DOULLENS, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Somme, on the Authie, 27 m. N. of Amiens by rail. Pop. (1906) 4495. It has a citadel of the 15th and 16th centuries which has often served as a state prison and is now used as a reformatory for girls. There are also a belfry of the 17th century and two old churches. The town is the seat of a sub-prefect and has a tribunal of first instance; it has trade in phosphates, of which there are workings in the vicinity, and carries on cotton-spinning and the manufacture of leather, paper and sugar. Doullens, the ancient Dulincum, was seat of a viscountship and an important stronghold in the middle ages. In 1475 it was burnt by Louis XI. for openly siding with the house of Burgundy. In 1595 it was besieged and occupied by the Spaniards, but was restored to France by the treaty of Vervins (1598).
DOULTON, SIR HENRY (1820-1897), English inventor and manufacturer of pottery, born in Vauxhall on the 25th of July 1820, was from the age of fifteen actively employed in the pottery works of his father, John Doulton, at Lambeth. One of the first results of his many experiments was the production of good enamel glazes. In 1846 he initiated in Lambeth the pipe works, in which he superintended the manufacture of the drainage and sanitary appliances which have helped to make the firm of Doulton famous. In 1870 the manufacture of “Art pottery” was begun at Lambeth, and in 1877 works were opened at Burslem, where almost every variety of china and porcelain, as well as artistic earthenware, has been produced. Works have since been opened at Rowley Regis, Smethwick, St Helens, Paisley and Paris. After the Paris exhibition of 1878 Henry Doulton was made a chevalier of the Legion of Honour. In 1872 the “Art department” was instituted in the Doulton works, giving employment to both male and female artists, amongst whom such workers as George Tinworth and the Misses Barlow have obtained a reputation outside their immediate sphere. In 1887 Doulton received the honour of knighthood, and a few years later was awarded the Albert medal by the Society of Arts. He married in 1849 the daughter of Mr J. L. Kennaby; she died in 1888. Sir Henry Doulton took an active interest, as almoner, in St Thomas’s hospital. He died in London on the 18th of November 1897.
DOUMER, PAUL (1857- ), French politician, was born at Aurillac. He studied law and made his debut in politics as chef de cabinet to Floquet, when president of the chamber in 1885. In 1888 he was elected Radical deputy for the department of the Aisne. Defeated in the general elections of September 1889, he was elected again in 1890 by the arrondissement of Auxerre. As minister of finance in the Bourgeois cabinet (from the 3rd of November 1895 to the 21st of April 1896) he tried without success to introduce an income-tax. In January 1897 he became governor of Indo-China, where he carried out important public works. In 1902 he returned to France and was elected by Laon to the chamber as a Radical. He refused, however, to support the Combes ministry, and formed a Radical dissident group, which grew in strength and eventually caused the fall of the ministry. Doumer became a prominent personage in Paris and was elected president of the chamber in January 1905, being re-elected in January 1906. At the presidential election of the 17th of January 1906 he was a candidate in opposition to M. Fallières and obtained only 371 votes against 449; and the new chamber passed him over as its new president in favour of Henri Brisson. As an author he is known by his L’Indo-Chine française (1904), and Le Livre de mes fils (1906).
DOUMIC, RENÉ (1860- ), French critic and man of letters, was born in Paris, and after a distinguished career at the École Normale began to teach rhetoric at the Collège Stanislas. He was a contributor to the Moniteur, the Journal des Débats and the Revue bleue, but was best known as the independent and uncompromising literary critic of the Revue des Deux Mondes. His works include: Éléments d’histoire littéraire (1888); Portraits d’écrivains (1892); De Scribe à Ibsen (1893); Écrivains d’aujour-d’hui (1894); Études sur la littérature française (5 vols., 1896-1905); Les Jeunes (1896); Essais sur le théâtre contemporain (1897); Les Hommes et les idées du XIX^e siècle (1903); and an edition of the Lettres d’Elvire à Lamartine (1905).
DOUNE, a police burgh of Perthshire, Scotland, 8¾ m. N.W. of Stirling by the Caledonian railway. Pop. (1901) 930. It is situated on the left bank of the Teith, here crossed by the bridge built in 1535 by Robert Spittal, tailor to James IV. The town was once famous for its pistols and sporrans (as the purses worn with the kilt are called), which were in great request by the clansmen of the Highlands. Doune Castle, now in ruins, occupies a commanding position on the Teith, at the point where it is joined by the Ardoch. It is believed to have been built by Murdoch, 2nd duke of Albany (d. 1425), and was sometimes a residence of the sovereigns, among them James V. and Queen Mary. A nephew of Rob Roy held it for Prince Charlie, and it figures in Scott’s Waverley. It belongs to the earl of Moray (Murray), who derives from it his title of Lord Doune, and was the home of James Stewart, the “bonnie earl” of Moray, murdered at Donibristle in Fife by the earl of Huntly (1592). The braes of Doune lie to the north-west of the town and extend towards Uam Var. Deanston (pop. 652), 1 m. S.W. of Doune, on the right bank of the Teith, was the scene of the labours of James Smith (1789-1850), the agricultural engineer, who was also manager of the cotton mills established there in 1785. On his farm Smith carried out his experiments in deep and thorough draining, and also invented a reaping machine, the subsoil plough and numerous other valuable appliances.