Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/186

DERWENTWATER. beheaded on Tower Hill, February 24, 1710, his rank, youth, niiiiability. briivory, and simplicity of intitivu> exciting; ules|iifa(l sympathy. His estatls were forfeited and given to (.ireenwich Hospital.

DERZHAVIN, dyerzhii'vi-n. (i.vvHiL Koma- Novircu (174:5-1810). A celebrated Kussian lyric piK-t. Horn of a noble family at Kazan, he entered there the newly opened gjinnasium in 17.VJ, joined the ranks of the I'reobrazhensky Guard Keginicnt in 1782, became lieutenant- captain in 1773, and later entered the civil service. His ode, Felilsu (17S2), in which he extolled Catharine II., attracted lier attention, and through her inlluence he received many pro- motions; he was Governor of Olonetz in 1784, of Tambov in 178.5, Secretary of State in 1791, and Senator in 1793. Catharine's successor, Paul, appointed him president of the Board of Com- 7nerce in 1790, and Alexander 1. made him Min- ister of Justice in 1802; but he retired to private life in 1803. He was the greatest and most original poet before Pushkin, and is best known as the "Singer of Catharine.' his works lurniiiig a piK-lic chronicle of lier achievements. So far from being a Court poet, he was a really deep and sincere admirer of the northern Semi- ramis, with her liberal reforms and democratic leanings, as evidenced in her daily life and corre- spondence with Voltaire and Diderot. Though occupying a more exalted position after her death, he never wrote anything abnut the other monarclis that in power and loftiness of con- ception could even approach his odes about ('atharine and the events of her reign. His language is quite modern in its purity and com- )iarative freedom from Church-Slavonic expres- sions. Its chief characteristics are vigor united with pliancy, and a vivid imagery that some- times verges on the hyperbolic. He was the first to introduce everyday expressions into odes, thus bringing down the grand style to modern realism. .s a critic says: "The poet takes the ground of contemporaneousness, and the solemn ode becomes the echo of the day. No Russian ])oet before stood so near to his period as did Derzlmvin." Of his many poems, the ode (lod is the best known the world over, having been translated into most Occidental langvuigesand even into .Japanese and Chinese. The best edition of his works appeared in nine volumes (Saint Petersburg. 1S04-83). with a conunentary and bioL'rapliy by tlic aiademiiinn .1. (Irot. DES, d:-|sh. or DEES MAGYAROS, dAs mml'- yo-ros. The capital of the Province of Szolnok- Doboka, Transylvania. Hungary, at the conlluencc of the Great and Little Szamos, 37',1' miles north- east of Klausenburg by rail. Its chief public buildings are the fifteenth-century Gothic Re- formed Church, the Thokoly palace, the handsome town hall and municipal theatre. A sixteenth- cent urv tower is a remnant of the ancient fortifications. Distilling and salt-mines are among the principal industries. Population, in lOon. 9SSS.

DESAGUADERO. dft-sirgwa-DiTrd (Sp., out- let i . . ii.r of ll.ilivia. the outlet of Lake Titieaen. .flcr a snuthcast eoursr- of 190 miles, it empties into the land-locked lake of . llagas. near the town of Gruro (Map: liolivia. D 7). It is the loftiest stream of any length on the entire American continent, its source being 12,650 feet high.

DESAIX DE VEYGOUX, dr-sA' or dc-zft' df vA'goTi'. Lous Cll.VKl.KS .V.NTOI.NK (1708-1800). A French general of the First Ucpublic, born August 17, 1708, at Saint Hilairc d'.yat. He studied at the military sclmol of Kllial. and in 1783 was nuide sul>lieuteiiant in a lircton regi- ment. He was in sympathy with the revolution- ists, though he deprecated their violence, and in 1792 he was appointed aide to Prince "ietor de Hroglie, then conunanding the Army of '.he Rhine. In 1793-94 he was made a gen- eral ot brigjide and then of division. He commanded the right wing of the Army of the Sambre and ilcuse under .lourdan in 1795, and in the following year was again in the Army of the Kliine and Jloselle, under Moreau, commanding the left wing in !Moreau's famous retreat thnmgh the Ulack For- est. To IX'saix was intrusted the fortress of Kehl, the only stronghold upon the right Ijank of the Rhine which the French retained after this retreat. The fort was in ruins, but behind its imperfect defenses IX^sai.x held out against an Austrian army for two montlis, only sur- rendering in .January, 1797, when his ammuni- tion was exhausted. In the spring he was scut to Italy, where lionaparte, recognizing his strong qualities, took pains to attach him to himself. Desaix accompanied the Egyptian ex])editlon and there won his brightest laurels in the conquest of Vpper KgTi'pt from the Mamelukes under Murad Rev. after an eight months' campaign, liy his equitable administration of the country after the conquest he won from the Arabs the title of 'the .Just Sultan.' Returning to France at the command of lionajiarte in 1799 he joined the!:ii ter in Italy and was given the command of tio divisions of reserves. This force, in .June, 1800, was sent to Genoa on detached service, but in response to the sound of the distant fighting at JIarengo (.June 14). Desaix, by a sudden in- spiration, returned, arriving just as Bonaparte was aliout to yield the field to Melas. Desaix s.aved the day by a vigorous attack with his divi- sions, but he was shot and instantly killed while leading the charge. He was an intrepid soldier, a skillful commander, and the idol of his troops. His body was embalmed and placed in the ^^ln astery of Saint Bernard. A statue has been rais«>d in his honor in Paris. Consult ISeeker, t'luilrs hi-storiijuiK sur Ic iit'nfriil Dvsnix (CIit mont, 1852).

DE SANCTIS. dA sank't.^s. Fhancesco (1817- 83 1 . All ]t;iliMii lilcrary critic and statesman. He was linrn at Morra lr|>ino, and at an early age devoted himself to the study of litciature and philosophy. He eonqileted bis education in t'"' renowned institute of the Marchese Basilio Piii and when barely eighteen years of age entci upon the career of teaching. For two years ho taught in the military C<dlegio della Niiiiziatellil at Naples, and then founded a private school of his own which speedily won the highest repu- tation. His critical lectures on the classic and Italian poets attracted a multitude of sliidi'nts. Having held odice in the Department of Piilili'- Instriicticm umler the Revolulionarv (ioverniii' ' of IS4S. he was arri'sted on tlic restoration of tli Bourbons, and for tliree years kept in close con- finement in the Caslello dell' 0o at Naples. On