DID 
Thunberg and Maffon, the latter of whom fent it to Kew, 
in. 1774. owers in June an , and requires the 
fhelter of a green-houfe. Hort. Kew. ‘¢ Stem fhrubby, ere@. 
Leave broad-ovate fomewhat hear art-fhaped, {mooth, with 
prickles above their eciaes a entire; the out termolt 
of 5 leaves or fegme ts 
DIDEROT Sais, in "Bh ography, aneminent French 
writer, was oe of a cutler at Langres, where he was born in 
1713: aeducated among the Jefuits, who, finding hima 
youth ehe elle talents, were very defirous of retaining him 
in their {cciety, but he wasill inclined to ad opt the ecclefiatti- 
cal profeffion. and his father fent him to Paris to finifh his ftu- 
dies, intending to bring him up to the bufinefs of the law. 
Literature, however, was his delight, and fo intent was hein 
his mind, that he neglected the duties of his fitua- 
tion. ather was offended at his condu@, ard refufed, 
for fome time, to continue his ufual fupport. But he had a 
mind calculated to rife above trifling obltacles, and continued 
his ftudies in phyfics, geometry, and metaphyfics; in thefe 
and in the belles lettres he ae very aa ee able progrefs. 
When he was about thirty yea ag commenced au- 
thor, and one of his earlieft eter was a tranflation of 
reece” from the En Spe 
1] 
improving 
Philofophy,” the he eerie his 
se PenfesPhiotophiuesy 2 " wie h he auiciael confiderable 
celebrity. Froz e was received as a difciple of 
the new piloopby ; ae Resins at length one of its ableft 
ublifhed his ¢¢ Penfées” under the title 
opinions for which France has the laft half century been aa 
tinguifhed. It was at this period that Diderot, in conjun 
ture with @’ Alembert, laid the foundation of the * Didtion- 
ion, a ba ee highly 
8 of ee countr His writings 
nd j » as * anaes a glaring 
J bad, of buillisae thoughts, and obfcure 
ie er po ideas, or falfe 
pea as panne very popular, did oe nee 
fhe. pre for the time and labour which it occupied. 
Diderot was obliged, when it was fnithed, to fell his library ; 
he fortunately met with a liberal perchafer i in the emprefs of 
ffia ay who paid him 50,000 livres for it, and left him the 
ufe of it during life. She and the great Frederic were the 
avowed difcipl<s of the French fchoo!, This able writer on 
mechanics, arts, and maflufactures, all which 
explored, extended his inquiries and refle€tions to 
: and e M. Bemetzrieder, a difciple of Schobert, 
contrived orca to be prefent at the leture, 
up, in dialogues between mafter and f{cholar, the moft pleaf- 
ing and cl-ar elementary treatife onthe principles of mufic,- 
and the art of performing on that inftrument, which has per~ 
haps ever been printed in any language. 
The dialcgue is as lively as in the beft written comedies. 
— i his. mifcellaneous works there is an excellent effay on 
.0 0 
DID 
acouftics, His knowledge, perfeverance, and acquiremtents, 
feem to have been unlimice 
Hea, d’Alembert, the abbé Arnzuld, and M. Suard, weré 
among the firft in France to feel the fuperior merit of Italian 
mufic, over the old French fyle of Lulli and Rameau, which 
ee much to its difgrace whenever an opportunity 
offe red for a parallel. Unfortunate ly, Diderot was as con- 
firmed a philofo her as Voltaire, which, when denaba known, 
es in Europe 
igion 
Op 
canfed the doors of almoft a great academ 
to be fhut againk him, and prejudiced the Friends of re 
— 
againit his other writings, however aes ent. ees the 
aiiheal reform that was attempting i ey he re- 
marks ‘and reflections on the fubject, fu ffcen to all a 4to. 
vol. which ftill remains in manulcript, and in the s of 
the writer of this article, to whom he 
than thirty years ago, but little ufe has been made of thefe 
remarks hitherto; yet in the courfe of drawing up the mufi- 
cal articles for the prefent Cyclopedia, they will not be for- 
ott iderot died fuddenly, as he was rifing from table, 
in July, 1784. 
DIDIER, Saint, in acide go a {mall town of France, 
in the department of the Rhone, 3 miles from Lyons; allo a 
{mall town of Sa in the department of the Loire, not 
far fro tienne 
int, et 7 ou a f{malitown of France, in 
the Sdecaninent of the 
chief place of a 
Is. 
Sti 
aC u 0458 Ss bitantes 
upon a fa extent of 1524 kiliom 
US Jurtanus, MW. Salvius Senin in Biography, 7 
a eee emperor, who, in early 1: s had been € 
lic ftations, and who, A. D. 17 
nax. In the reign of Commodus ie was accufed of fome 
offences,of which he was acquitted ; but whether on account of 
owed hig elevation tothe invene, When Pertinax was dethron- 
ed and murdered, the foldiers refolved that the crown fhould 
be transferred to the higheft bidder. The news quickly fpread 
over the city, and reached the ears of Didius Julianus, who, 
regardlefs of the public calamities, was indulging himfelf i in 
1 
all the luxuries that his wealt command. is 
wi is daughters, his freedmen and his parafites, eafily 
aouneee him that he deferved the throne, and conjured him 
se favourable opport e immediately ree 
paged where 
per man, were inftantly cnaae 
open tothe purchafer; he was declared emperor, and receiv. 
ed the oath of allegiance from the foldiersy who retained fo 
much humanity as to ftipulate that he fhould pardon and for 
get the competition of Sulpicianus. The Pretorians plaked 
their new fovereign in the centre of their ranks, furroundéd 
him on every fide with their fhields, and condu@ted him in 
clofe order of battle through the delerted ftreets of the city. 
The fenate was commranded to ee who, through fear, 
ratified the infamoustranfaGtions. They congratulated their 
own, and the public felicity ; engecal their allegiance, and 
co onli on the ne 
next conduéted to the palace, where he 
beheld the eae trunk of Pertinax, and the frugal ene 
tertainment that had been prepared for his fupper. The one he 
ates iil indifference, the other with contempt. 
was prepared by his order, and he amufed himielf 
i a ae font with ‘lice, and the performances of a celebrated 
4H dane 
cYe 
