Thomson, Liberty, in. (1725).
Della Crusca School, originally applied in 1582 to a society in Florence, established to purify the national language and sift from it all its impurities; but applied in England to a brotherhood of poets (at the close of the last century) under the leadership of Mrs. Piozzi. This school was conspicuous for affectation and high-flown panegyrics on each other. It was stamped out by Gifford, in The Baviad, in 1794, and The Moeviad, in 1796. Robert Merry, who signed himself Della Crusca, James Cobb, a farce-writer, James Boswell (biographer of Dr. Johnson), O'Keefe, Morton, Reynolds, Holcroft, Sheridan, Colman the younger, Mrs. H. Cowley, and Mrs. Robinson were its best exponents.
Del'phine, (2 syl.), the heroine and title of a novel by Mde. de Staël. Delphine is a charming character, who has a faithless lover, and dies of a broken heart. This novel, like Corinne, was written during her banishment from France by Napoleon I., when she travelled in Switzerland and Italy. It is generally thought that "Delphine" was meant for the authoress herself (1802).
Delphine Classics (The), a set of Latin classics edited in France for the use of the grand dauphin (son of Louis XIV.). Huet was chief editor, assisted by Montausier and Bossuet. They had thirty-nine scholars working under them. The indexes of these classics are very valuable.
Delta of Blackwood is D.M.Moir (1798-1851).
Del'ville (2 syl.), one of the guardians of Cecilia. He is a man of wealth and great ostentation, with a haughty humility and condescending pride, especially in his intercourse with his social inferiors.—Miss Burney, Cecilia (1782). Deme'tia, South Wales; the inhabitants are called Demetians.
Denevoir, the seat of the Demetian king.
Drayton, Polyolbion, v. (1612).
Deme'trius, a young Athenian, to whom Egeus (3 syl.) promised his daughter Hermia in marriage. As Hermia loved Lysander, she refused to marry Demetrius, and fled from Athens with Lysander. Demetrius went in quest of her, and was followed by Helena, who doted on him. All four fell asleep, and "dreamed a dream" about the fairies. On waking, Demetrius became more reasonable. He saw that Hermia disliked him, but that Helena loved him sincerely, so he consented to forego the one and take to wife the other. When Egeus, the father of Hermia, found out how the case stood, he consented to the union of his daughter with Lysander.—Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream (1592).
Deme'trius, in The Poetaster, by Ben Jonson, is meant for John Marston (died 1633).