D’AULNOY, THE COUNTESS, authoress of charmingly-written “Contes des Fees” (Fairy Tales), and on which her reputation rests (1650-1705).

DAUMIER, HENRI, a French caricaturist of great fertility and playfulness of genius, born at Marseilles; became blind in his old age (1808-1879).

DAUN, KARL, German theologian, born at Cassel, professor at Heidelberg, sought to ground theology on a philosophic basis, and found what he sought in the philosophy of Hegel (1765-1836).

DAUN, LEOPOLD, GRAF VON, an able Austrian general, born at Vienna; distinguished himself by his prudence and valour in the Seven Years’ War, gained a victory over Frederick the Great at Kolin in 1757, and another at Hochkirch in 1758; could prevail little or not at all against Frederick afterwards as soon as Frederick saw through his tactics, which he was not long in doing (1705-1766).

DAUPHIN, a name originally given to the Seigneurs of the province of Dauphine, in allusion to the dolphin which several members of the family wore as a badge, but in 1349 given to the heir-presumptive to the crown of France, when Humbert II., dauphin of Vienne, ceded Dauphine to Philippe of Valois, on condition that the eldest son of the king of France should assume the title, a title which was abolished after the Revolution of 1830.  The word signifies dolphin in French.

DAUPHINE, a SW. province of France, of which the capital was Grenoble; annexed to the French crown under Philippe II. in 1349.

DAURAT, JEAN, French scholar, a member of the Pleiade (q. v.), and who figures as one of the leading spirits in the fraternity (1507-1588).

DAVENANT, SIR WILLIAM, an English playwright, born at Oxford, who succeeded Ben Jonson as poet-laureate, and was for a time manager of Drury Lane; was knighted by Charles I. for his zeal in the Royalist cause; his theatrical enterprise had small success during the Commonwealth, but interest in it revived with the Restoration, at which time “the drama broke loose from the prison of Puritanism to indulge in a shameless license” (1606-1668).

DAVID, FELICIEN, a French composer, born at Vaucluse; author, among other compositions, of the “Desert,” a production which achieved an instant and complete triumph; was in his youth an ardent disciple of St. Simon (1810-1876).

DAVID, GERHARD, a Flemish painter; painted religious subjects, several from the life of Christ (1450-1525).

DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL, 11th century B.C., born in Bethlehem; tended the flocks of his father; slew Goliath with a stone and a sling; was anointed by Samuel, succeeded Saul as king; conquered the Philistines; set up his throne in Jerusalem, and reigned thirty-three years; suffered much from his sons, and was succeeded by Solomon; the book of Psalms was till recently accepted as wholly his by the Church, but that hypothesis no longer stands the test of criticism.