DILKE, CHARLES WENTWORTH (1789-1864).—­Critic and writer on literature, served for many years in the Navy Pay-Office, on retiring from which he devoted himself to literary pursuits.  He had in 1814-16 made a continuation of Dodsley’s Collection of English Plays, and in 1829 he became part proprietor and ed. of The Athenaeum, the influence of which he greatly extended.  In 1846 he resigned the editorship, and assumed that of The Daily News, but contributed to The Athenaeum his famous papers on Pope, Burke, Junius, etc., and shed much new light on his subjects.  His grandson, the present Sir C.W.  Dilke, pub. these writings in 1875 under the title, Papers of a Critic.

DISRAELI, B., (see BEACONSFIELD).

D’ISRAELI, ISAAC (1766-1848).—­Miscellaneous writer, was descended from a Jewish family which had been settled first in Spain, and afterwards at Venice. Ed. at Amsterdam and Leyden, he devoted himself to literature, producing a number of interesting works of considerable value, including Curiosities of Literature, in 3 series (1791-1823), Dissertation on Anecdotes (1793), Calamities of Authors (1812), Amenities of Literature (1841); also works dealing with the lives of James I. and Charles I.D. was latterly blind.  He was the f. of Benjamin D., Earl of Beaconsfield (q.v.).

DIXON, RICHARD WATSON (1833-1900).—­Historian and poet, s. of Dr. James D., a well-known Wesleyan minister and historian of Methodism, ed. at King Edward’s School, Birmingham, and Oxf., took Anglican orders, was Second Master at Carlisle School, Vicar of Hayton and Warkworth, and Canon of Carlisle.  He pub. 7 vols. of poetry, but is best known for his History of the Church of England from the Abolition of Roman Jurisdiction (1877-1900).

DIXON, WILLIAM HEPWORTH (1821-1879).—­Historian and traveller, b. near Manchester, went to London in 1846, and became connected with The Daily News, for which he wrote articles on social and prison reform.  In 1850 he pub. John Howard and the Prison World of Europe, which had a wide circulation, and about the same time he wrote a Life of Peace (1851), in answer to Macaulay’s onslaught.  Lives of Admiral Blake and Lord Bacon followed, which received somewhat severe criticisms at the hands of competent authorities.  D. was ed. of The Athenaeum, 1853-69, and wrote many books of travel, including The Holy Land (1865), New America (1867), and Free Russia (1870).  His later historical works include Her Majesty’s Tower, and The History of Two Queens (Catherine of Arragon and Anne Boleyn).  Though a diligent student of original authorities, and sometimes successful in throwing fresh light on his subjects, D. was not always accurate, and thus laid himself open to criticism; and his book, Spiritual Wives, treating of Mormonism, was so adversely criticised as to lead to an action.  He wrote, however, in a fresh and interesting style.  He was one of the founders of the Palestine Exploration Fund, and was a member of the first School Board for London (1870).  He was called to the Bar in 1854, but never practised.