Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/464

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
402
RIGHT

DONATUS 402 DONIZETTI by the election of two bishops in the room of JParmenian, the successor of Donatus, and also throiigh the zealous opposition of St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. They were finally suppressed in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great. DONATUS, ^LIUS (do-na'tus), a Roman grammarian and commentator; born A. D. 333. He was the preceptor of St. Jerome, wrote notes on Vergil and Terence, and a grammar of the Latin language so universally used in the Middle Ages that "Donat" became a common term for grammar or primer of instruction. From him must be distin- guished a later grammarian, Tiberius Claudius Donatus (about 400), from whom we have a worthless life of Vergil, prefixed to many editions of that poet, and fragments of a commentary on the "^neid." DONAUWORTH (do-nou-vert) , an ancient town of Bavaria; at the conflu- ence of the Wornitz and the Danube, 25 miles N. N. W. of Augsburg. It was formerly a free imperial city of consider- able importance; but has now sunk into an insignificant place of about 6,000 in- habitants. In the Thirty Years' War it was twice stormed, by the Swedes and by the Bavarians. It is likewise associ- ated with the name of Marlborough, who carried the intrenched camp of the French and Bavarians near here in 1704; and, on Oct. 6, 1805, the French, under Soult, obtained a victory here over the Austrians, under Mack. DON CARLOS. See CARLOS. DONCASTER, a municipal borough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and an important railway junction, on the right bank of the Don. It has long been famous for its annual races, begun in 1703, and held a mile S. E. of the town in the second week of September. Colonel St. Leger, in 1776, founded stakes which have been yearly run for by the best horses in England. On an eminence 5 miles W. S. W, of Doncaster are the ruins of Conisborough Castle, the strong- hold of Athelstan in Scott's "Ivanhoe." A Norman-Saxon round tower, it is 37 feet in diameter and 86 feet high, with walls 15 feet thick. Pop. (1919) 51,592. DONEGAL, a town of Ireland, on the Eske river. It is in a rich agricultural region. It is surrounded on three sides by hills. Near the town are the ruins of Donegal Castle. The town is one of the most historic in Ireland. Pop. about 3,000. DONGAN, THOMAS, Earl of Lime- rick; born in Castleton, Ireland, in 1634. After sei-ving in the British and French armies and attaining the rank of colonel. he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Tangiers by Charles II. and colonial gov- ernor of New York by the Duke of York in 1682. He gave the city of New York its first charter in 1686 and being accused of ignoring his pacific instructions re- garding the French and Indians, and of inciting the Five Nations to war, re- sigfned his commission in 1688, returned to England in 1691, and inherited the earldom of Limerick in 1698. He died in London, Dec. 14, 1715. DONGOLA, a province of Anglo- Egyptian Soudan, within the region for- merly known as Nubia. Its surface is generally level and fertile and large quan- tities of wheat and dates are grown for export. The capital of the province is New Dongola on the west bank of the Nile. Old Dongola on the east bank of the Nile, about 75 miles above, was formerly an important town, but is now no more than a village. The province has railroad con- nection with Egypt, Khartum, and the Red Sea by a line opened in 1906. Pop. about 60,000. DONIPHAN, ALEXANDER WILL- IAM, an American military officer; bom in Mason co., Ky., July 9, 1808; gradu- ated at Augusta College and began the practice of law in 1830 in Lexington, Mo. He was three times elected to the Mis- souri Legislature. He served in the Mexican War, in which he made a bril- liant record, capturing Chihuahua, after an unexpected encounter with an army of 4,000 men. He was one of the Peace Commissioners at the convention which met at Washington previous to the Civil War, which it vainly sought to avert. He died in Richmond, Mo., Aug. 8, 1887. DONIZETTI, GAETANO (do-ne-dzef te), an Italian composer; born in Ber- gamo in 1798. He studied music at Bolo- gna under the distinguished Abbe Mattei. His first opera, "Enrico di Borgogna," was represented at Venice in 1818. In 1822 his "Zoraide di Granata" gained him the honor of being crowned on the Capitol. In 1830 appeared his "Anna Bolena," which first, along with "Lucre- zia Borgia" and "Lucia di Lammermoor," the latter his masterpiece, acquired for him a European fame. In 1835 Doni- zetti was appointed Professor of Counter- point at the Royal College of Naples, but removed in 1840 to Paris, bring- ing with him three new operas, "Les Martyrs," "La Favorita," and "La Fille du Regiment," of which the last two are among his most popular productions. Of his other operas none except "Linda di Chamouni" (1842) and "Don Pas- quale" (1843) achieved any special tri- umph. He died April 8, 184.8.