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 768 DELAROCHE maternal grandmother to reside in London, and soon began, under the pseudonyme of Ouida (a child's mispronunciation of Louisa), to write for periodicals, and while still under age commenced her first novel in " Colburn's New Monthly Magazine." This was "Gran- ville de Vigne, a Tale of the Day," published separately two years later (1863), under the title of " Held in Bondage." It was followed by " Strathmore, a Romance " (1865) ; " Chan- dos " (1866) ; " Cecil Castlemaine's Gage, and other Novelettes," and " Idalia " (1867) ; " Tri- cotrin, a Story of a Waif and Stray," and "Under Two Flags" (1868); "Puck: his Vicissitudes, Adventures, &c." (1869); "Folle Farine " (1871) ; " A Dog of Flanders " and "A Leaf in the Storm" (1872); and "Pas- carer' (1873). The last is the best of her novels, and is free from the objectionable characteristics which mark the others, and have justly given them a bad reputation in spite of their brilliancy of style. DELAROCHE, Paul (originally a familiar ab- breviation of HIPPOLYTE, his real name), a French historical painter, born in Paris, July 17, 1797, died there, Nov. 4, 1856. He at first studied landscape, but after several fruitless attempts to secure the academy prize re- nounced that branch of the art, and in 1816 en- tered the studio of Baron Gros, where his tal- ents as a historical painter were rapidly devel- oped. He chose a middle course between the classic and the romantic schools, striving for a style which should represent all the improve- ments in art and its general progress during the 19th century. Hence he and his school have been called "Eclectics." His first pic- ture, " Naphtali in the Desert," was exhibited in 1819, and from that time until the great in- dustrial exhibition in Paris in 1855, when a collection was made of his chief productions, almost every year witnessed the execution by his pencil of one or more striking works. His subjects were generally taken from English or French modern history. His " Children of Edward IV. in the Tower," " Joan of Arc in Prison," "Execution of Lady Jane Grey," " Charles I. in the Guardroom insulted by the Parliamentary Soldiers," " Strafford on his way to the Scaffold," "Young Pretender suc- cored by Flora McDonald," and "Marie An- toinette before the Revolutionary Tribunal," are good specimens of the subdued yet impres- sive manner in which he was accustomed to handle this class of subjects. Still more pow- erful was his "Cromwell contemplating the Corpse of Charles I.," generally considered the best of his series illustrating the civil wars in England, and indeed of all his pictures on Eng- lish subjects. Among his pictures from French history are a "Scene in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew;" the "Death of Cardinal Ma- zarin;" the "Assassination of the Duke of Guise," a work of great power, for which the duke of Orleans is said to have paid 52,000 francs ; a series of four pictures, representing DELAVIGNE the " Baptism of Clovis," the " Oath of Pepin the Short," the "Passage of the Alps by Charlemagne," and the " Coronation of Char- lemagne at Rome," painted for the gallery of Versailles ; the " Destruction of the Bastile," and the "Girondists in Prison." His "Na- poleon at Fontainebleau " and "Napoleon at Mount St. Bernard," of both of which he made several copies, have obtained great popularity. The work which occupied the greatest share of his attention, and upon which he intended that his reputation should rest, is his fresco of the hemicycle in the school of fine arts, a com- position of great size and merit, representing the illustrious masters of art of all ages. This picture includes 74 life-size figures, and is admirable for its elevated tone, simplicity of arrangement, and fulness and force of expres- sion. It cost Delaroche four years of inces- sant labor, and has been beautifully engraved by Henriquel Dupont. In the winter of 1855 the picture was much injured by fire, and the anxiety and labor attendant upon the work of restoration are supposed to have hastened his death. At various times, but particularly in the latter part of his life, he painted sacred compositions, which are inferior generally in elevation and character to his historical sub- jects. "Herodias with the Head of John the Baptist " is among the best. Some of his pure- ly domestic subjects, such as " A Mother fond- ling her Children," are full of grace and sweet- ness. He painted likenesses of Guizot, Thiers, Lamartine, his own father-in-law Horace Ver- net, and other distinguished Frenchmen, which show considerable talent for portraiture. But his fame rests on his historical pieces, which for elevated manner, correctness of design, and beauty of drawing and color were unsur- passed by contemporary works. DELAUNAY, Charles Eugene, a French astrono- mer, born at Lusigny, in the department of Aube, April 9, 1816, drowned off Cherbourg, Aug. 5, 1872. He left the polytechnic school in 1836 with high honors as an engineer, and was the first to receive the new Laplace prize. In 1841 he became a teacher at the polytech- nic school, in 1853 professor of mechanics, and in 1855 a member of the academy. In 1869 he was elected a member of the royal astronomi- cal society of London, which awarded a medal to him in 1870. In the latter year he suc- ceeded Leverrier in the Paris observatory; and in 1871 he was appointed professor of as- tronomy and geology at the polytechnic school. He published highly esteemed treatises on va- rious scientific subjects, Notice sur la construc- tion de Vunivers, and Theorie du mouvement de la lune (2 vols. 4to, Paris, 1866-'7), which differs in its results from those obtained by Hansen and Leverrier, and which was made by the French institute the basis for a new con- struction of the tables of the phases of the moon. DELAVIGtfE, Jean Francois Casimir, a French lyric and dramatic poet, born in Havre, April 4, 1793, died in Lyons, Dec. 11, 1843. He