DKMMISI.I.U: 



747 



pecial interests; real interests are i-.m -eal- ,1 

 iiinlcr party watchwords, anil >:imi ...i i.. them. 

 l'ii|iui:ir passion* are liable to up-.-t the plan- <if 



e\|>eliel|Ced policy, aild tllf demagogue (OK ol'tCII 



ousts the true statesman from liis well-merited 

 I'o-ition in the esteem of the people. It may !>< 

 added tliat in the lulmiiiistratioii of foreign allaii-, 

 the changcfulness ami pulilicity usually character- 

 istic of the denim-racy place it at a disadvantage 

 as compared with the secrecy, conti unity, and 

 tenacity <>f u government like that of Russia. 



Miifli lias lie. 'ii written on the merits and de- 

 merits, the advantages ami disadvantages of the 

 democracy. It really perhaps concerns us more 

 to observe the fact that it is the inevitable 

 outcome of the prevalent historic forces, that it 

 has a great function in modern history, and that 

 it i> thf duty of the citizen and statesman to do 

 their duty under it, and to adapt it to the material, 

 intellectual, and moral improvement of men. 



See the articles GOVERNMENT, REPRESENTATION ; De 

 Toajueville, Democracy in America (1862); Motley, 

 ric Progress of American Democracy (180'J); 

 Freeman, Conifwative Politics (1873); Sir T. E. May, 

 Democracy in Europe. ( 1878 ) ; Sir H. S. Maine, Popular 

 Government ( 1885 ) ; Bryce, The American Commonwealth 

 ( 1888 ) ; Lecky, Democracy and Liberty ( 18% ). 



Democrats, a political party in the United 

 States. So early as Washington's first administra- 

 tion, a party known variously as Republicans or 

 Democrats hail already been formed, who desired to 

 limit the federal power, and to increase that of the 

 states and of the people ; about 1808 the title of 

 Republicans as synonymous with Democrats dis- 

 appeared. See REPUBLICANS. Electing Jefferson 

 president in 1801, the Democrats remained in power 

 till 1841, and the administration was in their hands 

 also in 1845-49, in 1853-61, and in 1885-89. Demo- 

 cratic presidents have been Jefferson, Madison, 

 .Monroe, John (.Juincy Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, 

 Polk, Pierce, Buchanan, Cleveland. For the posi- 

 tions taken by Democrats on the most prominent 

 issues, see the article UNITED STATES. During 

 President Cleveland's term of office the party com 

 mitted itself to the principle of a reform of the tariff. 



DemocritllS. an illustrious Greek philosopher, 

 was born at Alxlera, in Thrace, about 470 or 460 

 B.C. Of his life little is known. The statement 

 that he was first inspired with a desire, for philo- 

 sophic knowledge by certain Magi and Chaldeans 

 whom Xerxes had left at Alulera, on his Grecian 

 expedition, is as untrustworthy as that which 

 represents him as continually laughing at the 

 follies of mankind. His extensive travels, how- 

 ever, through a great portion of the East, prove 

 the reality of this desire, as does also his ceaseless 

 industry in collecting the works of other philo- 

 sophers. Demoeritns \\as by far the most learned 

 thinker of his age. He had also a high reputation 

 for moral worth. He appears to have left a strong 

 impression of his disinterestedness, modesty, and 

 simplicity on the mind of the community, for even 

 Timon the scoffer, who spared no one else, praised 

 him. The period of his death is uncertain. He 

 lived, however, to a great age. Only a few frag- 

 ments of his numerous physical, mathematical, 

 ethical, and musical works are extant. These 

 have been collected by Mnllacli ( llerlin, 1843). 

 Cicero praises his style, and Pyrrhon imitated it. 



Democritus's system of philosophy is known as 

 the atomic system, which is considered to have 

 been founded by Leucippus. Its essence consists 

 in the attempt to explain the different phenomena 

 of nature not like the earlier Ionic philosophers, 

 by maintaining that the original characteristics 

 of matter were qualitative, but that they were 

 quantitative. He assumes, therefore, as the ulti- 

 mate elementary ground of nature, an infinite 



multitude of indiv i-iUe cor|M>real particlcM, 

 i--,. Ain.M), and uttiilmtc., to the a primary 

 motion derived from no higher principle. Thin 

 motion brings the atom- into contact with each 

 oilier, and from the multitudinou* eoml/iniilioim 

 that they form, springs that vaxt and vaniug 

 aggregate called nature, which i- pi- -<-nt.-d to 

 our eyes. DemocrituM did not acknowledge the 

 presence of deniijn in nature, but he admitted that 

 of/air. 'The word chance,' he nays, 'in only nn 

 expression of human ignorance.'* He belic\.-d 

 strictly in secondary or physical can^c.., l.m not 

 in a primary immaterial cause. Life, coiih<-iouf> 

 ness, thought, were, according to him. derived 

 from the finest atoms; those ima^e- of the >.-n-ii 

 OUH phenomena surrounding us, which we call 

 mental representations, were, according to him, 

 only material iinpres>ions, caused by the more 

 delicate atoms streaming through the j>res of our 

 organs. Democritus lx>ldly applied hi* theory to 

 the gods themselves, whom lie affirmed to be 

 aggregates of atoms, only mightier and more 

 powerful than men. His ethical system, npite of 

 the grossness of his metaphysics, is both pure and 

 noble. Such fragments of his writings as we pos- 

 sess contain beautiful, vigorous, and true thought** 

 concerning veracity, justice, law, order, and the 

 duties of rulers ; while, in a spirit not alien to 

 Christianity, he looks upon an inward iieace of 

 heart and conscience as the highest good. Kpicurus 

 (q.v.) and Lucretius (q.v.) developed his system. 



Demodex. See ACARUS. 



Demogeot* JACQUES CLAUDE, a French 

 litterateur, l>orn 5th July 1808 at Paris, lectured at 

 Beauvais, Rennes, Bordeaux, and Lyons, and was 

 appointed in 1843 to the chair of Rhetoric at the 

 Lvcee St- Louis at Paris. Most of his lunik- treat 

 of the history of literature ; the chief are /. \ l.rttrt* 

 et les Homines de Lettres au XIX. Siecle ( \ 856 ) ; 

 Histoire de la Litterature fraiicaise (1857), an 

 admirable hand-book ; TuMran M la Litterature 

 fnin<;tii.-i- an X I //. St'Mc (1S5J); and Hmtoiredet 

 Litteratures etrangeret (2 vols. 1880). His poems 

 are little known. He died 9th January 1894. 



Demoiselle (Antlimpoides), a genus of birds in 

 the crane family (Gruida-), differing from the true 

 cranes in having the head and neck quite feathered, 

 and the beak no longer than the head. The 

 Demoiselle (A. virgo) is about 3 feet in length 





YYW Demoiselle ( A ntkropoidct viryo ). 



from the point of the bill to the tip of the tail, and 

 the top of it* head is about 3$ feet from the ground. 

 It is remarkable, like its relatives, for elegance and 

 symmetry of form, and grace of detriment. The 

 feathers covering the up|*T jwirt of the wing are 

 much elongated, as in the cranes. The general 



