A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature

by John W. Cousin

DARWIN, CHARLES ROBERT (1809-1882). —Naturalist, s. of a physician, and grandson of [Dr. Erasmus D.] (q.v.), and of Josiah Wedgwood, the famous potter, was b. and was at school at Shrewsbury. In 1825 he went to Edin. to study medicine, but was more taken up with marine zoology than with the regular curriculum. After two years he proceeded to Camb., where he grad. in 1831, continuing, however, his independent studies in natural history. In the same year came the opportunity of his life, his appointment to accompany the Beagle as naturalist on a survey of South America. To this voyage, which extended over nearly five years, he attributed the first real training of his mind, and after his return pub. an account of it, Zoology of the Voyage of the Beagle (1840). After spending a few years in London arranging his collections and writing his Journal, he removed to Down, a retired village near the Weald of Kent, where, in a house surrounded by a large garden, his whole remaining life was passed in the patient building up, from accurate observations, of his theory of Evolution, which created a new epoch in science and in thought generally. His industry was marvellous, especially when it is remembered that he suffered from chronic bad health. After devoting some time to geology, specially to coral reefs, and exhausting the subject of barnacles, he took up the development of his favourite question, the transformation of species. In these earlier years of residence at Down he pub. The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842), and two works on the geology of volcanic islands, and of South America. After he had given much time and profound thought to the question of evolution by natural selection, and had written out his notes on the subject, he received in 1858 from [Mr. A.R. Wallace] (q.v.) a manuscript showing that he also had reached independently a theory of the origin of species similar to his own. This circumstance created a situation of considerable delicacy and difficulty, which was ultimately got over by the two discoverers presenting a joint paper, On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties, and On the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. The publication in 1859 of The Origin of Species gave D. an acknowledged place among the greatest men of science, and the controversies which, along with other of his works, it raised, helped to carry his name all over the civilised world. Among his numerous subsequent writings may be mentioned The Fertilisation of Orchids (1862), Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication (1868), The Descent of Man, and Selection in relation to Sex (1871), The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), Insectivorous Plants (1875), Climbing Plants (1875), Different Forms of Flowers (1877), The Power of Movement in Plants (1880), and The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881). D., with a modesty which was one of his chief characteristics, disclaimed for himself the possession of any remarkable talents except "an unusual power of noticing things which easily escape attention, and of observing them carefully." In addition, however, to this peculiar insight, he had a singular reverence for truth and fact, enormous industry, and great self-abnegation: and his kindliness, modesty, and magnanimity attracted the affection of all who knew him.

Life and Letters, by his son, F. Darwin, 3 vols., 1887; C. Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection. E.B. Poulton, 1896; various short Lives by Grant Allen and others.

DARWIN, ERASMUS (1731-1802). —Poet, physician, and scientist, was b. at Elston, Notts, and ed. at Camb. and at Edin., where he took his degree of M.D. He ultimately settled in Lichfield as a physician, and attained a high professional reputation, so much so that he was offered, but declined, the appointment of physician to George III. In 1778 he formed a botanical garden, and in 1789 pub. his first poem, The Loves of the Plants, followed in 1792 by The Economy of Vegetation, which combined form The Botanic Garden. Another poem, The Temple of Nature, was pub. posthumously. He also wrote various scientific works in prose. The poems of D., though popular in their day, are now little read. Written in polished and sonorous verse, they glitter with startling similes and ingenious, though often forced, analogies, but have little true poetry or human interest.

DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE (1817-1896). —Scandinavian scholar, b. in the island of St. Vincent, of which his f. was Attorney-general, ed. at Westminster School, King's Coll., London, and Oxf., he entered the diplomatic service, and was for several years Sec. to the British Embassy at Stockholm, where he became interested in Scandinavian literature and mythology. Returning to England he was appointed Assistant Ed. of The Times (1845-1870). In 1852 he was called to the Bar, and in the following year was appointed Prof. of English Literature and Modern History at King's Coll., London, an office which he held for 13 years. He was knighted in 1876. His principal writings have to do with Scandinavian language, mythology, and folk-lore, and include an Icelandic Grammar, The Prose or Younger Edda (1842), Popular Tales from the Norse (1859), The Saga of Burnt Njal (1861), and The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (1866), mostly translated from the Norwegian of Asbjörnsen. He also translated the Orkney and Hacon Sagas for the Rolls Series, and wrote four novels, Annals of an Eventful Life, Three to One, Half a Life, and The Vikings of the Baltic. His style is pointed and clear.

DAVENANT, or D'AVENANT, SIR WILLIAM (1606-1668). —Poet and dramatist, was b. at Oxf., where his f. kept an inn, which Shakespeare was in the habit of visiting. This had some influence on the future poet, who claimed to be Shakespeare's natural son. D., ed. at Lincoln Coll., was afterwards in the service of Lord Brooke, became involved in the troubles of the Civil War, in which he took the Royalist side, and was imprisoned in the Tower, escaped to France, and after returning was, in 1643, knighted. Later D. was employed on various missions by the King and Queen, was again in the Tower from 1650 to 1652, when he pub. his poem Gondibert. He is said to have owed his release to the interposition of Milton. In 1656 he practically founded the English Opera by his Siege of Rhodes (1656). In 1659 he was again imprisoned, but after the Restoration he seems to have enjoyed prosperity and Royal favour, and established a theatre, where he was the first habitually to introduce female players and movable scenery. D. wrote 25 dramatic pieces, among which are Albovine, King of the Lombards (1629), Platonick Lovers (1636), The Wits (1633), Unfortunate Lovers (1643), Love and Honour (1649). None of them are now read; and the same may be said of Gondibert, considered a masterpiece by contemporaries. D. succeeded Ben Jonson as Poet Laureate, and collaborated with Dryden in altering (and debasing) The Tempest. He coll. his miscellaneous verse under the title of Madagascar. He is said to have had the satisfaction of repaying in kind the good offices of Milton when the latter was in danger in 1660. He joined with Waller and others in founding the classical school of English poetry.

DAVIDSON, JOHN (1837-1909). —Poet and playwright, b. at Barrhead, Renfrewshire, s. of a Dissenting minister, entered the chemical department of a sugar refinery in Greenock in his 13th year, returning after one year to school as a pupil teacher. He was afterwards engaged in teaching at various places, and having taken to literature went in 1890 to London. He achieved a reputation as a writer of poems and plays of marked individuality and vivid realism. His poems include In a Music Hall (1891), Fleet Street Eclogues (1893), Baptist Lake (1894), New Ballads (1896), The Last Ballad (1898), The Triumph of Mammon (1907), and among his plays are Bruce (1886), Smith: a Tragic Farce (1888), Godfrida (1898). D. disappeared on March 27, 1909, under circumstances which left little doubt that under the influence of mental depression he had committed suicide. Among his papers was found the MS. of a new work, Fleet Street Poems, with a letter containing the words, "This will be my last book." His body was discovered a few months later.