALOGUE (Gk. cfcKdP'.oj'Of, dekalogos, ten sayings, from Sena, deka, ten + /Idyof, logos, word). The term usually applied by the Greek fathers to the law of the two 'tables of testi- mony' given, according to the Book of Exodus, by .Jehovah to Moses on Mount Sinai (Ex. xx. 1-17). In the Hebrew original they are designated as "ten words' (E.x. xxxiv. 28). According to the narrative, these tables were made of stone, and the commandments inscribed thereon were "writ- ten by the finger of God." Afterwards, when the tables were broken by ]Moses, he was commanded to hew others, on which Jehovah again wrote the ten words (Ex. xxxiv.). The commandments are not numerically divided in the Pentateuch, and it lias been supposed by some that the num- ber ten Mas eliosen because ten was considered llie most perfect number. As, however, there are ten distinct injunctions, it is superfluous to allege any other reason for the division than the simple fact that this is the correct enumera- tion. Philo divides them into two pentads, the first ending with "honor thy father and thy mother," etc. ; but the general opinion among Christians is that the first table contained those commandments which enjoin upon us our duty to God (comprising the first four), and the second those which enjoin upon us our duty to our fellow-creatures (comprising the last six). The Talmudists make the introductory words, ^"I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage," to be the first commandment, and, in consequence, to keep the number ten, they make the next two (verses 3-0) into one. But the words quoted obviously contain no command at all, and merely express the general reason why the Israelites should yield implicit obedience to the injunctions which follow. Hence Origen commences the Decalogue with, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." His division is that in use in the Greek, and in all the Protestant churches except the Lutheran; while from the writings of Philo and Josephus it appears that su(h was also the division received in the Jewish Church. The Roman Catholic and Lutheran cliurches also make verses 3-0 one connnandment. To preserve the number ten they divide verse 17 into two connnandnicnts, the first being "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house," and the second, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant," etc., to the end. The two tables are said to have been placed in the ark of the tabernacle as a testimony of Jehovah's revelation (Kk. xxv. 10). ^Modern scholars of the critical school hold that there are two texts of the Decalogue — (1) Ex. X.X. 2-17, and (2) Deut. v. 0-21— which pre- sent some striking dilferences. The commanda DECAMP. in both are the same — viz. ( 1 ) prohibition of any worship besides that of Jehovah; (2) pro- hibition of graven images; (3) prohibition of the use of the name Jehovah for vain purposes; (4) the Sabbalh command; (5) command to honor father and mother; (0) prohibition of murder; (7) prohibition of adultery; (8) prohibition of stealing; (9) prohibition of bearing false wit- ness; (10) prohibition of coveting one's neigh- bor's property. But the text in Deuteronomy is believed to contain various amplifications, not- ably in the case of the fourth, fifth, and tenth commandments; and, moreover, while in Exodus the reason for hallowing everj' seventh day is as a memorial of the creation of the world in six days and of God's resting on the seventh, in Deuteronomy the observance of the Sabbath is enjoined as a reminiscence of the Exodus from Egjpt. Of the two versions that in Exodus is regarded as the older form, thoigh even in this one amplifications have been introduced which did not belong to it in its original form. Still even in its earliest form the Decalogue cannot be much older than the eighth centun*. Its gen- eral tone is moral rather than ritual. This cir- cumstance, with the stress laid upon the prohi- bition of image-worship, calls for a date later than the age of Elijah and Elisha. A compari- son of the Decalogue with ilicah vi. 6-8 has been suggested by various scholars, and there is much in favor of placing the composition in the same age. Traces of an older Decalogue have been discovered in Exodus xxxiv. Here we find ( verses 10-20) chiefly ritualistic ordinances: (1) Not to worship any other god but Jehovah; (2) not to make any molten images; (3) to keep the feast of unleavened bread; (4) to give the first- lings to Jehovah; (5) to observe the feast of weeks; (0) to keep the feast of ingathering; (7) not to mix the blood of the sacrifice with leaven: (8) not to leave the fat of the sacrifice till morning; (9) to bring the first fruits to Jehovah; (10) not to seethe the kid in the mother's milk. Such a decalogue Ijelongs to an earlier period, and may have formed the proto- type for later ethical ones, thovigh even this one is placed several centuries after Moses. DECAM'ERON (It. 11 Decamerone, from Gk. ScKa, deka, ten + >}/i(pa, hvmera. day). A fa- mous collection of stories by Boccaccio (q.v.), supposed to have been told on ten successive days by a party of young peo])le who in 1348 had retired to a villa outside of Florence in order to escape the plague, which was then rag- ing within the city. See Galeotto, II Principe. DE CAMP, JouN C. (1812-75). An Ameri- can naval ofiicer, born in New Jersey. He entered the service as midshipman in 1827, became com- mander in 1855. and commanded the Iroquois at the capture of New Orleans in 1802. Afterwards he played a gallant part in various actions on the ilississippi. especially imder Farragut at Vicksburg. He was raised to the rank of com- modore in 1806, and retired in 1870 as rear- admiral. DECAMP', Joseph Rodefeb (1858—). An -American painter of landscape and figures. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio: studied in Munich, under Frank Duveneck ; was elected to the Society of .American .Artists in 1888. Afterwards he took up his residence in Boston. Impressionism, modi- fied by a realistic treatment, characterizes hi.l paintings. He received the Temple gold medal