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DECURIONES DEE 753 gether spurious. Beveridge has conclusively shown that all the decrees or letters thus falsely attributed to certain authors were mere tissues of texts selected from the canons of councils, epistles of popes, and works of ecclesiastical writers, especially of the 5th and 6th centuries. This pseudonymous author, Isidore Mercator or Peccator, is not to be confounded with Isidore of Seville (died in 636), whose code continued up to the 12th century to be the basis of ecclesi- astical law in Spain, and was held in great rev- erence throughout the western churches. In 1151 appeared the compilation of the Benedic- tine monk Gratian, entitled at first Ooncordantia Discordantium Canonum, and afterward called Decretum Gratiani. In 1234, under Gregory IX., was published the collection of Raymond de Pennafort, comprising five books of decre- tals. This is the first complete body of eccle- siastical laws given to the world with the ap- probation of the Roman see. To these five books Boniface VIII. added the Sextus Deere- tedium, or the "Sext," in 1298; in 1308 were added the " Clementines," or constitutions of Clement V.; and in 1317" the Extravagantes of John XXII., embodying decrees and laws which had no fixed place in the code. The Extravagantes communes were added by later pontiffs. These decretals, including the De- cretum of Gratian, form the Corpus Juris Canonici, and comprise all subjects which in that age were within the cognizance of the ecclesiastical courts, as the conduct of the clergy, matrimony and divorce, inquisition of criminal matters, purgation, penance, excom- munication, &c. (See CANON LAW.) DECURIONES, magistrates in the provincial municipia of the Roman state corresponding to the senate at Rome. In the later times of the republic, the state was considered in two dis- tinct parts, Italy and the provinces. Italy con- sisted of a multitude of commonwealths, whose citizens had become members of the sovereign people, maintaining the internal administration of their own affairs. Originally the popular assemblies had the sovereign power in the mu- nicipia, and conferred the executive authority upon the decuriones. They consisted at first of ten men, but in later times they frequently numbered more, and sometimes even amounted to 100. Each curia decurionum was presided over by two members who were called duum- viri, and whose powers within their municipium resembled those of the Roman consuls during peace. Under the republic the whole adminis- tration of the internal affairs of their respective cities was in the hands of the decuriones ; but after the establishment of the empire they ex- ercised nearly all the circumscribed rights of the communities, though finally they were lit- tle more than receivers of taxes. The decu- riones were created by election on the kalends of March, and each was required to be at least 25 years old, and to possess a certain income. DEDHAM, a town and the capital of Norfolk co., Mass., on Charles river, 10 m. S. W. of Boston; pop. in 1870, 7,342. It is connected with Boston by a branch of the Boston and Providence railroad, and is a favorite residence for persons doing business in that city. The court house is a handsome granite building, having a Doric portico on each front. The jail is of hewn stone and well arranged. A canal 3 m. long, from Charles to Neponset riv- er, gives a good supply of water power, which is used chiefly for cotton and woollen mills. Of the latter there are two, with a capital of $900,000, and of the former one, with a capi- tal of $30,000. There are two manufactories of cabinet ware, two of castings, &c., a rolling mill, a carpet factory, two tanneries, and a na- tional bank. There are good schools, including a high school, churches of various denomina- tions, and two weekly newspapers. DEE. I. A river of N. Wales, rising among the mountains of Merionethshire, in a small lake called Bala or Llyn Tegid, flowing N. E. through the vale of Llangollen, and forming part of the boundary between Cheshire and Denbighshire. Near Aldford it enters Cheshire, and passes on to Chester, which it nearly en- compasses, and where it has a width of 300 ft. Thence it is conveyed 9 m. in an artificial chan- nel along the marshes, and finally falls into the Irish sea through an estuary 14 m. long and from 2 to 6 m. broad. Its length, exclusive of the estuary, is about 80 m. It is much ob- structed by sand banks at its mouth, and is not naturally navigable, but has been improved to admit of the passage of small vessels to a point 2 or 3 m. above Chester. II. A river of Aber- deenshire, Scotland, rising in the Cairngorm mountains, flowing E. about 90 m., and enter- ing the North sea at Aberdeen. It is noted for its romantic scenery, and has valuable sal- mon fisheries. III. A river of Kirkcudbright- shire, Scotland, with valuable salmon fisheries. It enters Solway frith after a course of about 50 m. IV. A river of Ireland, in the counties of Meath and Louth, 21 m. long, flowing into Dundalk bay. DEE, John, an English astrologer, born in London, July 13, 1527, died at Mortlake in 1608. He was educated at St. John's college, Cambridge, and attained much proficiency, in science. After a short tour in Holland he was elected fellow of Trinity college, and in 1548 took his degree of master of arts. Incurring the suspicion of being a conjurer, he repaired to the continent, resided two years at the uni- versity of Louvain, and visited France, spend- ing some time at the college of Rheims, where he gave lectures on mathematical theorems, elaborated into metaphysical and astrological dogmas, which were received with great ap- plause. On his return to England in 1551, Edward VI. conferred on him a pension of 100 crowns, which he afterward relinquished for the rectory of Upton-on-Severn. Shortly after the accession of Mary he was accused of prac- tising against the queen's life by enchantment, and was subjected to a protracted trial and