Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/383

Rh so far suffered that he was persuaded by his friends to go abroad, and to spend more than a year in Germany. In he returned, with the expectation of the deanery of Can terbury. This he did not gain, but in he was appointed dean of St Paul s. To the kindness of the earl of Dorset he owed the vicarage of St Dunstan in the West. In he was elected prolocutor to Convocation, and the same year was attacked by an illness that threatened to prove immediately fatal, but from which he rallied. He continued in feeble health for some years, and preached for the last time before Lent, an oration which the king called &quot; the Dean s own funeral sermon,&quot; and which was printed, under the title of Death s Duel, in. On the 31st of March, he died, having previously wrapped himself in his winding sheet to have his portrait taken. He was buried in St Paul s cathedral. Very few of Dr Donne s writings were published during his life-time. It is sup posed that an edition of the Satires may have been printed before, but if so, it has entirely disappeared. His poems were first collected in, and afterwards in , , , , , and , of which editions the second and last appear to be tolerably trustworthy. Of his prose works the Juvenilia appeared in ; the LXXX. Sermons, with an admir able life of the author by Izaak Walton, in ; the Essays in Divinity in ; and the Letters to Several Persons of Honour in. No very excellent modern biography of the poet or edition of his works has been issued. Dr A. B. Grosart s privately printed edition of the poetical works is very complete. It is singularly difficult to pronounce a judicious opinion on the writings of Donne. They were excessively admired by his own and the next generation, praised by Dryden, paraphrased by Pope, and then entirely neglected for a whole century. The first impression of an unbiassed reader who dips into the poems of Donne is unfavourable. He is repulsed by the intolerably harsh and crabbed versification, by the recondite choice of theme and expression, and by the oddity of the thought. In time, however, he perceives that behind the fantastic garb of language there is an earnest and vigorous mind, an imagination that harbours fire within its cloudy folds, and an insight into the mysteries of spiritual life which is often startling. Donne excels in brief flashes of wit and beauty, and in sudden daring phrases that have the full perfume of poetry in them. Some of his lyrics and one or two of his elegies excepted, the Satires are his most important contribution to literature. They are probably the first poems of their kind in the language, and they are full of force and picturesqueness. Their obscure and knotty language only serves to give peculiar brilliancy to the not uncommmon passages of noble perspi cacity. To the odd terminology of Donne s poetic philo sophy Dryden gave the name of metaphysics, and Johnson, borrowing the suggestion, invented the title of the meta physical school to describe, not Donne only, but all the amorous and philosophical poets who succeeded him, and who employed a similarly fantastic language, and who affected odd figurative inversions.  DONOVAN,, naturalist, was author of many popular works on natural history and botany. In appeared the first volume of his Natural History of British Insects, which extended to sixteen volumes, and was completed in. Although now superseded, this compilation did good service in its time. During the same period Donovan published Natural Histories of British Birds, in 10 vols. 8vo. (–), of British Fishes, in 5 vols. (–), of British Shells, in 5 vols. (–), a series of illustrated works on The Insects of India, China, New Holland, dec., in 3 voK 4to (–), and Excursions in South Wales and Monmouthshire , To these works must be added his periodical entitled The Naturalist s Repository, a monthly publication, of which three volumes were completed (–), and an Essay on the Minute Parts of Plants in general. Donovan was author of the articles on natural history in Rees s Cyclopcedia. In his old age this hard-working student and writer published a Memorial respecting my Publications in Natural History, in which he complains of the small profits accruing to him from the sale of his books. We have searched in vain for any biographical particulars of Donovan, the only facts apparently recorded being that be was a fellow of the Linnean Society, and that he died iu London, February 1,.  DORAT,. See.   Arms of Dorchester.

DORCHESTER (the Durnovaria of the Romans), a parliamentary and municipal borough and market town of England, capital of the county of Dorset, situated on an eminence on the right bank of the Frome, 8 miles N. of Wey mouth, and 120 miles from London by the old coach road, but some 20 miles farther by railway. It stands within a wide open tract of land, containing 3400 acres, held under the duchy of Corn wall, called Fordiugton Field. It is governed by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors, and returns one member to parliament. The population of the borough in was 6915 ; the area 635 s. The town, consisting chiefly of three spacious streets, is neat and pleasantly situated, and is nearly surrounded by fine avenues. St Peter s church is an ancient edifice in the Perpendicular style, containing some curious monuments. The grammar school has two exhibitions to St John s College, Cambridge, and one to each university. Of the other public buildings the principal are the town-hall, with market-house, shire-hall, county prison, and county hospital ; there is also a small county museum, containing many local objects of much interest. The cavalry barracks in the vicinity may also be noticed. There are also several almshouses and other charities, and a saviags-bank. Market-days, Wednesday and Saturday. The woollen manufacture of Dorchester was once consider able, and it was noted also for its ale, of which there are still some popular breweries. It is a place of considerable trade, and large sheep and lamb fairs are held there. The borough includes four parishes All-Saints, St Peter s, Holy Trinity, and Fordington. In the vicinity there are some interesting Roman remains, including an amphitheatre, the most perfect of its kind in England. The seats for the spectators are formed of masses of chalk, rising 30 feet above the arena. This amphitheatre when perfect is supposed to have been capable of accommodating 13,000 spectators. The camp called Poundbury, to the N.W. of the town, is probably Roman, and well worthy of examination. Durnovaria was one of the principal stations in England of the Romans, by whom it was surrounded with a wall and fosse, part of the former being still stand ing. Here Judge Jefl reys s &quot; bloody assize&quot; was held in September, when 292 prisoners were sentenced to death.  DORDOGNE, an inland department in the S.E. of France, taking its name from the river which traverses its centre from east to west, and formed from nearly the whole of Perigord, a part of Agenais, and small portions of Limousin and of Angoumois. It is bounded on the N. by Haute Vienne, W. by Charente and Charente Infdrieure. S.W. by Gironde, S. by Lot-et-Garonne, and E. by Lot and Correze, and lies between 44 45 and 45 42 N. lat., and from 1 51&quot; to 1 26 49&quot; W. long. Its surface is beautifully variegated, comprising small mountains, soms 