7 88 D I A 
fons deliberating with themfelves. See the article Soli¬ 
loquy. 
DIA'LOGIST, f. A fpeaker in a dialogue or confer¬ 
ence ; a writer of dialogues. 
DI'ALOGUE, f. [<h cchoycc , Gr. a difcourfe.] A con¬ 
ference ; a converfation between two or more, either real 
or feigned.—Will you hear the dialogue that the two 
learned men have compiled in praife of the owl and cuc- 
kovv ? Shakefpeare. 
In eafy dialogues is Fletcher’s praife ; 
He mov’d the mind, but had not pow’r to raife. Dry den. 
Under this pleafing form of compofition or writing, the 
ancients have given us fomc of their chief philofophical 
works ; and feveral of the moderns have endeavoured to 
imitate them. Dialogue writing may be executed in 
two ways, either as direCt converfation, where none but 
the fpeakers appear, which is the method that Plato nfes ; 
or as the recital of a converfation, where the author him- 
felf appears, and gives an account of what paffed in dif¬ 
courfe ; which is the method that Cicero generally fol¬ 
lows. But though thefe different methods make fome 
variation in the form, yet the nature of the compofition 
is at bottom the fame in both, and fubjeft to the fame 
laws. A dialogue, in one or other of thefe forms, on 
fome philofophical, moral, or critical, fubjeCt, when it 
is well conducted, (lands high in rank among the works 
of take ; but is much more difficult in the execution than 
is commonly imagined : for it requires more than merely 
the introduction of different perfons fpqaking in fuccef- 
fion. It ought to be a natural and fpirited reprefenta- 
tion of real converfation ; exhibiting the character and 
manners of the feveral fpeakers, and fuiting to the cha¬ 
racter of each that peculiarity of thought and expreffion 
which diflinguifhes him front another. A dialogue, thus 
eondudted, gives the reader a very agreeable entertain¬ 
ment ; as by means of the debate going on among the 
perfonages, he receives a fair and full view of both fides 
of the argument; and is at the fame time annifed with 
polite converfation, and with a difplay of confident and 
svell-fupported characters. An author therefore, who has 
genius for executing fuch a compofition after this manner, 
lias it in his power both to indruCt and to pleafe. 
Among the ancients,. Plato is eminent for the beauty of 
his dialogues. The lcenery, and the circunidances of 
many of them, are beautifully painted. The characters 
of the fophids, with whom Socrates difputed, are well 
drawn ; a variety of perfonages are exhibited to us ; we 
are introduced into a real converfation, often fupported 
with much life and fpirit after the Socratic manner. For 
richnefs and beauty of imagination, no philofophic wri¬ 
ter, ancient or modern, is comparable to Plato. The 
only fault of his imagination is, fuch an excefs of ferti¬ 
lity as allows it fometimes to obfcure his judgment. It 
frequently carries him into allegory, dCtion, enthufiafm, 
and the airy regions of mydical theology. The philofo- 
pher is, at times, lod in the poet. But whether we be 
edided with the matter or not, we are always entertained 
with the manner; and left with a drong impredion of the 
fublimity of the author’s genius. 
Cicero’s dialogues, or thofe recitals of converfation 
which he has introduced into feveral of his philofophi- 
cal and critical works, are not fo fpirited, nor fo charac- 
teridical, as thofe of Plato. Yet fome, as that Dc Oratore 
efpecially, are agreeable and well fupported. They dievv 
us converfation carried on among fome of the principal 
perfons of ancient Rome, with freedom, good breeding, 
and dignity. The author of the elegant dialogue De Caufis 
Corrupts Eloqucntiee, which is annexed fometimes to the 
works of QuinCtilian, and fometimes to thofe of Tacitus, 
has happily imitated, perhaps has excelled, Cicero, in 
this manner of writing. 
Lucian is alfo a dialogue writer of much eminence ; 
though his fubjedts are feldorn fuch as can entitle him to 
be ranked among philofophical authors. He has given 
the model of the light and humorous dialogue, and has 
2 
D I A 
carried it to great perfection. A character of levity, and 
at the f. me time of wit and penetration, didinguilhes all 
his writings. His great objedt was, to expofe the follies 
of fuperdition, and the pedantry of philofophv, which 
prevailed in his age ; and lie could not have taken any 
more fuccefsful method for this end, than what he has 
employed in his Dialogues, efpecially in thofe of the 
Gods and ot the Dead, which are full of pleafantry and 
fatire. In this invention of Dialogues of the Dead, he 
has been followed by feveral modern authors. Fonte- 
nelle, in particular, has given us dialogues of this fort, 
which are fprightly and agreeable ; but as for characters, 
whoever his perfonages be, they all become Frenchmen 
in his hands. Indeed few things in compofition are more 
difficult, than in the courfe of a moral dialogue to ex¬ 
hibit characters properly didinguilhed ; as calm conver¬ 
fation furnilhes none of thofe adidances for bringing cha- 
radters into light, which the aCtive feenes and intereding 
fituations of the drama afford. Hence few authors are 
eminent for charadteridical dialogue on grave fubjedts. 
To DI'ALOGUE, v. a. To difcourfe with another; 
to confer.—Dod dialogue with thy fliadow ? Shakefpeare. 
DIA'LYSIS,/ [(JVaOa’o-K, Gr. a diffolution.] A figure 
in rhetoric, when two points are placed by grammarians 
over two vowels in one word, which would otherwife 
make a dipthong; but are by this charadter (") divided 
into two fyllables. See Diaeresis. —With phyficians, 
when applied to the human body, it dignifies a languor, 
impotence, or incapacity to perform the proper functions. 
DIALY'TICS, f. [eiciXvny.a, from ^a.\vu, to difl’olve.] 
Medicines which heal wounds and fractures. 
DIALY'TON,/! [oiaAvTov, Gr.] A figure in rheto¬ 
ric, when feveral words are put together without a con- 
junbtion copulative. 
DI'AM, a town of Perfia, in the province of Chora, 
fan : eighty miles north of Herat. 
DI'AMANT (Le), a town of ihe ifland of Marti, 
nico, on the fouth coad. Lat. 14. 26. N. Ion. 43. 10. W. 
Ferro. 
DIAMAS'SEMA, f. [on*., and ^aao-o/jeett, to chew.] 
With phyficians, a madicatory, or fubdance put into the 
mouth and chewed to excite a difeharge of the faliva. 
DIAMASTIGO'SIS, /. A fedival at Sparta in ho¬ 
nour of Diana Orthia, which received that name arro rov 
jj.a.c/hyovi>, from whipping , becaufe boys were whipped 
before the altar of the goddefs. Thefe boys, called Bo- 
monicte, were originally free-born Spartans, but in the 
more delicate ages they were of mean birth, and gene¬ 
rally of a davidr origin. This operation was performed 
by an officer in a fevere manner; and that no compaffion 
diould be raifed, the pried dood near the altar with a 
fmall light datue of the goddefs, to fee that the whip¬ 
ping was fufficiently rigorous. The parents of the chil¬ 
dren attended the folemnity, and exhorted them not to 
exprefs any thing unworthy of Laconian education. Ma¬ 
ny expired under the la(h of the whip, without uttering 
a groan, or betraying any marks of fear. Such a death 
■was reckoned truly honourable ; and the corpfe was bu¬ 
ried with much folemnity, with a garland of flowers on 
its head. The origin of this fedival is unknown. Some 
fuppofe that Lycurgus indituted it to inure the youth of 
Lacedemon to bear labour and fatigue, and render them 
infenfible to pain and wounds. Others maintain, that it 
is a mitigation of an oracle, which ordered that human 
blood (hould be died on Diana’s altar; and according to 
their opinion, Oredes fird introduced that barbarous cuf- 
tonr, after lie had brought the datue of Diana Taurica 
into Greece. 
DI AMER'DIS, J. [of dia and merda, Lat. ordure.] 
A confection of pilgrim falve ; alfo a dirty fellow. 
DIA'METER,/! [.ha and /ast^ov, Gr. to meafure.] 
The line which, paffing through the centre of a circle, 
or other curvilinear figure, divides it into equal parts.— 
The bay of Naples is the mod delightful one that I ever 
faw : it lies in almod a round figure of about thirty miles 
in the diameter . Addifon , 
DIA'MEo 
