ber, 1796, the office of secretary was again confided to him. While he held this office, he published an edition of the laws of the commonwealth, with notes. Upon the election of Mr. Jefferson, in 1801, he was appointed attorney of the U. States for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, and he continued in this office until his removal to Washington. October 6, he was appointed secretary of the treasury of the U. States. The circumstances under which he entered this difficult situation, the boldness with which he assumed its responsibilities, his energy of character, and the general confidence and approbation with which his career was accompanied, belong to the history of the times. March 13, 1815, he undertook the additional trust of secretary of war, and performed with success the delicate task of reducing the army of the U. States. In November, 1816, peace being restored, the finances arranged, the embarrassment of the circulating medium daily diminishing, and soon to disappear under the influence of the national bank, which it had so long been his effort to establish, Mr. Dallas resigned his honorable station, and returned to the practice of the law in Philadelphia. His business was considerable, and his talents as an advocate were employed, not only at home, but from almost every quarter of the Union. In the midst of his brilliant prospects, exposure to cold, and great professional exertions in a very important cause, brought on an attack of the gout in his stomach, at Trenton, of which he died, Jan. 16, 1817.

DALLAS, Robert Charles, born in Jamaica, studied law in the Inner Temple. When he came of age, he married, and went to Jamaica, where he had received a lucrative appointment, but was obliged to leave the island on account of the ill health of his wife. He went to France, then to America, with a view to settle there, but, being disappointed, returned, and devoted himself to literature. His productions, including translations, are numerous. His novels have been collected and published in 7 volumes, 12mo. Lord Byron, as appears from Moore's life of the poet, was in the habit of consulting him, and made him a present of the copyright of Childe Harold and some other of his early works, which afforded him much pecuniary advantage.

DALMATIA; an Austrian kingdom, including four circles-Zara, Spalatro and Macarsca, Ragusa, Cattaro-lying on the Adriatic sea, bounded by Croatia, Bosnia and Albania, and having several islands

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belonging to it. Since 1814, with the exception of the Turkish part, it has been entirely subject to the emperor of Austria, and contains 5800 square miles, 320,000 inhabitants, in 22 towns, 33 boroughs and 914 villages. Dalmatia, formerly an important kingdom, was, after many unsuccessful attempts, subjected by the Romans under Augustus. After the decline of the Western Empire, it was first under the dominion of the Goths, then under that of the Eastern emperors. In the first half of the 7th century, it was conquered by the Sclavonians, who erected it into a kingdom, which lasted till 1030, when it was, in part, united with Hungary, under king St. Ladislaus; another part placed itself under the protection of the then powerful republic of Venice, for security against the attacks of the Turks, who, however, afterwards, took a part from the Venetians. By the peace of Campo-Formio (Oct. 17, 1797), the Venetian part of Dalmatia, as well as Venice itself, was made over to Austria; but, by the treaty of Presburg, in 1805, Austria ceded it to the French emperor, who first united it with the kingdom of Italy, and in 1810, with Illyria, although he caused it to be governed by a generalprovveditore.-The causes of the small population of this fertile but poorly cultivated country, are the excessive use of spirituous liquors, the noxious exhalations of the marshes in various districts, the frequent emigrations, and the habit of private revenge, which extends even to the third and fourth generations. It contains impenetrable forests, and regions covered with marshes. The Dalmatians are a handsome race, bold seamen, and good soldiers if they are well commanded. The former military power of Venice rested entirely upon this province. The Dalmatians, in general, are accused, and probably not unjustly, of deceitfulness and rapacity: the desire of independence is almost universal. A peculiar feature of their character is, that many of them prefer the heroic death (as they term it) by the spear, to a natural and peaceful death in the midst of their family. They speak a Selavonic dialect. The Morlachians, who dwell in the interior of the country, and among the mountains, and in the Turkish government of Herseck, constitute but a part of the nation. They are excellent soldiers, but have a strong inclination for robbery and drinking; yet they are hospitable, benevolent and faithful in their promises. Averse to every kind of restraint, they live in a sort of natural con

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dition. They have always been a good wall against the attacks of the Turks.The inhabitants of the islands are principally employed in fishing, and are servants on the continent, or sailors in merchant-ships. The islands are not very productive. Several have good harbors, and afford much timber for ship-building. The inhabitants of the continent are employed in agriculture and the breeding of cattle. They have some commerce, and devote themselves chiefly to the sea. As long as their soil produces no more than it does at present, their trade and industry cannot be important, more particularly since the great commons, according to the ancient Dalmatian custom, are not separated, and the overgrown landed estates of individuals are not divided on their decease. The Dalmatians export tallow, hare-skins (which latter are brought from Bosnia), some oil, figs, wine, brandy, wax, and salt fish, from different ports; and receive, in exchange, linen, cloth, coffee and sugar, but only in small quantities, so that the money-balance is on their side. There are gold, iron and coal mines in the country, but they remain unwrought. Zara, the capital, and the seat of the governor, has 5000, Spalatro 6800, inhabitants. The district of Cattaro, which is under the dominion of Austria, is sometimes comprised in Dalmatia, but properly belongs to Albania, and lies, in a semicircular form, round the gulf. The 13 famous inlets (Bocche di Cattaro) form the safest harbors on the Adriatic sea, and present some fine prospects. The inhabitants of the district are estimated at 30,000. They are excellent seamen, and were inclined, under the lax government of the Venetians, to robbery, particularly by sea. By land, their resolution and boldness render them the most formidable enemies of the Turks in that quarter. The steep, rough and barren heights of Montenegro surround this province in a semicircular form. The Turkish part of Dalmatia, which extends from Bosnia to Albania, and belongs to Bosnia, contains the province of Herzegovina, with the town of that name, and the towns of Scardona and Trevigno. See the Travels to Dalmatia and Ragusa, by E. F. Germar (Leipsic, 1817), which is particularly rich in natural history. The splendid work on Dalmatia by general Dejearo (Paris, 1825) exhibits the entomological wealth of Dalmatia.

DALMATICA; a long, white gown, with white sleeves, formerly worn by the Dalmatians, and, since the time of pope Sylvester I, by the Roman Catholic deacons,

over the alba and stola.-Also, a part of the ornamental dress formerly worn by the German emperor at the time of his coronation. It was kept in Nuremberg, and put on in Frankfort.

DAL SEGNO (Italian) means from the sign. In music, this expression denotes, that the singer or player ought to recommence at the former place, where the same mark is put.

DALZIEL, Thomas; a Scotch officer, taken prisoner at the battle of Worcester, and confined in the Tower, from which he escaped to Russia, where the czar made him a general. At the restoration, he returned to England, and Charles II made him commander-in-chief of his forces in Scotland. He was singular in his dress and appearance. After the death of Charles I, he never shaved his beard, which grew white and bushy, and descended to his middle. He generally went to London once or twice a year to kiss the king's hand, and the singularity of his appearance drew crowds of boys after him. He is mentioned by Scott in his description of the defeat of the Covenanters in Old Mortality.

DAM, DAMM; the end of many German and Dutch geographical words, signifying a dam or sluice; as in Amsterdam, the sluices of the Amstel.

DAMAGE-FEASANT. Beasts are said to be damage-feasant, or doing damage, when those of one person are found upon the land of another without his permission and without his fault; for if the owner of a field or enclosure adjoining upon another enclosure neglects to repair his fences, and the beasts pass through, he cannot seize them as damage-feasant. But if the beasts break into a close from the highway, where they were wrongfully left to run at large, the owner of the close may take them up, or distrain them as damagefeasant, though the fence of the close on the side next the highway was defective; for the owner is not obliged to make a fence against beasts where they cannot be lawfully left at large. The owner of land has a right to sue the owner of the beasts in trespass for the damage done by them to his crops, &c., but the law gives him also the means of stopping the damage, for he may distrain and impound the beasts.

DAMASCENUS, John; John of Damascus, afterwards called also John Chrysorrhoas; author of the first system of Christian theology in the Eastern church, or the founder of scientific dogmatics. He first endeavored to give a full system of

dogmatics, founded on reason and the Bible, which had hitherto been elaborated in the Greek church only in parts, as ecclesiastical controversies arose. His explanation of the orthodox faith, in four volumes, enjoyed, in the Greek church, a great reputation. He also wrote Dialectics, a system of logic on the principles of Aristotle, and prepared a collection of philosophical passages, extracted from ancient works, in alphabetical order, &c. The best edition of his Greek works is that by P. Mich. Lequien (Paris, 1712, 2 vols., fol.). After being in the service of a caliph, he became a monk in the convent of Saba, near Jerusalem, and died about 760. He must not be confounded with Nicholas of Da

mascus.

DAMASCUS; a city of Syria, the capital of the pachalic of the same name, situated in a fertile plain amidst extensive gardens, forming a circuit of between 25 and 30 miles. The streets are in general narrow, of regular width, though not in straight lines: they are well paved, and have elevated footpaths on each side. Damascus contains above 500 large and magnificent houses, which are entitled to the name of palaces: each house has a canal or fountain. The mosques and chapels are also numerous, and the grand mosque is of great extent and magnificence. An hospital for the indigent sick is attached to the edifice. This mosque is said to have been, originally, a Christian church, and the cathedral of Damascus. The mosques are mostly fronted by a court. One mosque is beautifully adorned with all kinds of fine marble, like mosaic pavement; and the tower or minaret of another is entirely cased with pantiles. There are several hospitals here, of which the finest is that constructed by the sultan Selim, consisting of a spacious quadrangle, lined by an interior colonnade, which is entirely roofed by 40 small domes, covered with lead. On the south side of the court is a mosque, with a magnificent portico and two fine minarets, which is surmounted by a spacious cupola. There is a Greek, Maronite, Syrian and Armenian church. There are eight synagogues of the Jews. The castle, situated towards the south-west part of the city, and about three quarters of a mile in circuit, is a fine rustic edifice, with three square towers in front, and five on each side. This city is the seat of a considerable trade. It was celebrated for the manufacture of sabres, of such peculiar quality as to be perfectly elastic and very hard. Extensive manufactures are carried on in silk and cotton stuffs. Leath

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er is likewise an article of manufacture here, but no linen is made. A great quantity of soap is fabricated, and exported to Egypt. Dried fruits and sweetmeats are sent to Turkey. Cotton cloths, handkerchiefs, slippers, copper kettles, horse-shoe nails, tobacco-pipes, and spiceries, shawls, and the rich fabrics of Surat, are brought through Bagdad; iron, lead, tin, cochineal, broadcloth, sugar, and such other European articles as are required in the city, come through Saida, Bairout and Tripoli. Commerce is carried on chiefly by caravans, of which the principal is that in which the pilgrims annually proceed to Mecca. Three caravans besides, each accompanied by above 2500 armed men, go thrice a year to Bagdad, the journey occupying 30 days; those to Aleppo travel twice or thrice a month; besides which, there are many to different parts of Syria. Damascus is a place of great antiquity, and is alluded to in the account of the time of Abraham. The population amounts, according to Burckhardt, in his Travels through Arabia, to 250,000, including many Catholics and Jews; the remaining inhabitants are Mohammedans. 136 miles N. Jerusalem. Lon. 36° 30′ E.; lat. 38° 30 N.

DAMASK; an ingeniously manufactured stuff, the ground of which is bright and glossy, with vines, flowers, and figures interwoven. At first, it was made only of silk, but afterwards of linen and woollen, as, for example, damask table-cloth. According to the opinion of some, this kind of weaving was derived from the Babylonians; according to others, invented at a later period, by the inhabitants of Damascus, from which latter place it is thought to have derived its name. The true damasks are of a single color. If they consist of variegated colors, they are called ras de Sicile. The gauze damask also belongs to the silk damask. In modern times, the Italians and Dutch first made damask; and Europe was supplied, as late as the 17th century, from Italy alone, chiefly from Genoa. But the French soon imitated it, and now surpass the Italians. Damask is also brought from India and China, which is very well imitated by the English. At present, damask is made in great quantities in Germany, of three different kinds, Dutch, French and Italian.

DAMASKEENING, or DAMASKING, the art of inlaying iron or steel with other metals, especially gold and silver, is of great antiquity. It is principally used at present for sword-blades, guards, gripes, cocks of

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pistols, &c. Herodotus mentions a saucer so ornamented: so also were the shields of some of the forces of the Samnites which fought against Rome. It was a favorite manufacture with the ancients. We know not at what time it so flourished at Damascus as to have derived its name from this city.

DAMIENS, Robert Francis ; notorious for his attempt to assassinate Louis XV; born in 1715, in the village of Tieulloy, in the former province of Artois; the son of a poor farmer. His vicious inclinations early obtained him the name of Robert-lediable. He twice enlisted as a soldier, and was afterwards a servant (cuistre) in the college of the Jesuits at Paris, but, in 1738, left this service in order to marry. He then served in different houses of the capital, poisoned one of his masters, stole 240 louis-d'or from another, and saved himself by flight. He then lived five months at St. Omer, Dunkirk and Brussels, and expressed himself in the most violent manner concerning the dissensions between the king and the parliament. At Poperingue, a little village near Ypres, he was heard to say, "If I return to France, I shall die; but the first of the land will die also, and you will hear of me. His mind was disordered when he returned to Paris, at the end of 1756. In the beginning of the next year, he went to Versailles, took opium for two or three days, and prepared for the crime, which he attempted January 5. As Louis XV was on the point of getting into his carriage, to return from Versailles to Trianon, Damiens stabbed him, although he was surrounded by his train, in the right side, with a knife. The assassin was seized. The most cruel tortures he bore with resolution, and could not be induced to confess that he had any accomplices, He asserted that he should not have committed the act had he been bled, as he requested, and that he thought it meritorious. He was condemned to be torn in quarters by horses, and the sentence was executed March 28, 1757, on the Place de Grève at Paris.

DAMIETTA, or DAMIAT; a large city of Lower Egypt, first built at the east mouth of the Nile, and called Thamiatis, under the government of the Lower Empire; 85 miles N. N. E. Cairo; lon. 31° 49′ 45′′ E.; lat. 31° 25 N.: population, according to Binos, 30,000; according to Savary, 80,000. Damietta daily increased as Pelusium declined. The chief disadvantage of Damietta is the want of a harbor; yet it is the emporium of commerce between

Egypt and Syria, situated on the Phatmetic branch of the Nile. The city is without walls, built in the form of a crescent, on the winding bank of the river, six miles from the sea. It is larger and not less agreeable than Rosetta, and has several squares. Bazars filled with merchandise, okals, or khans, under the porticoes of which are Indian stuffs, silks from mount Lebanon, sal ammoniac, and quantities of rice, bespeak it a commercial place. The houses, especially near the river, are very high. Most of them have pleasant saloons built on the terraces; from which charming places, open to every wind, there is a view of the grand lake lying on the other side, and of the Nile, which traverses a rich country between them both. Various grand mosques, with high minarets, ornament the city. The public baths, faced with marble, are similar to those of Cairo. Multitudes of boats and small vessels incessantly fill the port of Damietta. Some, named sherm, serve to load and unload the ships that anchor in the road; others are coasting pilot-boats. There is a great trade between this city and Syria, Cyprus and Turkey.

DAMON and PYTHIAS; two illustrious Syracusans, celebrated as models of constant friendship. Pythias had been unjustly condemned to death by Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, but obtained permission to arrange his affairs in a neighboring place, on condition that his friend should remain as a pledge of his return. Damon surrendered himself at the prison, ready to suffer death instead of Pythias, if he did not return at a fixed time. Unexpected impediments detained him. Damon, still fully convinced of the faithfulness of his friend, is already on the way to the place of execution; already the people begin to murmur, and to pity his credulity, when Pythias suddenly rushes through the crowd into the arms of his friend. While they demand each to die for the other, the spectators melt into tears, and Dionysius himself approaches, pardons them, and entreats them to admit him a third in their friendship. Schiller has described this adventure in an excellent ballad (Die Bürgschaft), and it is the subject of a popular English tragedy.

DAMPERS; certain movable parts in the internal frame of a piano-forte, which are covered with cloth, and, by means of a pedal, are brought into contact with the wires, in order to deaden the vibration.

DAMPIER, William, a celebrated English navigator, was born in 1652. He