Deptford (det'ford), a parliamentary and municipal borough, England, in the counties of Kent and Surrey, on the right bank of the Thames, now forming part of London. It has some manufactures of pottery, chemicals, and soap. The old naval dockyard was shut up in 1869, but the royal victualling yard is still the largest establishment of its kind. Deptford sends one member to Parliament. Pop. 109,496.
Deputies, Chamber of, the lower of the two legislative chambers in France and in Italy, elected by popular suffrage, and corresponding in some respects to the House of Commons in Britain.
De Quincey, Thomas, English author, was the son of a Manchester merchant, and born at Greenhay, near Manchester, on 15th Aug., 1785, died at Edinburgh, 8th Dec., 1859. In 1793 his father died, leaving the family a fortune of £30,000. After attending some time the Bath and Manchester grammar schools, where he showed precocious ability, especially in classical studies, he importuned his guardian to send him to Oxford University, and on being refused he ran away from school, ultimately arriving in London in an absolutely destitute condition. His sufferings at this time he has described in his Confessions of an English Opium Eater. At length, in 1803, he matriculated at Oxford, and it was in the second year of his course here that he began to take opium in order to alleviate severe neuralgic pains. On leaving college he settled at Grasmere, Westmoreland, in the vicinity of Wordsworth and Southey, and devoted himself to literary work. Here or in London he remained till 1828, reading voraciously, and writing for the London Magazine, Knight's Quarterly Magazine, and Blackwood's Magazine. From 1828 to 1840 he lived in Edinburgh, then removed with his family to Lasswade, which continued to be his head-quarters. His writings, nearly all contributions to magazines, are distinguished by power of expression, subtle thought, and an encyclopædic abundance of curious information. His work belongs to that class of literature which he himself called "the literature of power", as distinguished from "the literature of knowledge". He was eccentric in his habits, incapable of managing money matters, but amiable and polite.—Bibliography: A. H. Japp, Thomas De Quincey: his Life and Writings; H. S. Salt, De Quincey; J. Hogg, De Quincey and His Friends; Sir L. Stephen, Hours in a Library; Arvede Barine, Poètes et Névrosés.
Dera Ghazi Khan, a district and town in the Punjab, Hindustan. The former, which is in Derajat division, has an area of 5606 sq. miles, and a population of 445,000. The town has a population of 18,466, half Hindus and half Mohammedans. It has extensive manufactures of silk, cotton, and coarse cutlery.
Dera Ismail Khan, a town in Hindustan, in the North-West Frontier Province, several miles to the west of the Indus, which is here crossed by boat-bridges, or boats, connecting the town with the Indus Valley railway. Dera Ismail Khan is a staple place for cotton goods, has a cantonment, and carries on a trade with Afghanistan. It is well laid out, has several schools and a large bazaar. Pop. 35,131.
Derajat (-jät´), a commissionership of Hindustan, in the west of the Punjab, occupying part of the valley of the Indus. It is well watered and fertile, and contains numerous towns and villages. Pop. 1,800,000, mostly Mohammedans.
Derbend´, or Derbent´, a fortified town in Daghestan, Transcaucasia, on the west shore of the Caspian, an ancient place formerly belonging to Persia. The manufactures consist of woollen stuffs, copper- and iron-ware, and rose-water; and there is some trade in saffron, largely grown in the vicinity. Pop. 32,718.
Derby, Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, fourteenth Earl of, an English statesman, born at Knowsley Park, Lancashire, 29th March, 1799, died there, 23rd Oct., 1869. In 1820 he was returned to the House of Commons as member for Stockbridge. At first inclining to the Whig party, he joined Canning's ministry in 1827, and in 1830 became Chief Secretary for Ireland in Lord Grey's Government, greatly distinguishing himself by his speeches in favour of the Reform Bill in 1831-2. The opposition led by O'Connell in the House of Commons was powerful and violent, but Stanley, while supporting a Bill for the reform of the Irish Church and the reduction of ecclesiastical taxation, was successful in totally defeating the agitation for the repeal of the Union. He warmly advocated the abolition of slavery, and passed the Act for this purpose in 1833; but in the following year a difference of opinion with his party as to the diversion of the surplus revenue of the Irish Church led him to join the Tories. In 1841 he became Colonial Secretary under Sir Robert Peel, but resigned on Peel's motion for repeal of the corn laws. In 1851 and 1858 he formed ministries which held office only for a short period; and again in 1860, when his administration signalized itself by the reform of the government in India, the conduct of the Abyssinian War, and the passing of a Bill for electoral reform (1867). Early in 1868, owing to failing health, he resigned office, recommending Disraeli as his successor. Lord Derby joined to great ability as a statesman, and brilliant oratorical powers, a high degree of scholarly culture and literary ability. Among other works he published a successful translation of Homer's Iliad in 1864.—Cf. T. E. Kebbel, English Statesmen Since the Peace of 1815: Derby.
Derby, Edward George Villiers Stanley, seventeenth Earl of, British politician, born in April, 1865. He served for some years in the Grenadier Guards, and entered the House of Commons in 1892. In 1895 he became a Lord of the Treasury, in 1900 Financial Secretary to the War Office, and in 1903 Postmaster-General. He succeeded to the earldom in 1908. Lord Derby became quite famous as the originator of the Derby Scheme, when he was Director-General of Recruiting in 1915. Under-Secretary for War in 1916, he succeeded Lloyd George as Secretary when the latter became Premier. In 1918 he was appointed British Ambassador in Paris, but resigned his position in Sept., 1920, and left Paris in Nov., greatly to the regret of the French people, to whom he had proved a staunch friend.