DIDEROT- DIDOT. 



671 



intended that he should pursue the profession of law 

 and committed him to the instruction of a Paris attor 

 ney ; but the youth found greater attractions in 11 

 terature. Neither the indignation of his father, nor 

 his consequent want of means, could deter him from 

 his favourite pursuit ; and he found resources in his 

 own talents. He applied himself zealously to mathe- 

 matics, physics, metaphysics, and the belles-lettres 

 and soon became distinguished among the wits of the 

 capital. He laid the foundation of his fame by hi; 

 Pensees Philosophiques (1746) a pamphlet against 

 the Christian religion, which found many readers, 

 and in consequence of which he was imprisoned at 

 Vincennes : the parliament caused it to be burned by 

 the public executioner. The applause which this 

 pamphlet received encouraged him to continue in the 

 same course ; he was not bold enough, however, to 

 continue this particular work. His Lettres sur les 

 Aveugles, d I' Usage de ceux qui voyent (London, 

 1749), contain attacks upon the Christian religion. 

 In his Lettres sur Sourds et Muets, d I'Usage de ceux 

 <iul entendent et quiparlent, he treats of the origin of 

 our perceptions. In conjunction with Eidous and 

 Toussaint, he published the Dktionnaire universel de 

 Medecine (6 vols. folio). The success of this work, 

 notwithstanding its deficiencies, determined him to 

 undertake an encyclopaedia. He prepared the plan, 

 and was assisted in the execution by D'Aubenton, 

 Rousseau, Mannontel, Le Blond, Le Monnier, and 

 particularly D'Alembert, who, next to him, had the 

 largest share in this great undertaking. Diderot took 

 upon himself the preparation of the articles relating to 

 the arts and trades, and, by his care as editor, sup- 

 plied many of the deficiencies of his coadjutors. (See 

 Encyclopaedia.) The profit of his twenty years' la- 

 bour, owing to his bad management, was so trifling, 

 that he found himself compelled to sacrifice his lib- 

 rary. The empress of Russia purchased it for 50,000 

 .livres, and allowed him the use of it for life. After 

 this, Diderot visited Petersburg ; but, having offended 

 the empress by an equivocal quatrain, he soon re- 

 turned to France. While engaged in the encyclo- 

 paedia, and obliged to encounter many obstacles, 

 which delayed the printing for several years, he pub- 

 lished a lively but licentious romance, Les Bijoux 

 indiscrets; and two sentimental comedies, Le Fils 

 naturel and Le Pere de Famille. They are often 

 printed under the title Theatre de Diderot, and ac- 

 companied with a treatise on the dramatic art, which 

 contains many ingenious observations. 



Diderot died in 1784. His character has been 

 very differently represented. His friends describe 

 him as open, disinterested, and honest; his enemies, 

 on the contrary, accuse him of cunning and selfish- 

 ness. Towards the end of his life, he had a quarrel 

 with Rousseau, by whom he thought himself calum- 

 niated, in which much weakness was displayed on 

 both sides. Several excellent productions of his 

 have been published since his death. Among them 

 are his Essai sur la Peinture; likewise a dithy- 

 rambic poem, written in 1772, Abdication d'un 

 Roi de la .Feve, which contains democratical 

 opinions ; and two lively tales, La Religieuse (Paris, 

 1796), and Jacques le Fataliste et son Maitre 

 (Paris). Of Diderot was first said, what has been 

 often repeated, that he had written some fine 

 pages, but had never made a good book. Diderot 

 was a man of brilliant talent and warm imagination, 

 but has not established a lasting reputation, either as 

 a writer or as a philosopher. His works are deficient 

 in plan and connexion, and disfigured with pretension, 

 obscurity, and arrogance, but, nevertheless, are cha- 

 racterized by energy, and sometimes even by elo- 

 quence. They contain many happy passages, and 

 truths which would be more effectual if more simply 



stated. As a philosopher, he followed the dictates 

 of an intemperate imagination, rather than those of 

 a sound reason. He is always enthusiastic, and 

 oversteps the bounds of discretion. The general 

 opinion entertained respecting him at present is, that 

 he had much talent, and was capable of warmth and 

 elevation of feeling, but that he was deficient in judg- 

 ment and in taste. He adopted a desolating system 

 of philosophy, and dishonoured his cause by the ex- 

 cess to which he carried some of his principles, and 

 by the licentiousness of his productions. He was 

 distinguished for fluency and richness of conversation. 

 An edition of his works appeared at London, 1773 ; 

 also, with an Essay on his Life and Writings by J. A. 

 Naigeon, Paris, 1821, 22 torn. 8vo. His Memoirs 

 and Correspondence were published at Paris, in 

 1831, 4 torn. 8vo. We refer the reader to a mas- 

 terly article upon Diderot, by Mr Carlyle, in the 

 " Foreign Quarterly Review," No. xxii. 



DIDO ; the founder of Carthage. According to 

 some, she was the daughter of Agenor (Belus) ; ac- 

 cording to others, of Carchedon of Tyre, from whom 

 Carthage received its name. Others call her father 

 Mutgo or Muttinus. Her brother was Pygmalion, 

 king of Tyre. Her father married her to Sichaeus or 

 Sicharbas, one of the richest Phoenicians, who was 

 also the priest of Hercules, and to whom she was 

 strongly attached. He was murdered before the 

 altar, by her brother, who was instigated by the 

 desire of making himself master of his wealth. The 

 spirit of her husband appeared to her in a dream, 

 disclosed the crime, besought her to flee, and in- 

 formed her where she could find his treasures, which 

 Pygmalion had sought in vain. She therefore set 

 sail for Africa, with all her wealth and her faithful 

 companions, taking on board a number of young 

 women at Cyprus, who were necessary for the estab- 

 lishment of a new colony. They landed on the 

 coast of Africa, not far from Utica, a Tynan 

 colony, the inhabitants of which received her with 

 the greatest kindness, and advised her to settle in 

 the place where she first landed. She purchased of 

 the natives a piece of land, and first built the citadel 

 of Byrsa, and afterwards Carthage, about 888 B.C., 

 which soon became an important place. larbas, a 

 neighbouring prince, paid his addresses to her. Un- 

 willing to accept, and unable to refuse the proposal, 

 she sacrificed her life on the funeral pile. Virgil 

 attributes her death to the faithlessness of ^Eneas , 

 but the story of the meeting of ^Eneas and Dido is a 

 poetical fiction, as she lived more than 200 years later 

 than tlie hero of the jEneid. 



DIDOT. This family of printers and booksellers 

 at Paris have distinguished themselves by their liberal- 

 ity and skill in their art, and by their many fine works, 

 10 that they may be justly ranked with the Elzevirs. 



1. FRANSOIS-AMBROSE, son of the printer and book- 

 seller Frangois Didot, born in 1730, invented many 

 of the machines and instruments now commonly used 

 n the typographic art. From his foundery came the 



most beautiful types that, up to that period, had been 

 used in France, and he was the first person in France 

 who printed on vellum paper. He took the greatest 

 care to have his editions correct. By the direction 

 of Louis XVI., he printed a collection of the French 

 classics, for the use of the dauphin. The count 

 3'Artois employed him to print a similar collection. 

 He died in 1804. 



2. PIERRE-FRANCIS DIDOT, brother of the former, 

 succeeded his father in the bookselling business, and 

 distinguished himself by his bibliographical know- 

 edge. He also became printer to Monsieur, since 



iouis XVIII. He had a great share in the changes 

 made in the character of types, and contributed to the 

 advancement of his art. He published some very 



