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
