DOVE, in Christian art the symbol of the Holy Ghost, or of a pure,
or a purified soul, and with an olive branch, the symbol of peace and the
gospel of peace.
DOVE, HEINRICH WILHELM, a German physicist, born at Liegnitz,
Silesia; professor of Natural Philosophy in Berlin; was eminent chiefly
in the departments of meteorology and optics; he discovered how by the
stereoscope to detect forged bank-notes (1803-1879).
DOVER (33), a seaport on the E. coast of Kent, and the nearest in
England to the coast of France, 60 m. SE. of London, and with a mail
service to Calais and Ostend; is strongly fortified, and the chief
station in the SE. military district of England; was the chief of the
Cinque Ports.
DOVER, STRAIT OF, divides France from England and connects the
English Channel with the North Sea, and at the narrowest 20 m. across;
forms a busy sea highway; is called by the French _Pas de Calais_.
DOVREFELD, a range of mountains in Norway, stretching NE. and
extending between 62° and 63° N. lat., average height 3000 ft.
DOW or DOUW, GERARD, a distinguished Dutch genre-painter, born
at Leyden; a pupil of Rembrandt; his works, which are very numerous, are
the fruit of a devoted study of nature, and are remarkable for their
delicacy and perfection of finish; examples of his works are found in all
the great galleries of Europe (1613-1675).
DOWDEN, EDWARD, literary critic, professor of English Literature in
Dublin University, born in Cork; is distinguished specially as a
Shakesperian; is author of "Shakespeare: a Study of his Mind and Art,"
"Introduction to Shakespeare," and "Shakesperian Sonnets, with Notes";
has written "Studies in Literature," and a "Life of Shelley"; is well
read in German as well as English literature; has written with no less
ability on Goethe than on Shakespeare; _b_. 1843.
DOWN (266), a maritime county in the SE. of the province of Ulster,
Ireland, with a mostly level and fairly fertile soil, and manufactures of
linen.
DOWNS, THE, a safe place of anchorage, 8 m. long by 6 m. broad, for
ships between Goodwin Sands and the coast of Kent.
DOWNS, THE NORTH AND SOUTH, two parallel ranges of low broad hills
covered with a light soil and with a valley between, called the Weald,
that extend eastward from Hampshire to the sea-coast, the North
terminating in Dover cliffs, Kent, and the South in Beachy Head, Sussex;
the South famous for the breed of sheep that pastures on them.
DOYLE, DR. CONAN, novelist, nephew of Richard and grandson of John,
born in Edinburgh; studied and practised medicine, but gave it up after a
time for literature, in which he had already achieved no small success;
several of his productions have attracted universal attention, especially
his "Adventures" and his "Memoir of Sherlock Holmes"; wrote a short play
"A Story of Waterloo," produced with success by Sir Henry Irving; _b_.
1859.
DOYLE, SIR FRANCIS HASTINGS, an English poet, born near Tadcaster;
bred to the bar, but devoted to poetry and horse-racing; became professor
of Poetry at Oxford; author of "Miscellaneous Verses," "Two Destinies,"
"Retreat of the Guards," "The Thread of Honour," and "The Private of the
Buffs" (1810-1858).
DOYLE, JOHN, an eminent caricaturist, of Irish origin, under the
initials H. B. (1797-1868).
DOYLE, RICHARD, eminent caricaturist, born in London, son of the
preceding; contributed to _Punch_, of which he designed the cover, but
left the staff, in 1850 owing to the criticisms in the journal adverse to
the Catholic Church; devoted himself after that chiefly to book
illustration and water-colour painting (1824-1883).
DOZY, REINHART, an Orientalist and linguist, born at Leyden, where
he became professor of History; devoted himself to the study of the
history of the Arabs or Moors in North-Western Africa and Spain, his
chief work being "The History of the Mussulmans of Spain"; wrote also a
"Detailed Dictionary of the Names of the Dress of the Arabs" (1820-1883).
DRACHENFELS (Dragon's Rock), one of the Siebengebirge, 8 m. SE. of
Bonn, 1056 ft. above the Rhine, and crowned by a castle with a commanding
view; the legendary abode of the dragon killed by Siegfried in the "Lay
of the Nibelungen."
DRACO, a celebrated Athenian law-giver, who first gave stability to
the State by committing the laws to writing, and establishing the Ephetæ,
or court of appeal, 621 B.C.; only he punished every transgressor of his
laws with death, so that his code became unbearable, and was superseded
ere long by a milder, instituted by Solon, who affixed the penalty of
death to murder alone; he is said to have justified the severity of his
code by maintaining that the smallest crime deserved death, and he knew
no severer punishment for greater; it is said he was smothered to death
in the theatre by the hats and cloaks showered on him as a popular mark
of honour; he was archon of Athens.
DRAGON, a fabulous monster, being a hideous impersonation of some
form of deadly evil, which only preternatural heroic strength and courage
can subdue, and on the subdual and slaying of which depends the
achievement of some conquest of vital moment to the human race or some
members of it; is represented in mediæval art as a large, lizard-like
animal, with the claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of
a serpent, with open jaws ready and eager to devour, which some knight
high-mounted thrusts at to pierce to death with a spear; in the Greek
mythology it is represented with eyes ever on the watch, in symbol of the
evil that waylays us to kill us if we don't kill it, as in guarding the
"Apples of the Hesperides" and the "Golden Fleece," because these are
prizes that fall only to those who are as watchful of him as he is of
them; and it is consecrated to Minerva to signify that true wisdom, as
sensible of the ever-wakeful dragon, never goes to sleep, but is equally
ever on the watch.
DRAGONNADES, the name given to the persecution at the instance of
Louis XIV. to force the Huguenots of France back into the bosom of the
Catholic Church by employment of dragoons.
DRAGON'S TEETH, the teeth of the dragon that Cadmus slew, and which
when sown by him sprang up as a host of armed men, who killed each other
all to the five who became the ancestors of the Thebans, hence the phrase
to "sow dragon's teeth," to breed and foster strife.
DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS, a great English seaman of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, born near Tavistock, in Devon; served in the Royal Navy under
his relative, Sir John Hawkins, and distinguished himself with signal
success by his valour and daring against the pride of Spain, towards
which, as the great Catholic persecuting power, he had been taught to
cherish an invincible hatred; came swoop down like a hawk on its ports
across seas, and bore himself out of them laden with spoil; in 1577
sailed for America with five ships, passed through the Strait of
Magellan, the first Englishman to do it; plundered the W. coast as far as
Peru; lost all his ships save one; crossed the Pacific, and came home by
way of the Cape--the first to sail round the world--with spoil to the
value of £300,000, his successes contributing much to embolden his
countrymen against the arrogance of the Catholic king; and he was
vice-admiral in the fleet that drove back the Armada from our shores
(1540-1596).
DRAKE, FRIEDRICH, a German sculptor, born at Pyrmont; studied under
Rauch; executed numerous statues and busts, among others busts of Oken
and Ranke, Bismarck and Moltke; his chief works are the "Eight Provinces
of Prussia," represented by large allegorical figures, and the "Warrior
crowned by Victory" (1805-1882).
DRAKE, NATHAN, a physician, born at York; author of "Shakespeare and
his Times" (1766-1836).
DRAKENBERG MOUNTAINS, a range of mountains in S. Africa, 6500 ft.
high, between Natal and the Orange Free State.
DRAMATIC UNITIES, three rules of dramatic construction prescribed by
Aristotle, observed by the French dramatists, but ignored by Shakespeare,
that (1) a play should represent what takes place within eight hours, (2)
there must be no change of locality, and (3) there must be no minor plot.
DRAMMEN (20), a Norwegian seaport on a river which falls into
Christiania Bay, 30 m. SW. of Christiania; trade chiefly in timber.
DRAPER, JOHN WILLIAM, a chemist, scientist, and man of letters, born
at Liverpool; settled in the United States; wrote on chemistry,
physiology, and physics generally, as well as works of a historical
character, such as the "History of the Intellectual Development of
Europe" and the "History of the Conflict between Science and Religion,"
an able book (1811-1882).
DRAPIER, a pseudonym adopted by Swift in his letters to the people
of Ireland anent Wood's pence, and which led to the cancelling of the
patent.
DRAVE, a river from the Eastern Alps which flows eastward, and after
a course of 380 miles falls into the Danube 10 m. below Essek.
DRAVIDIANS, races of people who occupied India before the arrival of
Aryans, and being driven S. by them came to settle chiefly in the S. of
the Dekkan; they are divided into numerous tribes, each with a language
of its own, but of a common type or group, some of them literary and
some of them not, the chief the Tamil; the tribes together number over
20 millions.
DRAWCANSIR, a blustering, bullying boaster in Buckingham's play the
"Rehearsal"; he kills every one of the combatants, "sparing neither
friend nor foe."
DRAYTON, MICHAEL, an English poet, born In Warwickshire, like
Shakespeare; was one of the three chief patriotic poets, Warner and
Daniel being the other two, which arose in England after her humiliation
of the pride of Spain, although he was no less distinguished as a love
poet; his great work is his "Polyolbion," in glorification of England,
consisting of 30 books and 100,000 lines; it gives in Alexandrines "the
tracts, mountains, forests, and other parts of this renowned isle of
Britain, with intermixture of the most remarkable stories, antiquities,
wonders, pleasures, and commodities of the same digested in a poem"; this
was preceded by other works, and succeeded by a poem entitled "The Ballad
of Agincourt," pronounced one of the most spirited martial lyrics in the
language (1563-1631).
DRELINCOURT, a French Protestant divine, born at Sedan; author of
"Consolations against the Fear of Death" (1595-1669).
DRENTHE (137), a province of Holland lying between Hanover and the
Zuyder Zee; the soil is poor, and the population sparse.
DRESDEN (250), the capital of Saxony, on the Elbe, 116 m. SE. of
Berlin; a fine city, with a museum rich in all kinds of works of art, and
called in consequence the "Florence of Germany"; here the Allies were
defeated by Napoleon in 1813, when he entered the city, leaving behind
him 30,000 men, who were besieged by the Russians and compelled to
surrender as prisoners of war the same year.
DREYFUS, L'AFFAIRE. On 23rd December 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, an
Alsatian Jew, captain of French Artillery; was by court-martial found
guilty of revealing to a foreign power secrets of national defence, and
sentenced to degradation and perpetual imprisonment; he constantly
maintained his innocence, and, in time, the belief that he had been
unjustly condemned became prevalent, and a revision of the trial being at
length ordered, principally through the exertions of Colonel Picquart and
Zola, the well-known author, Dreyfus was brought back from Cayenne, where
he had been kept a close prisoner and cruelly treated, and a fresh trial
at Rennes began on 6th August 1899, and lasted till 9th September; the
proceedings, marked by scandalous "scenes," and by an attempt to
assassinate one of prisoner's counsel--disclosed an alarmingly corrupt
condition of affairs in some lines of French public life under the
Republic of the time, and terminated in a majority verdict of "guilty";
M. Dreyfus was set at liberty on 20th September, the sentence of ten
years' imprisonment being remitted; _b_. 1860.
DREYSE, NICHOLAUS VON, inventor of the needle-gun, born at Sömmerda,
near Erfurt, the son of a locksmith, and bred to his father's craft;
established a large factory at Sömmerda for a manufactory of firearms;
was ennobled 1864 (1787-1867).
DROGHEDA (11), a seaport in co. Louth, near the mouth of the Boyne,
32 m. N. of Dublin, with manufactures and a considerable export trade;
was stormed by Cromwell in 1649 "after a stout resistance," and the
garrison put to the sword; surrendered to William III. after the battle
of the Boyne in 1690.
DROMORE, a cathedral town in co. Down, Ireland, 17 m. SW. of
Belfast, of which Jeremy Taylor was bishop.
DROOGS, steep rocks which dot the surface of Mysore, in India, and
resemble hay-ricks, some of these 1500 ft. high, some with springs on the
top, and scalable only by steps cut in them.
DROSTE-HÜLSHOFF, FRAULEIN VON, a German poetess, born near Münster;
was of delicate constitution; wrote tales as well as lyrics in record of
deep and tender experiences (1797-1848).
DROUET, JEAN BAPTISTE, notable king-taker, a violent Jacobin and
member of the Council of the Five Hundred; had been a dragoon soldier;
was postmaster at St. Menehould when Louis XVI., attempting flight,
passed through the place, and by whisper of surmise had the progress of
Louis and his party arrested at Varennes, June 21, 1791, for which
service he received honourable mention and due reward in money; was taken
captive by the Austrians at last; perched on a rock 100 ft. high,
descended one night by means of a paper kite he had constructed, but was
found at the foot helpless with leg broken (1763-1824).
DROUET, JEAN BAPTISTE, COMTE D'ERLON, marshal of France, born at
Rheims; distinguished in the wars of the Republic and the Empire; on
Napoleon's return from Elba seized on the citadel of Lille, and held it
for the emperor; commanded the first _corps d'armée_ at Waterloo; left
France at the Restoration; returned after the July Revolution; became
governor of Algiers, and was created marshal (1765-1844).
DROUOT, a French general, son of a baker at Nancy; Napoleon, whom,
as commander of artillery, he accompanied over all his battlefields in
Europe and to Elba, used to call him the _Sage of the Grande Armée_
(1774-1847).
DROUYN DE LHUYS, French statesman and diplomatist, born in Paris;
was ambassador at the Hague and Madrid; distinguished himself by his
opposition to Guizot; served as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis
Napoleon; withdrew into private life after the collapse at Sedan
(1805-1881).
DROYSEN, a German historian, born in Pomerania; professor in Berlin;
author of the "History of Prussian Policy," "History of Alexander the
Great," and "History of Hellenism" (1808-1884).
DROZ, the name of a Swiss family of mechanicians, one of them, Jean
Pierre, an engraver of medals (1746-1833); also of a French moralist and
historian, author of "History of Louis XVI." (1773-1850).
DROZ, GUSTAV, a highly popular and brilliant novelist, born in
Paris; author of "Monsieur, Madam, et Bébé," "Entre Nous," and "Cahier
bleu de Mlle. Cibot" (1832-1895).
DRUIDS, a sacred order of learned men under a chief called the
Archdruid, among the ancient Celtic nations, particularly of Gaul and
Britain, who, from their knowledge of the arts and sciences of the day,
were the ministers of religion and justice, as well as the teachers of
youth to the whole community, and exercised an absolute control over the
unlearned people whom they governed; they worshipped in oak groves, and
the oak tree and the mistletoe were sacred to them; the heavenly bodies
appear to have been also objects of their worship, and they appear to
have believed in the immortality and transmigration of the soul; but they
committed nothing to writing, and for our knowledge of them we have to
depend on the reports of outsiders.
DRUMCLOG MOSS, a flat wilderness of broken bog and quagmire in
Lanarkshire, where the Covenanters defeated Claverhouse's dragoons in
1679.
DRUMMOND, HENRY, popular scientist and Christian teacher, born in
Stirling; was educated at Edinburgh and Tübingen; studied for the Free
Church; lectured on natural science; became famous by the publication of
"Natural Law in the Spiritual World," a book which took with the
Christian public at once, and had an enormous sale, which was succeeded
by "Tropical Africa," a charmingly-written book of travel, and by a
series of booklets, commencing with "The Greatest Thing in the World,"
intended to expound and commend the first principles of the Christian
faith; his last work except one, published posthumously, entitled the
"Ideal Life," was the "Ascent of Man," in which he posits an altruistic
element in the process of evolution, and makes the goal of it a higher
and higher life (1851-1897).
DRUMMOND, CAPTAIN THOMAS, civil engineer, born in Edinburgh;
inventor of the Drummond Light; was employed in the trigonometrical
survey of Great Britain and Ireland; became Under-Secretary for Ireland,
and was held in high favour by the Irish (1797-1840).
DRUMMOND, WILLIAM, of Hawthornden, a Scottish poet, named the
"Petrarch of Scotland," born in Hawthornden; studied civil law at
Bourges, but poetry had more attractions for him than law, and on the
death of his father he returned to his paternal estate, and devoted
himself to the study of it and the indulgence of his poetic tastes. "His
work was done," as Stopford Brooke remarks, "in the reign of James I.,
but is the result of the Elizabethan influence extending to Scotland.
Drummond's sonnets and madrigals have some of the grace of Sidney, and he
rose at intervals into grave and noble verse, as in his sonnet on John
the Baptist." He was a devoted Royalist; his first poem was "Tears" on
the death of James I.'s eldest son Henry, and the fate of Charles I. is
said to have cut short his days; the visit of Ben Jonson to him at
Hawthornden is well known (1585-1649).
DRUMMOND LIGHT, an intensely-brilliant and pure white light produced
by the play of an oxyhydrogen flame upon a ball of lime, so called from
the inventor, Captain Thomas Drummond.
DRURY, DRU, a naturalist, born in London; bred a silversmith; took
to entomology; published "Illustrations of Natural History"; his
principal work "Illustrations of Exotic Entomology" (1725-1803).
DRURY LANE, a celebrated London theatre founded in 1663, in what was
a fashionable quarter of the city then; has since that time been thrice
burnt down; was the scene of Garrick's triumphs, and of those of many of
his illustrious successors, though it is now given up chiefly to
pantomimes and spectacular exhibitions.
DRUSES, a peculiar people, numbering some 80,000, inhabiting the S.
of Lebanon and Anti-lebanon, with the Maronites on the N., whose origin
is very uncertain, only it is evident, though they speak the Arab
language, they belong to the Aryan race; their religion, a mixture of
Christian, Jewish, and Mohammedan beliefs, is grounded on faith in the
unity and the incarnation of God; their form of government is half
hierarchical and half feudalistic; in early times they were under emirs
of their own, but in consequence of the sanguinary, deadly, and mutually
exterminating strife between them and the Christian Maronites in 1860,
they were put under a Christian governor appointed by the Porte.
DRUSUS, M. LIVIUS, a tribune of the people at Rome in 122 B.C., but
a stanch supporter of the aristocracy; after passing a veto on a popular
measure proposed by Gracchus his democratic colleague, proposed the same
measure himself in order to show and prove to the people that the
patricians were their best friends; the success of this policy gained him
the name of "patron of the senate."
DRUSUS, M. LIVIUS, tribune of the people, 91 B.C., son of the
preceding, and an aristocrat; pursued the same course as his father, but
was baffled in the execution of his purpose, which was to broaden the
constitution, in consequence of which he formed a conspiracy, and was
assassinated, an event which led to the SOCIAL WAR (q. v.).
DRUSUS, NERO CLAUDIUS, surnamed "Germanicus," younger brother of
Tiberius and son-in-law of Marc Antony; distinguished himself in four
successive campaigns against the tribes of Germany, but stopped short at
the Elbe, scared by the apparition of a woman of colossal stature who
defied him to cross, so that he had to "content himself with erecting
some triumphal pillars on his own safe side of the river and say that the
tribes across were conquered"; falling ill of a mortal malady, his
brother the emperor hastened across the Alps to close his eyes, and
brought home his body, which was burned and the ashes buried in the tomb
of Augustus.
DRYADS, nymphs of forest trees, which were conceived of as born with
the tree they were attached to and dying along with it; they had their
abode in wooded mountains away from men; held their revels among
themselves, but broke them off at the approach of a human footstep.
DRYAS, the father of Lycurgus, a Thracian king, and slain by him,
who, in a fit of frenzy against the Bacchus worshippers, mistook him for
a vine and cut him down. See LYCURGUS.
DRYASDUST, a name of Sir Walter Scott's invention, and employed by
him to denote an imaginary character who supplied him with dry
preliminary historical details, and since used to denote a writer who
treats a historical subject with all due diligence and research, but
without any appreciation of the human interest in it, still less the soul
of it.
DRYBURGH, an abbey, now a ruin, founded by David I., on the Tweed,
in Berwickshire, 3 m. SE. of Melrose; the burial-place of Sir Walter
Scott.
DRYDEN, JOHN, a celebrated English poet, "glorious John," born in
Northamptonshire, of a good family of Puritan principles; educated at
Westminster School and Cambridge; his first poetic production of any
merit was a set of "heroic stanzas" on the death of Cromwell; at the
Restoration he changed sides and wrote a poem which he called "Astræa
Redux" in praise of the event, which was ere long followed by his "Annus
Mirabilis," in commemoration of the year 1666, which revealed at once the
poet and the royalist, and gained him the appointment of poet-laureate,
prior to which and afterwards he produced a succession of plays for the
stage, which won him great popularity, after which he turned his mind to
political affairs and assumed the role of political satirist by
production of his "Absalom and Achitophel," intended to expose the
schemes of Shaftesbury, represented as Achitophel and Monmouth as
Absalom, to oust the Duke of York from the succession to the throne; on
the accession of James II. he became a Roman Catholic, and wrote "The
Hind and the Panther," characterised by Stopford Brooke as "a model of
melodious reasoning in behalf of the milk-white hind of the Church of
Rome," and really the most powerful thing of the kind in the language; at
the Revolution he was deprived of his posts, but it was after that event
he executed his translation of Virgil, and produced his celebrated odes
and "Fables" (1631-1700).
DUALISM, or MANICHÆISM, the doctrine that there are two
opposite and independently existing principles which go to constitute
every concrete thing throughout the universe, such as a principle of good
and a principle of evil, light and darkness, life and death, spirit and
matter, ideal and real, yea and nay, God and Devil, Christ and
Antichrist, Ormuzd and Ahriman.
DU BARRY, COUNTESS, mistress of Louis XV., born at Vaucouleurs,
daughter of a dressmaker; came to Paris, professing millinery; had
fascinating attractions, and was introduced to the king; governed France
to its ruin and the dismissal of all Louis' able and honourable advisers;
fled from Paris on the death of Louis, put on mourning for his death; was
arrested, brought before the Revolutionary tribunal, condemned for
wasting the finances of the State, and guillotined (1746-1793).
DU BELLAY, a French general, born at Montmirail; served under
Francis I. (1541-1590).
DUBLIN (360), the capital of Ireland, at the mouth of the Liffey,
which divides it in two, and is crossed by 12 bridges; the principal and
finest street is Sackville Street, which is about 700 yards long and 40
wide; it has a famous university and two cathedrals, besides a castle,
the residence of the Lord-Lieutenant; and a park, the Phoenix, one of the
finest in Europe; manufactures porter, whisky, and poplin.
DUBOIS, GUILLAUME, cardinal and prime minister of France; notorious
for his ambition and his debauchery; appointed tutor to the Duke of
Orleans; encouraged him in vice, and secured his attachment and patronage
in promotion, so that in the end he rose to the highest honours, and even
influence, in both Church and state; notwithstanding his debauchery he
was an able man and an able minister (1656-1723).
DUBOIS, REYMOND, a German physiologist, born in Berlin, of French
descent; professor of Physiology at Berlin; distinguished for his
researches in animal electricity; _b_. 1818.
DUBOIS DE CRANCÉ, a violent French revolutionary, born at
Charleville; besieged and captured Lyons, giving no quarter; was Minister
of War under the Directory; secured the adoption of the principle of
conscription in recruiting the army (1747-1814).
DUBOURG, a French magistrate, member of the parlement of Paris;
burnt as a heretic for recommending clemency in the treatment of the
Huguenots (1521-1559).
DUBUFE, a distinguished French portrait-painter (1820-1883).
DUBUQUE (36), a town in Iowa, U.S., on the Mississippi, with
lead-mines and a trade in grain, timber, &c.
DUCAMP, MAXIME, a French littérateur, born in Paris; has written
"Travels in the East"; is the author of "Paris," its civic life, as also
an account of its "Convulsions"; _b_. 1822.
DU CANGE, CHARLES, one of the most erudite of French scholars, born
at Amiens, and educated among the Jesuits; wrote on language, law,
archæology, and history; devoted himself much to the study of the Middle
Ages; contributed to the rediscovery of old French literature, and wrote
a history of the Latin empire; his greatest works are his Glossaries of
the Latin and Greek of the Middle Ages (1614-1688).
DUCAT, a coin, generally in gold, that circulated in Venice, and was
current in Germany at one time, of varied value.
DU CHAILLU, PAUL BELLONI, an African traveller, born in Louisiana;
his principal explorations confined to the equatorial region of West
Africa, and the result an extension of our knowledge of its geography,
ethnology, and zoology, and particularly of the character and habits of
the ape tribes, and above all the gorilla; _b_. 1837.
DU CHÂTELET, MARQUISE DE, a scientific lady and friend of
Voltaire's, born in Paris; "a too fascinating shrew," as he at length
found to his cost (1706-1749).
DUCHESNE, ANDRÉ, French historian and geographer, born in Touraine;
styled the "Father of French History"; famous for his researches in it
and in French antiquities, and for histories of England, Scotland, and
Ireland respectively; his industry was unwearied; he left more than 100
folios in MS. (1584-1640).
DUCHOBORTZI, a religious community in Russia of Quaker principles,
and of a creed that denied the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity
of Christ; they became a cause of trouble to the empire by their
fanaticism, and were removed to a high plateau in Transcaucasia, where
they live by cattle-rearing.
DUCIS, JEAN, a French dramatist, born at Versailles; took
Shakespeare for his model; declined Napoleon's patronage, thinking it
better, as he said, to wear rags than wear chains (1733-1816).
DUCKING STOOL, a stool or chair in which a scolding woman was
confined, and set before her own door to be pelted at, or borne in a
tumbrel through the town to be jeered at, or placed at the end of a
see-saw and _ducked_ in a pool.
DUCLOS, CHARLES, a witty and satirical French writer, born at Dinan;
author of "Observations," and "A History of the Manners of the Eighteenth
Century," and "Mémoires of the Reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV."; he
mingled much in French society of the period, and took studious note of
its passing whims (1704-1772).
DUCORNET, a French historical-painter, born at Lille; being born
without arms, painted with his foot (1805-1856).
DUCOS, ROGER, French politician, born at Bordeaux, member of the
National Convention and of the Directory (1754-1816).
DUCROT, a French general, born at Nivers; served in Algeria, in the
Italian campaign of 1859, and as head of a division in the German War;
was imprisoned for refusing to sign the capitulation treaty of Sedan, but
escaped and took part in the defence of Paris when besieged by the
Germans (1817-1882).
DU DEFFAND, MARQUISE. See DEFFAND.
DUDLEY (90), the largest town in Worcestershire, 8½ m. NW. of
Birmingham, in the heart of the "Black Country," with coal-mines,
iron-works, and hardware manufactures.
DUDLEY, EDMUND, an English lawyer and privy-councillor; was
associated with Empson as an agent in carrying on the obnoxious policy of
Henry VII., and beheaded along with him at the instance of Henry VIII. on
a charge of high treason in 1510.
DUDLEY, JOHN, grand-marshal of England, son of the preceding,
father-in-law of Lady Jane Grey; beheaded in 1558 for his part in an
insurrection in her favour.
DUFF, ALEXANDER, an eminent Indian missionary, born at Moulin, near
Pitlochry, Perthshire; a man of Celtic blood, apostolic zeal, and fervid
eloquence; was the first missionary sent out to India by the Church of
Scotland; sailed in 1830, returned in 1840, in 1849, and finally in 1863,
stirring up each time the missionary spirit in the Church; he was the
originator of a new method of missionary operations in the East by the
introduction of English as the vehicle of instruction in the Christian
faith, which met at first with much opposition, but was finally crowned
with conspicuous success; died in Edinburgh (1806-1873).
DUFF, JAMES GRANT, Indian soldier and statesman, born at Banff;
conspicuous as a soldier for his services in subduing the Mahratta
chiefs, and as a statesman for establishing friendly relations between
the Mahrattas and the East India Company (1789-1858).
DUFFERIN, MARQUIS OF, and EARL OF AVA, statesman and
diplomatist; held office under Lord John Russell and Mr. Gladstone; was
in succession Governor-General of Canada, ambassador first at St.
Petersburg, then at Constantinople, and finally Governor-General of
India; has since acted as ambassador at Rome and Paris; is a man of
literary as well as administrative ability; _b_. 1826.
DUFFY, SIR CHARLES GAVAN, an Irish patriot, born in co. Monaghan;
bred for the bar; took to journalism in the interest of his country's
emancipation; was one of the founders of the _Nation_ newspaper; was
twice over tried for sedition, but acquitted; emigrated at length to
Australia, where he soon plunged into Colonial politics, and in his
political capacity rendered distinguished services to the Australian
colonies, especially in obtaining important concessions from the
mother-country; he is the author of the "Ballad Poetry of Ireland," and
an interesting record of his early experiences in "Young Ireland"; _b_.
1816.
DUFOUR, a Swiss general, born at Constance; commanded the army
directed against the SONDERBUND (q. v.), and brought the war
there to a close (1787-1875).
DUFRESNE, CHARLES. See DU CANGE.
DUFRESNY, French painter and poet, born at Paris (1765-1825).
DUFRESNY, CHARLES RIVIÈRE, French dramatist, a universal genius,
devoted to both literature and the arts; held in high esteem by Louis
XIV.; wrote a number of comedies, revealing a man of the world, instinct
with wit, and careless of style (1648-1724).
DUGDALE, SIR WILLIAM, antiquary, born in Warwickshire; was made
Chester herald, accompanied Charles I. throughout the Civil War; his
chief work was the "Monasticum Anglicanum," which he executed conjointly
with Roger Duckworth; wrote also on the antiquities of Warwickshire and
heraldry; left 27 folio MSS. now in the Bodleian Library (1605-1686).
DUGOMMIER, French general, pupil of Washington, born at Guadeloupe;
distinguished himself in Italy; commanded at the siege of Toulon, which
he took; fell at the battle of Sierra-Negra, in Spain, which he had
invaded (1736-1794).
DUGUAY-TROUIN, RENÉ, a celebrated French sea-captain, born at St.
Malo; distinguished at first in privateer warfare during the reign of
Louis XIV., and afterwards as a frigate captain in the royal navy, to
which the royal favour promoted him; was much beloved by the sailors and
subordinate officers; died poor (1673-1736).
DU GUESCLIN, BERTRAND, constable of France, born in Côtes du Nord;
one of the most illustrious of French war-captains, and distinguished as
one or the chief instruments in expelling the English from Normandy,
Guienne, and Poitou; was taken prisoner at the battle of Auray in 1364,
but ransomed for 100,000 francs, and again by the Black Prince, but soon
liberated; he was esteemed for his valour by foe and friend alike, and he
was buried at St. Denis in the tomb of the kings of France (1314-1380).
DUHESME, a French general; covered with wounds at Waterloo, he was
cruelly massacred by the Brunswick hussars in the house to which he had
fled for refuge (1760-1815).
DUILIUS, CAIUS, a Roman consul; distinguished for having on the
coast of Sicily gained the first naval victory recorded in the annals of
Rome, 260 B.C.
DULCE DOMUM (for Sweet Home), a song sung by the pupils at
Winchester College on the approach of and at the break-up of the school
for the summer holidays.
DULCINEA DEL TOBOSA, the name Don Quixote gave to his beloved
Aldonza Lorenzo, a coarse peasant-girl of Tobosa, conceived by him as a
model of all feminine perfection, and as such adored by him.
DULIA, an inferior kind of worship paid to angels and saints, in
contradistinction to LATRIA (q. v.).
DULONG, a French chemist, born at Rouen; discoverer, by accidental
explosion, of the chloride of nitrogen (1785-1838).
DULUTH (52), a port on Lake Superior, with a fine harbour, and a
great centre of commerce.
DULWICH, a southern Surrey suburb of London, with a flourishing
college founded in 1619, and a picture gallery attached, rich especially
in Dutch paintings. See ALLEYN, EDWARD.
DUMACHUS, the impenitent thief, figures in Longfellow's "Golden
Legend" as one of a band of robbers who attacked St. Joseph on his flight
into Egypt.
DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, THE ELDER, a celebrated French author, born at
Villers-Cotterets, son of General Dumas, a Creole; lost his father at
four, and led for a time a miscellaneous life, till, driven by poverty,
he came to Paris to seek his fortune; here he soon made his mark, and
became by-and-by the most popular dramatist and romancier of his time;
his romances are numerous, and he reached the climax of his fame by the
production of "Monte Cristo" in 1844, and the "Three Musketeers" the year
after; he was unhappy in his marriage and with his wife, as afterwards,
he squandered his fortune in reckless extravagance; before the end it was
all spent, and he died at Dieppe, broken in health and impaired in
intellect, ministered to by his son and daughter (1806-1876).
DUMAS, ALEXANDRE, THE YOUNGER or _fils_, dramatist and novelist,
born in Paris, son of the preceding; he made his _début_ as a novelist
with "La Dame aux Camélias" in 1848, which was succeeded by a number of
other novels; he eventually gave himself up to the production of dramas,
in which he was more successful than in romance (1824-1895).
DUMAS, JEAN BAPTISTE ANDRÉ, a distinguished French chemist, born at
Alais; was admitted to the Académie française at the age of 25; at the
Revolution of 1848 he became a member of the National Assembly; was
created a senator under the Empire, but retired into private life after
Sedan; he was distinguished for his studies in chemistry, both
theoretical and practical, and ranks among the foremost in the science
(1800-1884).
DU MAURIER, artist, born in Paris; started in London as a designer
of wood engravings; did illustrations for _Once a Week_, the _Cornhill
Magazine, &c._., and finally joined the staff of _Punch_, to which he
contributed numerous clever sketches; he published a novel, "Peter
Ibbetson," in 1891, which was succeeded in 1895 by "Trilby," which had
such a phenomenal success in both England and America (1834-1897).
DUMB OX, THOMAS AQUINAS (q. v.), so called from his
taciturnity before he opened his mouth and began, as predicted, to fill
the world with his lowing.
DUMBARTON (17), the county town of Dumbartonshire, and a royal
burgh, at the mouth of the Leven, on the Clyde, 15 m. from Glasgow;
shipbuilding the chief industry; it was the capital of the kingdom of
Strathclyde; adjoining is a castle of historic interest, 250 ft. high,
kept up as a military fortress; the county, which is fertile, and was
originally part of Lennox, is traversed by the Leven, with its
bleach-fields and factories.
DUMBDRUDGE, an imaginary village referred to in "Sartor," where the
natives toil and _drudge_ away and _say nothing_ about it, as villagers
all over the world used contentedly to do, and did for most part, at the
time "Sartor" was written, though less so now.
DUMBIEDIKES, a Scotch laird who figures in the "Heart of
Midlothian," in love with Jeanie Deans.
DUMESNIL, MARIE FRANÇOISE, a celebrated French tragédienne, born
near Alençon; like Mrs. Siddons, surpassed all others at the time in the
representation of dignity, pathos, and strong emotion; made her first
appearance in 1737, retired in 1775 (1711-1803).
DUMFRIES (18), an agricultural market-town, county town of
Dumfriesshire and a seaport, stands on the left bank of the Nith, with
Maxwelltown as suburb on the right, 90 m. SW. of Edinburgh; manufactures
tweeds and hosiery, and trades in cattle; here Robert Burns spent the
last five years of his life, and his remains lie buried.
DUMFRIESSHIRE (74), a south-western Border county of Scotland; an
agricultural district, which slopes from a northern pastoral region to
the Solway, and is traversed by the fertile valleys of Nithsdale and
Annandale.
DUMNORIX, a chief of the Æduan nation in Gaul, who gave some trouble
to Cæsar in his conquest of Gaul.
DUMONT, AUGUSTIN-ALEXANDRE, a sculptor, born in Paris (1801-1884).
DUMONT, JEAN, an eminent French publicist, who settled in Austria
and served the emperor; wrote on international law (1660-1726).
DUMONT, LOUIS, a French publicist, born at Geneva, a friend of
Mirabeau, memoirs of whom he wrote, and who, coming to England, formed a
close intimacy with Jeremy Bentham, and became his disciple and expounder
(1759-1829).
DUMONT D'URVILLE, JULES, a celebrated French navigator, born at
Condé-sur-Noireau; made a three years' voyage round the world, and
visited the Antarctic regions, of which he made a survey; he was
distinguished as a scientist no less than a sea-captain; lost his life in
a railway accident at Versailles (1790-1842).
DUMOULIN, a celebrated French jurist, born at Paris; did for French
law what Cujas (q. v.) did for Roman (1500-1560).
DUMOURIEZ, a French general, born at Cambrai, "a wiry, elastic,
unwearied man ... creature," as he boasted in his old age, "of God and
his own sword ... on the whole, one of Heaven's Swiss"; took when already
grey to the Revolution and fought on its behalf; gained the battles of
Valmy and Jemmapes; conquered Belgium, but being distrusted, passed over
to the ranks of the enemies of France; a man really "without faith;
wanted above all things work, work on any side"; died an exile in England
(1739-1824). See Carlyle's "French Revolution."
DÜNA, a river of Russia, which rises near the source of the Volga,
and after a W. and NW. course of 650 m. falls into the Gulf of Riga; it
is connected with the Dnieper by the Beresina Canal.
DUNBAR, an ancient seaport and town of Haddingtonshire, on the coast
of the Forth, 29 m. E. of Edinburgh; is a fishing station, and
manufactures agricultural implements and paper; was, with its castle,
which has stood many a siege, a place of importance in early Scottish
history; near it Cromwell beat the Scots under Leslie on September 3,
1650.
DUNBAR, William, a Scottish poet, entered the Franciscan order and
became an itinerant preaching friar, in which capacity he wandered over
the length and breadth of the land, enjoying good cheer by the way; was
some time in the service of James IV., and wrote a poem, his most famous
piece, entitled "The Thistle and the Rose," on the occasion of the King's
marriage with the Princess Margaret Tudor, daughter of Henry VII. His
poems were of three classes--allegoric, moral, and comic, the most
remarkable being "The Dance," in which he describes the procession of the
seven deadly sins in the infernal regions. Scott says he "was a poet
unrivalled by any that Scotland has produced" (1480-1520).
DUNBLANE, a town in Perthshire, 5 m. N. of Stirling, with a
beautiful cathedral, which dates back as far as 1240; of the diocese the
saintly Leighton was bishop.
DUNCAN, ADAM, VISCOUNT, a British admiral, born at Dundee; entered
the navy in 1746; steadily rose in rank till, in 1795, he became admiral
of the Blue and commander of the North Sea fleet in 1795; kept watching
the movements of the Dutch squadron for two years, till, at the end of
that term, it put to sea, and came up with it off Camperdown, and totally
defeated it, June 11, 1797 (1731-1804).
DUNCAN, THOMAS, a Scotch artist, born at Kinclaven, Perthshire;
painted fancy and Scoto-historical subjects, and a number of excellent
portraits; his career, which was full of promise, was cut short by an
early death (1807-1845).
DUNCIAD, THE, a satire of Pope's in four books, the "fiercest" as
well as the best of his satires, in which, with merciless severity, he
applies the lash to his critics, and in which Colley Cibber figures as
the King of Dunces.
DUNCKER, MAX, a historical writer, born in Berlin; held a
professorship at Halle and Tübingen, and became a minister of State;
wrote among other works a work of great learning, in seven vols.,
entitled the "History of Antiquity" (1811-1886).
DUNCOMBE, T. S., an English politician, M.P. for Finsbury, one of
the extreme Liberal party of the time, presented to the House of Commons
the Chartist petition in 1842; denounced Sir James Graham, the Home
Secretary of the day, for opening Mazzini's letter, and advocated Jewish
emancipation (1796-1861).
DUNDALK (12), capital of co. Louth, Ireland, 50 m. N. of Dublin; a
place of considerable trade and manufactures; is an ancient city; Edward
Bruce, the last king of all Ireland, was crowned and resided here; it was
besieged and taken more than once, by Cromwell for one.
DUNDAS (of Arniston), the name of a Scottish family, many of the
members of which have distinguished themselves at the bar and on the
bench.
DUNDAS, HENRY, VISCOUNT MELVILLE, a junior member of the above
family; trained for the bar; rose to be Lord Advocate for Scotland and
M.P. for the county of Edinburgh; opposed at first to Pitt, he became at
last his ablest coadjutor in Parliament, and did important services in
connection with the military and naval defences of the country; his
power was sovereign in Scotland; his statue, mounted on a lofty column,
adorns one of the principal squares of the New Town of Edinburgh
(1741-1811).
DUNDEE (153), the third largest city in Scotland, stands on the
Firth of Tay, 10 m. from the mouth; has a large seaport; is a place of
considerable commercial enterprise; among its numerous manufactures the
chief is the jute; it has a number of valuable institutions, and sends
two members to Parliament.
DUNDONALD, THOMAS COCHRANE, EARL OF, entered the navy at the age of
17; became captain of the _Speedy_, a sloop-of-war of 14 guns and 54 men;
captured in ten months 33 vessels; was captured by a French squadron, but
had his sword returned to him; signalised himself afterwards in a
succession of daring feats; selected to burn the French fleet lying at
anchor in the Basque Roads, he was successful by means of fire-ships in
destroying several vessels, but complained he was not supported by Lord
Gambier, the admiral, a complaint which was fatal to his promotion in the
service; disgraced otherwise, he went abroad and served in foreign
navies, and materially contributed to the establishment of the republic
of Chile and the empire of Brazil; in 1830 he was restored by his party,
the Whigs, to his naval rank, as a man who had been the victim of the
opposite party, and made a vice-admiral of the Blue in 1841; he
afterwards vindicated himself in his "Autobiography of a Seaman"
(1775-1860).
DUNDREARY, LORD, a character of the play "Our American Cousin"; the
personification of a good-natured, brainless swell; represented uniquely
on the stage by Mr. Sothern.
DUNEDIN (47), the capital of Otago, in New Zealand, situated well
south on the E. side of the South Isle, at the head of a spacious bay,
and the largest commercial city in the colony; founded by Scotch
emigrants in 1848, one of the leaders a nephew of Robert Burns.
DUNES, low hills of sand extending along the coast of the
Netherlands and the N. of France.
DUNFERMLINE (19), an ancient burgh in the W. of Fife; a place of
interest as a residence of the early kings of Scotland, and as the
birthplace of David II., James I., and Charles I., and for its abbey; it
stands in the middle of a coal-field, and is the seat of extensive linen
manufactures.
DUNKELD, a town in Perthshire, 15 m. NW. of Perth, with a fine
14th-century cathedral.
DUNKERS, a sect of Quakerist Baptists in the United States.
DUNKIRK (40), the most northern seaport and fortified town of
France, on the Strait of Dover; has manufactures and considerable trade.
DUNNET HEAD, a rocky peninsula, the most northerly point in
Scotland, the rocks from 100 to 600 ft. high.
DUNNOTTAR CASTLE, an old castle of the Keiths now in ruins, on the
flat summit of a precipitous rock 1½ m. S. of Stonehaven,
Kincardineshire, Scotland, and connected with the mainland by a neck of
land called the "Fiddle Head"; famous in Scottish history as a State
prison, and as the place of safe-keeping at a troubled period for the
Scottish regalia, now in Edinburgh Castle.
DUNOIS, JEAN, a French patriot, called the Bastard of Orleans, born
in Paris, natural son of Louis of Orleans, brother of Charles VI.; one of
the national heroes of France; along with Joan of Arc, compelled the
English to raise the siege of Orleans, and contributed powerfully, by his
sword, to all but expel the English from France after the death of that
heroine (1402-1468).
DUNS SCOTUS, JOHANNES, one of the most celebrated of the scholastics
of the 14th century, whether he was native of England, Scotland, or
Ireland is uncertain; entered the Franciscan order, and from his
acuteness got the name of "Doctor Subtilis"; lectured at Oxford to crowds
of auditors, and also at Paris; was the contemporary of Thomas Aquinas,
and the head of an opposing school of Scotists, as against Thomists, as
they were called; whereas Aquinas "proclaimed the Understanding as
principle, he proclaimed the Will, from whose spontaneous exercise he
derived all morality; with this separation of theory from practice and
thought from thing (which accompanied it) philosophy became divided from
theology, reason from faith; reason took a position above faith, above
authority (in modern philosophy), and the religious consciousness broke
with the traditional dogma (at the Reformation)."
DUNSTAN, ST., an English ecclesiastic, born at Glastonbury; a man of
high birth and connection as well as varied accomplishments; began a
religious life as a monk living in a cell by himself, and prevailed in
single combat on one occasion with the devil; became abbot of
Glastonbury, in which capacity he adopted the rôle of statesman, and
arose to great authority during the reign of Edgar, becoming archbishop
of Canterbury, ruling the nation with vigour and success, but with the
death of Edgar his power declined, and he retired to Canterbury, where he
died of grief and vexation; he is the patron saint of goldsmiths
(924-988).
DUNTON, WATTS. See WATTS, THEODORE.
DUPANLOUP, a French prelate, bishop of Orleans, born at St. Felix,
in Savoy; a singularly able and eloquent man; devoted himself to
educational emancipation and reform; protested vigorously against papal
infallibility; yielded at length, and stood up in defence of the Church
(1802-1878).
DUPERRÉ, a French admiral, born at La Rochelle; contributed along
with Marshal Bourmont to the taking of Algiers (1775-1846).
DUPERRON, cardinal, a Swiss by birth and a Calvinist by religious
profession; went to Paris, turned papist, and rose to ecclesiastical
eminence in France under Henry IV. (1556-1618).
DUPIN, ANDRÉ, French jurist and statesman; distinguished at the time
of the revolution of the three days as a supporter of Louis Philippe, and
of the house of Orleans after him (1783-1865).
DUPLEIX, JOSEPH, a French merchant, head of a factory at
Chandernagore, who rose to be governor of the French settlements in
India, and in the management of which he displayed conspicuous ability,
defending them against the English and receiving the dignity of marquis;
jealousy at home, however, led to his recall, and he was left to end his
days in neglect and poverty, though he pled hard with the cabinet at
Versailles to have respect to the sacrifices he made for his country
(1697-1763).
DUPLESSIS, MORNAY, a soldier, diplomatist, and man of letters; a
leader of the Huguenots, who, after the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
visited England, where he was received with favour by Elizabeth in 1575;
entered the service of the King of Navarre, afterwards Henry IV. of
France, but on Henry's reconciliation with the Church of Rome, retired
into private life and devoted himself to literary pursuits; he was called
the "Pope of the Huguenots"; _d_. 1623.
DUPONT, PIERRE, French song-writer; his songs, "Le Chant des
Ouvriers" and "Les Boeufs," the delight of the young generation of 1848
(1820-1872).
DUPONT DE L'EURE, a French politician, born at Neubourg; filled
several important offices in the successive periods of revolution in
France; was distinguished for his integrity and patriotism, and made
President of the Provisional Government in 1848 (1767-1855).
DUPONT DE NEMOURS, French political economist; took part in the
Revolution; was opposed to the excesses of the Jacobin party, but escaped
with his life; wrote a book entitled "Philosophie de l'Universe"
(1739-1817).
DUPUIS, CHARLES FRANÇOIS, a French savant; was a member of the
Convention of the Council of the Five Hundred, and President of the
Legislative Body during the Revolution period; devoted himself to the
study of astronomy in connection with mythology, the result of which was
published in his work in 12 vols., entitled "Origine de tous les Cultes,
ou la Religion Universelle"; he advocated the unity of the astronomical
and religious myths of all nations (1742-1809).
DUPUY, M. CHARLES, French statesman, born at Puy; elected to the
Chamber in 1885; became Premier in 1893 and in 1894; was in office when
Dreyfus was condemned and degraded, and resigned in 1895; _b_. 1851.
DUPUYTREN, BARON, a celebrated French surgeon, born at
Pierre-Buffière; he was a man of firm nerve, signally sure and skilful as
an operator, and contributed greatly, both by his inventions and
discoveries, to the progress of surgery; a museum of pathological
anatomy, in which he made important discoveries, bears his name
(1777-1835).
DUQUESNE, ABRAHAM, MARQUIS, an illustrious naval officer of France,
born at Dieppe; distinguished himself in many a naval engagement, and did
much to enhance the naval glory of the country; among other achievements
plucked the laurels from the brow of his great rival, De Ruyter, by, in
1676, defeating the combined fleets of Spain and Holland under his
command; Louis XIV. offered him a marshal's baton if he would abjure
Calvinism, but he declined; he was the only one of the Huguenots excepted
from proscription in the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, but his last
days were saddened by the banishment of his children (1610-1688).
DURA DEN, a glen near Cupar-Fife, famous for the number of ganoid
fossil fishes entombed in its sandstone.
DURANCE, a tributary of the Rhône, which, after a rapid course of
180 m., falls into that river by its left bank 3 m. below Avignon.
DURAND, an Indian officer; served in the Afghan and Sikh Wars, and
became Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab (1828-1871).
DURANDAL, the miraculous sword of Orlando, with which he could
cleave mountains at a blow.
DURBAN (27), the port of Natal, largest town in the colony, with a
land-locked harbour.
DURBAR, a ceremonious State reception in India.
DÜRER, ALBERT, the great early German painter and engraver, born at
Nürnberg, son of a goldsmith, a good man, who brought him up to his own
profession, but he preferred painting, for which he early exhibited a
special aptitude, and his father bound him apprentice for three years to
the chief artist in the place, at the expiry of which he travelled in
Germany and other parts; in 1506 he visited Venice, where he met Bellini,
and painted several pictures; proceeded thence to Bologna, and was
introduced to Raphael; his fame spread widely, and on his return he was
appointed court-painter by the Emperor Maximilian, an office he held
under Charles V.; he was of the Reformed faith, and a friend of
Melanchthon as well as an admirer of Luther, on whose incarceration in
Wartburg he uttered a long lament; he was a prince of painters, his
drawing and colouring perfect, and the inventor of etching, in which he
was matchless; he carved in wood, ivory, stone, and metal; was an author
as well as an artist, and wrote, among other works, an epoch-making
treatise on proportion in the human figure; "it could not be better done"
was his quiet, confident reply as a sure workman to a carper on one
occasion (1471-1528).
D'URFEY, TOM, a facetious poet; author of comedies and songs; a
great favourite of Charles II. and his court; of comedies he wrote some
30, which are all now discarded for their licentiousness, and a curious
book of sonnets, entitled "Pills to Purge Melancholy"; came to poverty in
the end of his days; Addison pled on his behalf, and hoped that "as he
had made the world merry, the world would make him easy" (1628-1723).
DURGÂ, in the Hindu mythology the consort of Siva.
DURHAM (15), an ancient city on the Wear, with a noble cathedral and
a castle, once the residence of the bishop, now a university seat, in the
heart of a county of the same name (1,106), rich in coal-fields, and with
numerous busy manufacturing towns.
DURHAM, ADMIRAL, entered the navy in 1777; was officer on the watch
when the _Royal George_ went down off Spithead, and the only one with
Captain Waghorn who escaped; served as acting-lieutenant of a ship under
Lord Howe at the relief of Gibraltar, and commanded the _Defence_, a ship
of 74 guns, at the battle of Trafalgar (1763-1815).
DURHAM, JOHN G. L., EARL OF, an English statesman, born in Durham
Co.; a zealous Liberal and reformer, and a member of the Reform
Government under Earl Grey, which he contributed much to inaugurate; was
ambassador in St. Petersburg, and was sent governor-general to Canada in
1839, but owing to some misunderstanding took the extraordinary step of
ultroneously returning within the year (1792-1840).
DURWARD, QUENTIN, a Scottish archer in the service of Louis XI., the
hero of a novel of Scott's of the name.
DÜSSELDORF (176), a well-built town of Rhenish Prussia, on the right
bank of the Rhine; it is a place of manufactures, and has a fine
picture-gallery with a famous school of art associated.
DUTENS, JOSEPH, a French engineer and political economist
(1763-1848).
DUTENS, LOUIS, a French savant, born at Tours; after being chaplain
to the British minister at Turin, settled in England, and became
historiographer-royal; was a man of varied learning, and well read in
historical subjects and antiquities (1730-1812).
DUTROCHET, a French physiologist and physicist, known for his
researches on the passage of fluids through membranous tissues
(1776-1847).
DUUMVIRS, the name of two Roman magistrates who exercised the same
public functions.
DUVAL, CLAUDE, a French numismatist, and writer on numismatics;
keeper of the imperial cabinet of Vienna; was originally a shepherd boy
(1695-1775).
DWIGHT, TIMOTHY, an American theologian, grandson of Jonathan
Edwards, and much esteemed in his day both as a preacher and a writer;
his "Theology Explained and Defended," in 5 vols., was very popular at
one time, and was frequently reprinted (1752-1817).
DWINA, a Russian river, distinguished from the DÜNA (q. v.),
also called Duna, and an important, which flows N. to the White
Sea.
DYAKS, the native name of tribes of Malays of a superior class
aboriginal to Borneo.
DYCE, ALEXANDER, an English literary editor and historian, born in
Edinburgh; edited several of the old English poets and authors, some of
them little known before; also the poems of Shakespeare, Pope, &c.; was
one of the founders of the Percy Society, for the publication of old
English works (1798-1869).
DYCE, WILLIAM, a distinguished Scottish artist, born in Aberdeen,
studied in Rome; settled for a time in Edinburgh, and finally removed to
London; painted portraits at first, but soon took to higher subjects of
art; his work was such as to commend itself to both German and French
artists; he gave himself to fresco-painting, and as a fresco-painter was
selected to adorn the walls of the Palace of Westminster and the House of
Lords; his "Baptism of Ethelbert," in the latter, is considered his best
work (1806-1864).
DYCK, VAN. See VANDYCK.
DYER, JOHN, English poet; was a great lover and student of landscape
scenery, and his poems, "Grongar Hill" and the "Fleece," abound in
descriptions of these, the scenery of the former lying in S. Wales
(1700-1758).
DYNAM, the unit of work, or the force required to raise one pound
one foot in one second.
DYNAMITE, a powerful explosive substance, intensely local in its
action; formed by impregnating a porous siliceous earth or other
substance with some 70 per cent. of nitro-glycerine.
DYNAMO, a machine by which mechanical work is transformed into
powerful electric currents by the inductive action of magnets on coils of
copper wire in motion.
E
EACUS. See ÆACUS.
EADMER, a celebrated monk of Canterbury; flourished in the 12th
century; friend and biographer of St. Anselm, author of a History of His
Own Times, as also of many of the Lives of the Saints; elected to the
bishopric of St. Andrews in 1120; resigned on account of Alexander I.
refusing to admit the right of the English Archbishop of Canterbury to
perform the ceremony of consecration.
EADRIC, a Saxon, notorious for his treachery, fighting now with his
countrymen against the Danes and now with the Danes against them, till
put to death by order of Canute in 1017.
EADS, JAMES BUCHANAN, an American engineer, born in Laurenceburg,
Indiana; designed ingenious boats for floating submerged ships; built
with remarkable speed warships for the Federalists in 1861; constructed a
steel bridge spanning the Mississippi at St. Louis, noteworthy for its
central span of 520 ft. (1820-1887).
EAGLE, the king of birds, and bird of Jove; was adopted by various
nations as the emblem of dominant power, as well as of nobility and
generosity; in Christian art it is the symbol of meditation, and the
attribute of St. John; is represented now as fighting with a serpent, and
now as drinking out of a chalice or a communion cup, to strengthen it for
the fight.
EAGLE, ORDER OF THE BLACK, an order of knighthood founded by the
Elector of Brandenburg in 1701; with this order was ultimately
incorporated the ORDER OF THE RED EAGLE, founded in 1734 by the
Markgraf of Bayreuth.
EAGLE OF BRITTANY, DU GUESCLIN (q. v.).
EAGLE OF MEAUX, BOSSUET (q. v.).
EAGRE, a name given in England to a tidal wave rushing up a river or
estuary on the top of another, called also a BORE (q. v.).
EARL, a title of nobility, ranking third in the British peerage;
originally election to the dignity of earl carried with it a grant of
land held in feudal tenure, the discharge of judicial and administrative
duties connected therewith, and was the occasion of a solemn service of
investiture. In course of time the title lost its official character, and
since the reign of Queen Anne all ceremony of investiture has been
dispensed with, the title being conferred by letters-patent. The word is
derived from the Anglo-Saxon _eorls_ which signified the "gentle folk,"
as distinguished from the _ceorls_, the "churls" or "simple folk."
EARL MARSHAL, a high officer of State, an office of very ancient
institution, now the head of the college of arms, and hereditary in the
family of the Dukes of Norfolk; formerly one of the chief officers in the
court of chivalry, a court which had to do with all matters of high
ceremonial, such as coronations.
EARLOM, RICHARD, a mezzotint engraver, born in London; celebrated
for his series of 200 prints after the original designs of Claude de
Lorraine (1743-1822).
EARLSTON or ERCILDOUNE, a village in Berwickshire, with
manufactures of ginghams and other textiles. In its vicinity stand the
ruins of the "Rhymer's Tower," alleged to have been the residence of
Thomas the Rhymer.
EARLY ENGLISH, a term in architecture used to designate that
particular form of Gothic architecture in vogue in England in the 13th
century, whose chief characteristic was the pointed arch.
EARTH HOUSES, known also as Yird Houses, Weems and Picts' Houses,
underground dwellings in use in Scotland, extant even after the Roman
evacuation of Britain. Entrance was effected by a passage not much wider
than a fox burrow, which sloped downwards 10 or 12 ft. to the floor of
the house; the inside was oval in shape, and was walled with overlapping
rough stone slabs; the roof frequently reached to within a foot of the
earth's surface; they probably served as store-houses, winter-quarters,
and as places of refuge in times of war. Similar dwellings are found in
Ireland.
EARTHLY PARADISE, poem by William Morris, his greatest effort,
considered his masterpiece; consists of 24 tales by 24 travellers in
quest of an earthly paradise.
EAST INDIA COMPANY, founded in 1600; erected its first factories on
the mainland in 1612 at Surat, but its most profitable trade in these
early years was with the Spice Islands, Java, Sumatra, &c.; driven from
these islands by the Dutch in 1622, the Company established itself
altogether on the mainland; although originally created under royal
charter for purely commercial purposes, it in 1689 entered upon a career
of territorial acquisition, which culminated in the establishment of
British power in India; gradually, as from time to time fresh renewals of
its charter were granted, it was stripped of its privileges and
monopolies, till in 1858, after the Mutiny, all its powers were vested in
the British Crown.
EAST RIVER, the strait which separates Brooklyn and New York cities,
lying between Long Island Sound and New York Bay, about 10 m. long; is
spanned by a bridge.
EASTBOURNE (35), a fashionable watering-place and health resort on
the Sussex coast, between Brighton and Hastings, and 66 m. S. of London;
has Roman remains, and is described in "Domesday Book."
EASTER, an important festival of the Church commemorating the
resurrection of Christ; held on the first Sunday after the first full
moon of the calendar which happens on or next after 21st of March, and
constituting the beginning of the ecclesiastical year; the date of it
determines the dates of other movable festivals; derives its name from
Eastre, a Saxon goddess, whose festival was celebrated about the same
time, and to which many of the Easter customs owe their origin.
EASTERN STATES, the six New England States in N. America--Maine, New
Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut.
EASTLAKE, SIR CHARLES LOCK, artist and author, born at Plymouth;
studied painting in London and in Paris; produced the last portrait of
Napoleon, which he executed from a series of sketches of the emperor on
board the _Bellerophon_ in Plymouth harbour; he travelled in Greece, and
from 1816 to 1830 made his home at Rome; "Christ Weeping over Jerusalem,"
his greatest work, appeared in 1841; was President of the Royal Academy;
wrote several works on subjects relating to his art, and translated
Goethe's "Farbenlehre" (1793-1865).
EASTWICK, EDWARD BACKHOUSE, Orientalist and diplomatist, born at
Warfield, in Berkshire; went to India as a cadet, acquired an extensive
knowledge of Indian dialects and Eastern languages, and passed an
interpretership examination, gaining the high proficiency reward of 1000
rupees; carried through peace negotiations with China in 1842; invalided
home, he became professor of Hindustani at Haileybury College; afterwards
studied law and was called to the bar; entered Parliament, and held
various political appointments, including a three years' embassy in
Persia; was a fellow of many antiquarian and philological societies;
amongst his numerous philological productions and translations his
"Gulistan" and "Life of Zoroaster" from the Persian are noted
(1814-1883).
EAU CREOLE, a liqueur from the distillation of the flowers of the
mammee apple with spirits of wine.
EAU-DE-COLOGNE, a perfume originally manufactured at Cologne by
distillation from certain essential oils with rectified spirit.
EBAL, MOUNT, a mountain with a level summit, which rises to the
height of 3077 ft. on the N. side of the narrow Vale of Shechem, in
Palestine, and from the slopes of which the people of Israel responded to
the curses which were pronounced by the Levites in the valley.
EBERHARD, JOHANN AUGUST, German philosophical writer, born at
Halberstadt; professor at Halle; rationalistic in his theology, and
opposed to the Kantian metaphysics; was a disciple of Leibnitz; wrote a
"New Apology of Socrates," in defence of rationalism in theology, as well
as a "Universal History of Philosophy," and a work on German synonyms
(1739-1809).
EBERS, GEORGE MORITZ, German Egyptologist, born at Berlin;
discovered an important papyrus; was professor successively at Jena and
Leipzig; laid aside by ill-health, betook himself to novel-writing as a
pastime; was the author of "Aarda, a Romance of Ancient Egypt,"
translated by Clara Bell (1837-1898).
EBERT, KARL EGON, a Bohemian poet, born at Prague; his poems,
dramatic and lyric, are collected in 7 vols., and enjoy a wide popularity
in his country (1801-1882).
EBIONITES, a sect that in the 2nd century sought to combine Judaism
and the hopes of Judaism with Christianity, and rejected the authority of
St. Paul and of the Pauline writings; they denied the divinity of Christ,
and maintained that only the poor as such were the objects of salvation.
EBLIS, in Mohammedan tradition the chief of the fallen angels,
consigned to perdition for refusing to worship Adam at the command of his
Creator, and who gratified his revenge by seducing Adam and Eve from
innocency.
EBONY, a name given to Blackwood by James Hogg, and eventually
applied to his magazine.
EBRO, a river of Spain, rises in the Cantabrian Mountains, flows SE.
into the Mediterranean 80 m. SW. of Barcelona, after a course of 422 m.
ECBATANA, the ancient capital of Media, situated near Mount Orontes
(now Elvend); was surrounded by seven walls of different colours that
increased in elevation towards the central citadel; was a summer
residence of the Persian and Parthian kings. The modern town of Hamadan
now occupies the site of it.
ECCE HOMO (i. e. Behold the Man), a representation of Christ as He
appeared before Pilate crowned with thorns and bound with ropes, as in
the painting of Correggio, a subject which has been treated by many of
the other masters, such as Titian and Vandyck.
ECCHYMOSIS, a discolouration of the skin produced by extravasated
blood under or in the texture of the skin, the result of a blow or of
disease.
ECCLEFECHAN, a market-town of Dumfriesshire, consisting for the most
part of the High Street, 5 m. S. of Lockerbie, on the main road to
Carlisle, 16 m. to the S.; noted as the birth and burial place of Thomas
Carlyle.
ECCLESIASTES (i. e. the Preacher), a book of the Old Testament,
questionably ascribed to Solomon, and now deemed of more recent date as
belonging to a period when the reflective spirit prevailed; and it is
written apparently in depreciation of mere reflection as a stepping-stone
to wisdom. The standpoint of the author is a religious one; the data on
which he rests is given in experience, and his object is to expose the
vanity of every source of satisfaction which is not founded on the fear,
and has not supreme regard for the commandments, of God, a doctrine which
is the very ground-principle of the Jewish faith; but if vanity is
written over the whole field of human experience, he argues, this is not
the fault of the system of things, but due, according to the author, to
the folly of man (chap. vii. 29).
ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY, THE LAW OF, a vindication of the Anglican
Church against the Puritans, written by Richard Hooker; the most splendid
and stately piece of literary prose that exists in the language.
ECCLESIASTICAL STATES, territories in Italy once subject to the Pope
as a temporal prince as well as ecclesiastically.
ECCLESIASTICUS, one of the books of the Apocrypha, ascribed to
Jesus, the son of Sirach, admitted to the sacred canon by the Council of
Trent, though excluded by the Jews. It contains a body of wise maxims, in
imitation, as regards matter as well as form, of the Proverbs of Solomon,
and an appendix on the men who were the disciples of wisdom. Its general
aim, as has been said, is "to represent wisdom as the source of all
virtue and blessedness, and by warnings, admonitions, and promises to
encourage in the pursuit of it." It was originally written in Hebrew, but
is now extant only in a Greek translation executed in Egypt, professedly
by the author's grandson.
ECCLESIOLOGY, the name given in England to the study of church
architecture and all that concerns the ground-plan and the internal
arrangements of the parts of the edifice.
ECGBERHT, archbishop of York; was a pupil of Bede, and the heir to
his learning; founded a far-famed school at York, which developed into a
university; flourished in 766.
ECHIDNA, a fabulous monster that figures in the Greek mythology,
half-woman, half-serpent, the mother of Cerberus, the Lernean Hydra, the
Chimæra, the Sphinx, the Gorgons, the Nemean Lion, the vulture that
gnawed the liver of Prometheus, &c.
ECHO, a wood-nymph in love with Narcissus, who did not return her
love, in consequence of which she pined away till all that remained of
her was only her voice.
ECK, JOHN, properly MAÍER, a German theologian, of Swabian
birth, professor at Ingolstadt; a violent, blustering antagonist of
Luther and Luther's doctrines; in his zeal went to Rome, and procured a
papal bull against both; undertook at the Augsburg Diet to controvert
Luther's doctrine from the Fathers, but not from the Scriptures; was
present at the conferences of Worms and Regensburg (1486-1543).
ECKERMANN, JOHANN PETER, a German writer, born at Winsen, in
Hanover; friend of Goethe, and editor of his works; the author of
"Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of his Life, 1823-32," a
record of wise reflections and of Goethe's opinions on all subjects, of
the utmost interest to all students of the German sage (1792-1854).
ECKHART, MEISTER, a German philosopher and divine, profoundly
speculative and mystical; entered the Dominican Order, and rapidly
attained to a high position in the Church; arraigned for heresy in 1325,
and was acquitted, but two years after his death his writings were
condemned as heretical by a papal bull; died in 1327.
ECKMÜHL, a village in Bavaria where Napoleon defeated the Austrians
in 1809, and which gave the title of Duke to DAVOUT (q. v.), one
of Napoleon's generals.
ECLECTICS, so-called philosophers who attach themselves to no
system, but select what, in their judgment, is true out of others. In
antiquity the Eclectic philosophy is that which sought to unite into a
coherent whole the doctrines of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, such as
that of Plotinus and Proclus was. There is an eclecticism in art as well
as philosophy, and the term is applied to an Italian school which aimed
at uniting the excellencies of individual great masters.
ECLIPTIC, the name given to the circular path in the heavens round
which the sun appears to move in the course of the year, an illusion
caused by the earth's annual circuit round the sun, with its axis
inclined at an angle to the equator of 23½ degrees; is the central line
of the ZODIAC (q. v.), so called because it was observed that
eclipses occurred only when the earth was on or close upon this path.
ECONOMY, "the right arrangement of things," and distinct from
Frugality, which is "the careful and fitting use of things."
ECORCHEURS (lit. flayers properly of dead bodies), armed bands who
desolated France in the reign of Charles VII., stripping their victims of
everything, often to their very clothes.
ECSTATIC DOCTOR, Jean Ruysbroek, a schoolman given to mysticism
(1294-1381).
ECUADOR (1,271), a republic of S. America, of Spanish origin,
created in 1822; derives its name from its position on the equator; lies
between Columbia and Peru; is traversed by the Andes, several of the
peaks of which are actively volcanic; the population consists of Peruvian
Indians, negroes, Spanish Creoles; exports cocoa, coffee, hides, and
medicinal plants; the administration is vested in a president, a
vice-president, two ministers, a senate of 18, and a house of deputies of
30, elected by universal suffrage.
ECUMENICAL COUNCIL, an ecclesiastical council representative, or
accepted as representative, of the Church universal or Catholic. See
COUNCILS.
ECZEMA, a common skin disease, which may be either chronic or acute;
develops in a red rash of tiny vesicles, which usually burst and produce
a characteristic scab; is not contagious, and leaves no scar.
EDDA (lit. grandmother), the name given to two collections of
legends illustrative of the Scandinavian mythology: the Elder, or Poetic,
Edda, collected in the 11th century by Sæmund Sigfusson, an early
Christian priest, "with perhaps a lingering fondness for paganism," and
the Younger, or Prose, Edda, collected in the next century by Snorri
Sturleson, an Icelandic gentleman (1178-1241), "educated by Sæmund's
grandson, the latter a work constructed with great ingenuity and native
talent, what one might call unconscious art, altogether a perspicuous,
clear work, pleasant reading still."
EDDYSTONE LIGHTHOUSE, situated on a low reef of rocks submerged at
high tide, 14 m. SW. of Plymouth; first built of wood by Winstanley,
1696; destroyed by a storm in 1703; rebuilt of wood on a stone base by
Rudyard; burnt in 1755, and reconstructed by Smeaton of solid stone; the
present edifice, on a different site, was completed by Sir James Douglas
in 1882, is 133 ft. in height, and has a light visible 17½ m. off.
EDELINCK, GERARD, a Flemish copper-plate engraver, born at Antwerp;
invited to France by Colbert, and patronised by Louis XIV.; executed in a
masterly manner many works from historical subjects (1640-1707).
EDEN (i. e. place of delight), Paradise, the original spot
referred to by tradition wholly uncertain, though believed to have been
in the Far East, identified in Moslem tradition with the moon.
EDESSA (40), an ancient city in Mesopotamia; figures in early Church
history, and is reputed to have contained at one time 300 monasteries; it
fell into the hands of the Turks in 1515; is regarded as the sacred city
of Abraham by Orientals.
EDFU, a town in Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile; has
unique ruins of two temples, the larger founded by Ptolemy IV. Philopater
before 200 B.C.
EDGAR, a king of Saxon England from 959 to 975, surnamed the
Peaceful; promoted the union and consolidation of the Danish and Saxon
elements within his realm; cleared Wales of wolves by exacting of its
inhabitants a levy of 300 wolves' heads yearly; eight kings are said to
have done him homage by rowing him on the Dee; St. Dunstan, the
archbishop of Canterbury, was the most prominent figure of the reign.
EDGAR THE ATHELING, a Saxon prince, the grandson of Edmund Ironside;
was hurriedly proclaimed king of England after the death of Harold in the
battle of Hastings, but was amongst the first to offer submission on the
approach of the Conqueror; spent his life in a series of feeble attempts
at rebellion, and lived into the reign of Henry I.
EDGEHILL, in the S. of Warwickshire, the scene of the first battle
in the Civil War, in 1642, between the royal forces under Charles I. and
the Parliamentary under Essex; though the Royalists had the worst of it,
no real advantage was gained by either side.
EDGEWORTH, HENRY ESSEX, known as the "Abbé" Edgeworth, born in
Ireland, son of a Protestant clergyman; educated at the Sorbonne, in
Paris; entered the priesthood, and became the confessor of Louis XVI.,
whom he attended on the scaffold; exclaimed as the guillotine came down,
"Son of St. Louis, ascend to heaven!" left France soon after; was
subsequently chaplain to Louis XVIII. (1745-1807).
EDGEWORTH, MARIA, novelist, born at Blackbourton, Berks; from her
fifteenth year her home was in Ireland; she declined the suit of a
Swedish count, and remained till the close of her life unmarried; amongst
the best known of her works are "Moral Tales," "Tales from Fashionable
Life," "Castle Rackrent," "The Absentee," and "Ormond"; her novels are
noted for their animated pictures of Irish life, and were acknowledged by
Scott to have given him the first suggestion of the Waverley series; the
Russian novelist, Turgenief, acknowledges a similar indebtedness; "in her
Irish stories she gave," says Stopford Brooke, "the first impulse to the
novel of national character, and in her other tales to the novel with a
moral purpose" (1766-1849).
EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL, an Irish landlord, father of Maria
Edgeworth, with a genius for mechanics, in which he displayed a
remarkable talent for invention; was member of the last Irish Parliament;
educated his son in accordance with the notions of Rousseau; wrote some
works on mechanical subjects in collaboration with his daughter
(1744-1817).
EDICT OF NANTES, an edict issued in 1598 by Henry IV. of France,
granting toleration to the Protestants; revoked by Louis XIV. in 1685.