Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/943

* DAVIES. 817 DAVILA. DAVIES, John, of Hereford (c.15G5-1018). An Kiiglisli poet, not to be confounded with yir Jolm Davies (q.v. ). At Oxford and else- where he was famous as a writing-master. He wrote many curious philooophieal poems, epi- grams, satires, and sonnets. Among these are: Microcosmos (1003) ; Triumph of Death ^(G05) , descriptive of the plague; IliCs I'ilf/riuiage (e.l610), containing sonnets, etc.: The ticourge of FoUy (c.Uill). containing epigrams, etc., one of which is addressed to Shakespeare under the name "our English Terence'; and The Muse's fiticrifice, or Divine Meditations (1G12). Con- sult Complete ^Yorks, edited by Grosart (2 vols., BlaoUburn, 1873). DAVIES, Sir .John (1569-162G). An Eng- lish poet and statesman. He was born at Tis- bury, Wiltshire, educated at Oxford, studied law in the iliddle Temple, and was called to the bar in 1595. In 1G03 he was sent by James I. as Solicitor-General to Ireland. Three years later he became Attorney-General, and was raised to the degree of sergeant-at-law. Elected to the Irish Parliament in 1013, he was chosen Speaker of the Lower House. The next year he took his seat in the English Parliament as member for Xewcastle-under-Lyme. He died just after being nominated Chief .Justice. Davies was a faith- ful ])ublic servant, and a man of great talent and learning. His two works connected with his Irish career are A Discnreru of the True Causes v:h>j Irehnid was Nerer Subdued, etc. (1G12) and Reports of Cases Adjudged in the King's Courts in Ireland (1615), and several masterly State papers. As a poet he belonged to a group of late Elizabethans who, in reaction from the ear- lier love poetry, turned to moral themes. In I59G he published Orchestra, or a Poem of Danc- ing, in which he fancifully maintains tiiat all motion is music: to him the heavens move in '"spondees, solemn, grave, and low." Still more fanciful are his acrostics, called Hi/mns to As- trcca (1599). The poem by which he is best known is Soscc Tripsum (1599), in which is discussed the nature of the soul and immortality. It is written in the four-line stanza, afterwards employed by Davenant. Dryden, and Gray. Con- sult Complete Works, with memoir edited by Grosart (3 vols., Blackburn, 1809-70). DAVIES, Lons Henry (1845—). A Cana- dian statesman. He was born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward's Island, was educated at Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown. and in 186G was called to the bar. In 187 he became Pre- mier and Attorney-General of Prince Edward Island, and in 1S82 was returned as a Liberal to the Dominion Parliament, in which he has since continued to hold his seat. He was ap- pointed as one of the British counsel before the International Fisheries Commission at Halifax in 1877. DAVIES, Samuel (1724-61). An American clerg,inan and educator. He was born near Summit Ridge, Newcastle County. Del. : was educated at the seminary of the Rev. Samuel Blair, Fogg's JIanor, Chester County, Pa., and in 1740 was licensed to preach by the Newcastle Presbytery. In 1747 he was sent as an evangelist to Hanover County. Va.. where hy 1748 he was conducting worsliip in seven chirches near Han- over. He later argued against Peyton Randolph, the Royal Attorney-General, before the General Court at Williamsburg, in defense of the propo- sition that the Act of Toleration extended to the Colony of Virginia. In lliis view lie found himself supported by the King. In 1753, with Gilbert Tenuent, he visited England to obtain funds for the College of New Jersey (now Prince- ton University). His sermon, "Keligion and Patriotism," preached to Captain Overton's com- pany of volunteers in Hanover County, 17.55. re- fers to the martial s])irit aroused by the French and Indian War, and lie adds in a footnote: "As a remarkable instance of this, 1 may point out to the public that heroic youth. Colonel Wash- ington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto jireserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country." In 1759 he succeeded Jonathan Edwards as presi- dent of the College of New Jersey. His collected sermons appeared in London in 1767. The New York edition of 1851 (3 vols.) contains a memoir by Albert Barnes. DAVIES, TiioM.vs (c.1712-85). A Scotch bookseller and author. He studied at the Uni- versity of ICdinburgii, made an unsuccessful at- tempt at acting, and, having been roundly ridi- culed by Churchill in The Rosciad, set up a bookshop in Covent Garden. It was here that. in 17G3, he introduced Boswell to Dr. Johnson, who was his very good friend, and to whom he dedicated his edition of the works of !Massinger. He wrote a Life of Garrick (1780), which soon passed through four editions, and brought him considerable money and repute. DAVIESS, da'vis, Joseph Hamilton (1774- 1811). An American lawyer. He was born in Bedford County, Va. ; was taken to Kentucky by his parents when a child, was educated there, and soon became well known in the West for his eccentricities as well as for his skill as a lawyer. He was United States district attorney for Ken- tucky, and as siich attempted to bring Aaron Burr (q.v.) to trial for treason (1806). but was unsuccessful, and gained only personal unpopu- larity. Having entered the army, he fought as major under Gen. W. H. Harrison at Tippecanoe, where he was killed while leading a brilliant cavalry charge against the savages. Daviess married a sister of John Marshall. DAVILA, dii'vela, or DE AVILA, Alonzo (c. 1540-00). A Spanish soldier, born in the City of Mexico. In 1566 he was accused of complicity in a plot to overturn the Govern- ment and place Martin Cortes on the throne of New Spain. He was subsequently condemned and executed at Mexico. Tliat he had any share in the plot, if such there were, is now considered extremely doubtful. DAVILA, Enrico Caterino (1576-1631). An Italian historian, born at Sacco. near Padua. His father w;as the constable of Cyprus, and after the Turkish victories was obliged to take refuge in France, where Enrico was brought up as page to Henrj' III. Afterwards he fought in the French Army, distinguished himself at Hon- fleur (1594) and Amiens (1597), and was killed while in the service of Venice (1631). His his- tory gives an authentic account of the years from 1559 to 1598. although he was always a partisan of Catherine de' Medici. The title is Ilistoria dcllc guerre cirili di Francia ncUa quale si contengono le oprra:ioni di quaftro re Francesco II., Carlo IX,, Henrico III., et Benrico