428 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



of all social laws and customs, lived upon alms, and took 

 up his abode in a tub. Of his cynicism many well- 

 known anecdotes are related. Died at Corinth, at the 

 age of 90. 325 B. C. 



Disraeli (dlz-ral'e). Benjamin, an English states- 

 man and author, was born 1805. He was of Jewish de- 

 scent, and for years was the leader of the conservative 

 party in the Commons, holding the office of prime 

 minister in 1868-70, and 1874-76. In the latter year 

 he was created Earl of Beacons field. Died. 1883. 



Dixon, Thomas, Jr., lecturer and author; born in 

 Shelby, N. C., January 11, 1864; graduate of Wake 

 Forest College, N. C.. 1883, A. M., 1883; graduate of 

 Greensboro. N. C., law school, 1886; admitted to bar all 

 courts, North Carolina and United States district, ami 

 Supreme Court, 1886; scholarship, history and politics, 

 Johns Hopkins University, 1883-84; member North 

 Carolina Legislature, 1881-86; resigned to enter Baptist 

 ministry, October, 1886; pastor Raleigh, N. C., 1887, 

 Boston, 1888-89, New York, 1889-99; popular lyceum 

 lecturer, 1889-1903. Author: "The Leopard's Spots," 

 "The One Woman," ".The Clansman," ".The Life Worth 

 Laving." 



D<> I linger, Johan Joseph Ignaz, an eminent Ger- 

 man theologian; was born 1799. He was leader of the 

 German Catholics who refused to accept the doctrine 

 of the pope's infallibility, and which afterwards founded 

 the Old Catholic sect. Died. 1881. 



Dolliver, Jonathan Prentiss, United States senator, 

 lawyer; born near Kingwood, Preston C9unty, W. Va., 

 February 6, 1858; graduated at West Virginia Univer- 

 sity, 1875; admitted to bar, 1878; established practice 

 in Iowa; member 51st, 52d, 53d, 54th, 55th. and 56th 

 Congresses, tenth Iowa district; appointed United States 

 senator to succeed late Hon. J. H. Gear, August 23, 1900; 

 elected 1902, and reflected, 1907. Has earned a high 

 reputation as an orator and lecturer. 



Do re, Paul Gustave, French painter and book 

 illustrator; was born in Strasburg, in 1832, and edu- 

 cated at a Parisian lyce"e. He became known by his 

 illustrations of "Rabelais" and "Don Quixote," and for 

 some years was a constant contributor to the "Journal 

 pour Rire." At the time of the Crimean War he pro- 

 duced his "Alma" and "Inkermann"; in 1861, he 

 published the first of his famous illustrations to Dante's 

 "Divine Comedy"; and next his illustrations to the 

 "Bible," "Paradise Lost," "The Ancient Mariner," and 

 "The Idylls of the King." These works secured for him 

 a greater reputation in England than was accorded to 

 him in his native country. He afterwards devoted him- 

 self to the production of large pictures on religious sub- 

 jects, such as "The Dream of Pilate's Wife," "The Entry 

 into Jerusalem." and "Ecce Homo." Died, 1883. 



Douglas, William Lewis, governor, manufacturer; 

 born in Plymouth, Mass., August 22, 1845; educated at 

 brief irregular periods in public schools of Massachusetts ; 

 when 5 years old lost father by death ; at age of 7 went 

 to work for an uncle, who set him to pegging shoes, and 

 except for a brief return to his mother when 11 years 

 old, worked for uncle eight years; worked in cotton mill 

 at Plymouth at 15, and later in factory at Chiltonville, 

 Mass.; afterward went to Hopkinton and South Brain- 

 tree, Mass., where learned bootmaking; was in Colorado, 

 1865-68, working at his trade and one year for himself; 

 sold out and returned to Massachusetts, where worked 

 as journeyman and foreman at his trade at Brockton, 

 1876, when he began with small shop, from which has 

 built up business with two factories with combined 

 capacity of over 15,000 pairs of shoes daily, and owns 

 seventy-five retail shoe stores in large cities selling the 

 "Douglas " shoe. Member Massachusetts House of Rep- 

 resentatives, 1883-84, and of Massachusetts Senate, 1886, 

 1887; mayor of Brockton, 1891; elected, November, 

 1904, governor of Massachusetts. Delegate to National 

 Democrat Conventions, 1884, 1892, 1896, delegate-at- 

 large, 1904. 



Douglass, Frederick, American orator; was born in 

 1817, a mulatto slave in Maryland, but he escaped as a 

 young man, and in 1841 began to deliver lectures 

 against slavery, which attracted much attention. In 

 1846, he made a very successful lecturing tour in 

 England, and, returning to America, he became a news- 

 paper editor. From 1877 to 1881 he was United States 

 marshal for the district of Columbia. Died. 1895. 



Doyle, Sir A. Conan, the grandson of John Doyle, 

 the famous political caricaturist "H. B.," was born in 

 Edinburgh in 1859, and educated at Stonyhurst and in 

 Germany. In 1876, he commenced to study medicine 

 at the Edinburgh University, and remained there for 

 five years. From 1882 till 1890, he practiced his pro- 

 fession at Southsea, writing all the while various snort 

 stories, some of which have been since published under 

 the title of "The Captain of the Polestar." After "A 



(Study in Scarlet," "Micah Clarke," and "The Sign of 

 1 Four," came "The White Company," which led to the 

 final abandonment of medicine for literature. "The 

 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" and ".The Memoirs of 

 Sherlock Holmes" formed a brilliant series of detective 

 stories. In 1894, he wrote a short play, "A Story of 

 Waterloo," successfully produced by Sir Henry Irving. 

 "The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard" and Rodney 

 Stone," in 1896, "Uncle Bernac" in 1897, "The Tragedy 

 of the Korosko," a volume of poems ("Songs of Action ") 

 in 1898, "A Duet" in 1899, <f The Hound of the Basker- 

 villes" in 1902, "The Adventures of Gerard" in 1903, 

 "Return of Sherlock Holmes" in 1904, "Sir Nigel" in 

 1906, and "Through the Magic Door" in 1907. He 

 volunteered for service in the Transvaal War, and, in 

 1900, gave his medical services for some months in the 

 hospitals there, afterwards publishing a history of the 

 war, entitled ".The Great Boer War. Knighted, June 

 26, 1902. 



Draco (drd'ko) was the first lawgiver of Athens. 

 His code was published in 623 B. C. The laws were 

 severe, and popularly said to have been written in blood. 



Drake, Francis, Sir, a distinguished English naval 

 commander, was born in 1540. He circumnavigated 

 the globe under a commission against the Spaniards, 

 | destroying many vessels and capturing immense booty 

 in Spanish America. In 1587, he commanded the fleet 

 which destroyed over 100 ships at Cadiz, breaking up 

 a contemplated invasion of England. He was made 

 vice-admiral, and commanded in the battle, in 1588, 

 which destroyed the Spanish Armada. Died, 159b. 



Draper, John William (drd'pur), an American 

 chemist, physiologist, and author, was born in England, 

 in 1811. He took his degree of M. D. at the University 

 of Pennsylvania in 1836; became successively professor 

 of natural sciences in Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia, 

 and, in 1841, professor of chemistry in New York Uni- 

 versity, and, in 1850, of physiology. Of his numerous 

 works we may mention "Human Physiology, Statical 

 and Dynamical; or the Conditions and Course of the 

 Life of Man," in 1856; and a "History of the American 

 Civil War," in 1867-68. Died, 1884. 



Dry den, John (drl'dn), an English poet; was born 

 in 1631. After graduating at Cambridge, he entered 

 upon a literary career, and succeeded Sir William Dav- 

 enant as poet-laureate in 1668. His "Essay on Dra- 

 matic Poesy," according to Dr. Johnson, created the 

 school of English criticism. Dryden, by his dramas 

 and political satires, especially his "Absalom and 

 Achitophel" (1681) stands at the head of English 

 poets of the second rank, and his works have elicited 

 high eulogy from such judges as Pope, Scott, Macaulay, 

 and Brougham. Died, 1700. 



Dudevant, Amantine Lucile Aurorc Dupin, born 

 in 1804; French authoress, better known as "George 

 Sand," was educated in a convent, and, in 1822, married 

 M. Dudevant, from whom she separated in 1831, and 

 settled in Paris to earn her living by literature. In 

 1832, she published "Indiana," a romance which at 

 once secured her reputation, and which was rapidly 

 followed by many others, among them "Valentine," 

 " Andre"," and "Simon." Besides her work in fiction, 

 she contributed to the periodical literature many essays 

 and articles on philosophical and political subjects, her 

 sympathies being of the most advanced type. Among 

 these was the remarkable "Sept Cordes de la Lyre." 

 Her assured position in literature now enabled her to 

 get a divorce from her husband, and she passed her time 

 at Berri, or Paris, educating her children. Having 

 quarreled with the editors of the "Revue des Deux 

 Mondes," she started on her own account the "Revue 

 Inde'pendente," to which she contributed several ro- 

 mances, including "Consuelo." After the Revolution, 

 she took an active part in politics for a short time, and 

 then turned to dramatic composition. She also wrote 

 "Histoire de ma Vie." Died, 1876. 



Dumas, Alexandre, the Elder, a celebrated French 

 author, born in Villers-Cotterets, 1802, son of General Du- 

 mas, 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. Died, 1870. 



Dumas, Alexandre, born in 1824; son of the pre- 

 ceding, and, like him, a novelist and dramatist, accom- 



