DESMOND DESMOULINS 45 tion of the Des Homes was made by congress, but it was afterward diverted to the construc- tion of the Des Moines Valley railroad. Be- fore the diversion, however, a number of dams had been built in the lower part of the stream, which afford good water power. DESMOND, Earls of, an ancient family of great influence in S. W. Ireland, between 1329 and 1583. The line numbered 15 earls. The title and family are now extinct. Before the Eng- lish gained a footing in Ireland, the kingdom of Cork was a separate sovereignty, embracing much of the present province of Munster. It was divided into Desmond or South Munster, Muskerry or West Munster, and Carbery in the southwest. In 1172 Dermod MacCarthy, king of Cork, swore fealty to Henry II., but soon afterward broke his plight and attacked his liege's forces. He was overpowered, and Henry in 1177 bestowed the kingdom on Rob- ert Fitz Stephen and Milo de Cogan. Cogan's share, falling ultimately to co-heiresses, was divided between Robert Carew, Patrick Cour- cey, and Maurice Fitz Thomas. The last was created by the English monarch earl of Des- mond in 1329. By aggressions on the lands of Courcey and Carew, and by other acquisi- tions, the estates of the Desmonds so increased that the 8th earl was possessor of almost the whole of the former kingdom of Cork. He ex- ercised rights of sovereignty with such a high hand that he was attainted of treason, and be- headed at Drogheda, Feb. 15, 1467. His es- tates, being suffered to remain in his family, continued to augment until Gerald, the last earl, owned a territory extending 150 miles through the counties of Waterford, Cork, Ker- ry, and Limerick, and comprising 500,000 acres. These earls never yielded more than a nominal allegiance to the English crown. The country of the Desmonds was Irish in lan- guage, habits, and religion. Hence it was deemed a favorable locality by Philip II. of Spain, in his war with Queen Elizabeth, to at- tempt the conquest of Ireland. Accordingly, on July 1, 1578, a body of Italian troops, under the command of James Fitz Maurice, brother of the earl of Desmond, and accom- panied by Saunders, the pope's legate, landed in the Desmond country, where they were im- mediately joined by Sir John of Desmond and James Fitzgerald, other brothers of the earl. At first Earl Desmond made some show of re- sistance, but subsided at length into neutrality. On this, Lord Justice Pelham summoned him to surrender his castles to the queen. Des- mond refused, whereon he and all of his name were proclaimed traitors, Nov. 1, 1579. Des- mond now summoned his people to support the Catholic cause, and his dependants responded to the call. He seized on the town of You- ghal, and until November, 1583, maintained a determined warfare. Being by that time driven from his strongholds, one after another, he wandered over the country for months, and was at last killed in a cabin where he had taken shelter. His estates were divided among the captains of Elizabeth's army. Sir Walter Raleigh received 20,000 acres, which he sold cheaply to Richard Boyle, afterward earl of Cork. JEANNE FITZGERALD, wife of James, 14th earl, is said to have lived to an age ex- ceeding 140 years. Her husband presented her at the court of Edward IV., where she danced with the duke of Gloucester, after- ward Richard III.; she was widowed during the reign of Edward IV., and died in the reign of James I., some time after 1603. At the age of 140 she travelled from her home at Inchiquin, Ireland, by the way of Bristol, to London, to urge some claim against the government. At that time she was quite viva- cious and in possession of all her faculties. Sir Walter Raleigh says, "I myself knew her." ("History of the World," book i., ch. 5.) Bacon mentions that the old countess of Desmond had thrice renewed her teeth. Re- cent investigators, however, have thrown much doubt on her alleged great age. DESMOULINS, Benoit CamiHe, a French revolu- tionist, born at Guise in Picardy in 1760, guillo- tined in Paris, April 5, 1794. He studied law in Paris, but never practised. On the eve of the revolution he published two republican pamphlets, La philosophic au peuple francais (1788), and La France litre (1*783) ; and when the revolution broke out he ardently adopted its principles, and became one of the favorite orators of the crowd which gathered at the Palais Royal to hear the news of the day. On July 12, 1789, the day after the dismissal of Necker, he mounted a table in the garden of the palais and called the people to the defence of their threatened liberty ; he de- clared that he would not be deterred from speaking by fear of the police, and with a loaded pistol in each hand swore that he would not be taken alive. He advised the pa- triots to wear a green badge, and as there was not a sufficient quantity of ribbon, he gave them the green leaves of the trees in the gar- den. The cry "To arms! " was raised; the crowd seized upon all the arms they could find at the gunsmiths', and forming in pro- cession carried through the streets the bust of the dismissed minister with that of the then popular duke of Orleans. The next day the muskets and cannon at the Invalides fell into the hands of the people, and on the 14th the Bastile was taken. Camille, who had given impulse to this insurrection, figured among the combat- ants, and at once gained popularity. This was enhanced by a pamphlet, La lanterne aux Parisiens, in which he styled himself the "at- torney general of the lamp post." Its success encouraged him to commence, under the title of Les revolutions de France et de Brabant, a newspaper which exercised great influence by its vigor of thought, sparkling wit, and lively style. Such was its importance that Mirabeau sought to conciliate its editor. Camille had been a schoolmate of Robespierre, and lived on
