nique, by Lacordaire (Paris, 3d ed. 1844), and Saint Dominique et les Dominicains, by Elme Marie Caro (Paris, 1853).

DOMINICA, a British West India island, one of the Lesser Antilles, Leeward group, 29 m. S. of Guadeloupe, in lat. 15° 18' N. and long. 61° 32′ W.; length from N. to S. 29 m.; breadth 16 m.; area, 291 sq. m.; pop. 22,469 (according to the "American Almanac" for 1859), of whom only a small number are whites, the majority being emancipated slaves. It is of volcanic origin, and when viewed from the sea presents the appearance of a confused mass of mountains. The highest summit has an elevation of 5,300 feet. Dominica is well watered, having upward of 30 rivers and numerous rivulets. It has also sulphurous and thermal springs, and a deep lake on a high mountain 6 m. from Roseau. Interspersed among its mountains are many fertile valleys, with a black and rich soil well adapted for raising every tropical production. In 1850 the imports were valued at £57,656, and the exports at £58,265. The principal exports in 1853 were 65,788 cwt. of sugar, 35,794 gallons of rum, 81,016 of molasses, 67,594 lbs. of coffee, 69,296 of cacao, 3,525 of arrow root, 3,250 of cotton wool, 5,062 gallons of lime juice, and 1,354,020 oranges. The revenue amounted to £7,336 in 1855, and to £12,918 in 1856. The expenditures in the year ending Dec. 1, 1855, were £9,245, and in that ending Dec. 31, 1856, £10,487 (comprising £800 for educational purposes). There are about 10 free schools, but the bulk of the population being Roman Catholics, education is chiefly controlled by the clergy of that persuasion. The property annually created on the island has been estimated at £250,000, and the aggregate movable property at £1,500,000. The woods of Dominica swarm with bees, which produce great quantities of wax and honey. This is the European bee, much larger than the native bee of the West Indies, and must have been transported thither.-Dominica was discovered by Columbus in 1493; and being equally claimed by England, France, and Spain, it was considered a neutral island by those 3 powers till 1759, when it was captured by the English; and it was ceded to England by France in 1763. It was recaptured by the French in 1778, and again restored to England in 1783. Its government is administered by a lieutenantgovernor, a council of 12 members appointed by the crown, and an assembly of 19 representatives chosen by the people. Capital, Roseau, on the S. W. side of the island; pop. about 4,000. DOMINICAL LETTER, the letter denoting Sunday for a given year. The council of Nice, A. D. 325, established the rule that Easter Sunday should be the first Sunday after the full moon which happens upon or next after March 21. For the purpose of determining when Easter falls, and for other similar problems concerning the day of the week and the day of the year, it was early found convenient to place the first 7 letters of the alphabet in succession against the days of the months, putting A to Jan. 1, and

repeating the 7 letters as often as necessary until Dec. 31. The letter which falls against the first Sunday in January will fall against every Sunday in the year, and this is the dominical letter for that year, unless it be leap year; and then, as Feb. 29 as well as March 1 is marked D, the dominical letter for the last 10 months of the year will be the preceding letter of the alphabet. To find the dominical letter will manifestly enable you to find what day of the week a given date in the year is. But the dominical letter, being known for any one year, can be found for any other, by simply remembering that an ordinary year is 52 weeks and one day, a leap year 52 weeks and 2 days, so that the dominical letter will go backward from G toward A, one letter for a common year and 2 for a leap year. This gives rise to an arithmetical rule for finding the dominical letter, which may be thus expressed: To the number of the year add of itself, neglecting fractions, and divide the sum by 7; then for the 19th century subtract the remainder from 8, or, if it is 0, from 1, and the new remainder will indicate the place of the dominical letter in the alphabet; for the 18th century subtract from 7; for the 17th century and back to 1582 subtract from 6, or if the remainder is more than 6, from 13; for dates previous to 1582 subtract from 3 or 10. (But it must be remembered that the dominical letter thus obtained for a leap year belongs to the time after Feb. 29, and that for the preceding 2 months the dominical letter was the succeeding letter in the alphabet.) This new remainder is also the date of the first Sunday in January for that year. The same date in February will fall on Wednesday; in March, on Wednesday; in April, on Saturday, &c.; as may easily be seen from the fact that the first days of the 12 months have annexed to them in the calendar the initials of the words: At Dover Dwell George Brown, Esquire, Good Christopher Finch, And David Friar. For example, the day of the week on which New York was incorporated, June 12, 1665, is thus found: (1665+416)+7=297, with a remainder of 2; and, it being the 17th century, 6-2-4, which shows the dominical letter for that year to have been D. Then, as June begins with E, it is plain that June 1, 1665, was Monday, and the 12th was Friday.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, the eastern portion of the island of Hayti, comprising nearly of the island. Its name is derived from the ancient Spanish appellation of the island, San Domingo. Its area is estimated at 17,500 sq. m. Its population is about 136,000, of whom onetenth claim to be whites; the rest are of African descent, or of mixed African and European. The boundary betwee it and the Haytian republic is an irregular line drawn from the mouth of the river Massacre on the north coast of the island to the river Anses-à-Pitre or Pedernales on the south coast. The interior of the republic consists of mountain ranges, rising to an elevation of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, and covered with magnificent tropical forests. From the

base of these mountains large plains, watered by numerous streams, stretch toward the coast. Of these plains the Vega Real (Royal plain), and those of the Jayua, the Azua, and the Neybo, are the most densely populated. Among the rivers, most of which bear the character of mountain torrents, the Great Yaqui, emptying into the bay of Monte Christo, the Yuma, whose embouchure is in the bay of Samana, the Higuey, the Gaboon, Soco, Socaris, Brujuelas, Ozoma, Jayna, Nisao, Bani, and Neybo deserve to be mentioned. The harbor of San Domingo city is one of the best; next to it the bay of Samana offers an excellent roadstead. Of the lesser islands on the coast belonging to the republic, Beata and Saona are the most considerable. The climate, though tropical, is less unwholesome than elsewhere in the West Indies. The soil is exceedingly fertile, but the industry of the inhabitants is not equal to the immense resources of the country. Gold, silver, and iron abound in the mountains, but no mines are worked. Cattle-raising in the level country, and ebony-cutting in the mountainous regions, are the principal occupations of the people, agriculture being mainly confined to the raising of the manioc root, which is used as a substitute for grain. Politically the republic is divided into 5 provinces, viz.: Azua de Compostella, San Domingo, Santa Cruz del Seybo, Concepcion de la Vega, Santiago de los Caballeros. These are also the names of the provincial capitals, of which Santiago de los Caballeros is, next to the city of San Domingo, the most important. The inhabitants are Roman Catholics; an archbishop resides at the city of San Domingo. The army is nominally about 20,000 strong. The navy consists of 2 corvettes, 1 brigantine, and 4 schooners. The seal of state represents a cross, supporting an open Bible, surrounded by arms and the motto: Dios, Patria, y Libertad. The language of the people is Spanish. The constitution, like that of most Spanish American republics, is modelled after that of the United States. It provides for a president, to be elected for the term of 4 years, a senate of 5, and a house of representatives of 15 members. The municipalities into which the provinces are subdivided are organized on the basis of self-government. The conditions upon which foreigners may be naturalized are very liberal, and no distinction is drawn in favor of colored persons. Free farms, farming utensils, and provisions for 6 months are offered to settlers. The commerce of the country is as yet limited, owing partly to the deranged state of the circulation and exchanges. The exports from this republic into the United States during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1858, amounted to $109,370, and the imports from the United States to $112,427. The coins are gourdes (piastres, dollars), half gourdes, gourdins (quarters), escalins (eighths), and half escalins (sixteenths). The present Dominican republic was a Spanish colony until 1795, when, by the treaty of Basel, the

whole island was united under French rule. When, after terrible struggles, the colored population of the island had become independent of France, the tyranny of Dessalines drove the Dominicans back into the arms of Spain, which thus regained possession of its former colony in 1808. The next year the Dominicans declared their independence, abolished slavery, and remained in an unsettled state until 1822, when the whole island was united under a republican form of government, and Boyer, the president of Hayti, was chosen president for life. But in 1844, the negroes of Hayti having succeeded in elevating Gen. Rivière to the presidency, the Dominicans, encouraged by the friendly assurances of the French consul-general Moges, again formed a separate government (Feb. 27), under the auspices of the "liberator" Pedro Santana, who defeated Rivière near Santiago (April 9), thus securing the independence of his country. Recognized by France, a treaty of friendship and commerce with which power was concluded, Oct. 22, 1848, and by Great Britain (treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation concluded in May, 1850), the Dominican republic upheld her independence successfully against repeated efforts of Soulouque, the ruler of Hayti. The presidential term of Santana having ended in 1849, Jimenes was elected his successor. Though of Caucasian blood, the latter secretly conspired with Soulouque, who invaded the territory of the republic at the head of 20,000 men, and defeated the Dominicans in some skirmishes near Azua and Las Matas. In this extremity Santana was recalled by the people. He dispersed the Haytian army, April 22, near Savanna Numero, so completely that the war for the time being was at an end. Jimenes sought a refuge with Soulouque, who made him one of his dukes, while Santana resigned his dictatorship in favor of the newly elected constitutional president, Buenaventura Baez. In 1850 Soulouque once more invaded the country unsuccessfully. Baez, having during the latter part of his administration favored the policy of the clerical party, was rejected by the people in 1853, and Santana reelected president. He compelled the archbishop to swear allegiance to the constitution, and endeavored to free himself from French influence. His sympathies with the United States induced him to enter into negotiations with a secret diplomatic agent of President Pierce, Gen. Cazneau, and to negotiate with him a treaty (Oct. 5, 1854), the secret stipulations of which provided, it is believed, for the cession to the United States of the bay of Samana. But this treaty was never ratified, nor has the Dominican republic ever been recognized by the United States. It is probable that the failure of Santana to obtain this recognition facilitated the efforts of the French and British agents to render him unpopular and once more elevate Baez, now the recognized leader of the clerical party, to the presidency (Feb. 1857). But his triumph was short-lived. Dissatisfac

tion with his rule spread so rapidly that Santana was enabled to head a revolutionary movement (Sept. 1857), which eventually led to the expulsion of Baez (1858), and the restoration of the liberal rule. In consequence of the downfall of Soulouque in Hayti (Jan. 1859), Santana offered his hearty congratulations to President Geffrard, and it was generally expected that a close alliance would again be established between the two republics.

DOMINICANS (preaching friars, fratres prædicatores), a monastic order of the Roman Catholic church, founded in 1215 by Dominic de Guzman, on the rule of St. Augustine and a part of the statutes of the Premonstratenses. Its main object was to labor by preaching for the advancement of the Catholic church and the extermination of heresies, especially of that of the Albigenses. The order received the papal ratification in 1216. At its first general chapter in Bologna in 1220, it renounced the possession of all property, and decreed that none of its convents should receive lay brothers. The constitution which it adopted is strictly monarchical, like that of all the other mendicant orders. The convent is governed by a prior; a combination of several convents, called a province, by a provincial; the whole order by a general, the last to be elected by the general chapter, which is to meet once every year. The extension of the order was very rapid. At the 2d chapter in 1221, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Hungary, and England were represented. In 1278 the number of convents amounted to 417. The influence and the reputation of the order increased greatly, when in 1233 the pope placed them at the head of the inquisition, which, in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, became gradually their exclusive domain. Though endowed in 1272 with all the privileges of the mendicant orders, they acquired in 1425 the right of receiving donations, and many of their convents became very rich. A new period in the history of the order commences with the establishment of a Dominican professorship of theology at Paris in 1228, which in 1230 was followed by a second. As the Franciscans soon succeeded in securing theo⚫logical chairs for their order also, that grand theological emulation sprang up between these 2 orders, the history of which is almost equivalent to that of theological literature in general during the latter part of the middle ages, and in which the Dominicans distinguished themselves as Nominalists, Augustinians, Thomists, and opponents of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. Their missionary activity commenced as early as the 13th century in Asia, and, especially in Armenia, many schismatics were converted by them to the Catholic church. In America they protected the natives from being enslaved, and here as well as in the East Indies they exceeded all other orders in power, number, and wealth. They had a controlling influence over the literature of the Catholic church through their prescriptive possession of the office of master of the sacred palace at Rome,

and the supreme censorship of books, which is connected with that office. But great losses were inflicted on them by the reformation. In the countries where Protestantism became predominant they lost more than 400 convents, and at many Catholic courts and universities their influence was supplanted by that of the Jesuits. But they still counted in the 18th century more than 1,000 convents of monks and nuns in 45 provinces, 11 of which were out of Europe. By the French revolution they lost all their convents in France and Belgium, nearly all in Germany, and many in Italy. They have since also been suppressed in Spain, Portugal, and Sardinia, but maintained their ground in Sicily, and to a great extent in Hungary and Switzerland. In France they reappeared during the reign of Louis Philippe. The order early relaxed the strictness of its ancient rule. Several attempts to restore it were made in the 15th and 16th centuries, but with only partial and transitory results. On the other hand, there was never a permanent schism in the Dominican order as in that of the Franciscans. When Pius IX. declared the reformation of the religious orders to be one of the principal cares of his pontificate, the Dominicans were among the first with regard to whom the purpose of the pope was put in execution. The efforts of the pope were effectively seconded by the small number of convents which Father Lacordaire, by far the most distinguished member of the order in the present century, had founded in France. The pope suspended temporarily the right of the general chapter to elect a general, and appointed one of the French disciples of Lacordaire, Father Jeandel, vicargeneral of the order. Since then the reformation has been carried through in many convents, in some cases not without a violent opposition. In Austria it was commenced in 1857, with the coöperation of the bishops and the government, in the convent of Vienna. The order has also made preparations to enlarge its missionary territory in Asia Minor. There are at present convents in Italy, Austria, France, Belgium, Holland, Ireland, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Asia Minor, India, China, North and South America. In South America the order is on the decline, but it makes progress in North America, and, though slowly, in France. It has given to the church a large number of bishops and archbishops, 66 cardinals, and 4 popes, Innocent V., Benedict XI., Pius V., and Benedict XIII. Among its most illustrious members were Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Master Eckard, John Tauler, Henry Suso, Savonarola, Las Casas, Vincent Ferrier, Vincent of Beauvais, and, at the present day, Lacordaire. The habit of the order consists of a white gown, scapular and calotte, and black cloak and pointed hood.-An order of Dominican nuns was established by St. Dominic, in 1206, at Prouille, near Toulouse. The first members were mostly converts from the Albigenses. This order counted at the time of its greatest prosperity about 400 convents in Europe and America, and abandoned the strictness

diers. At the beginning of his reign he concealed his vices, and even displayed some firmness in the regular management of affairs; but this was of short duration. An outbreak in Germany brought his bloodthirsty disposition into full activity, and from that time the victims of his fear or wounded vanity were numberless. In his wars he was personally unsuccessful against the Chatti and other German tribes, as well as against the Dacians, whose king Decebalus compelled him to purchase peace on humiliating terms. These reverses, however, did not prevent him from triumphing and decorating himself with the names of Germanicus and Dacicus. Government officials, says a historian, were busy in keeping the people of Rome from laughing on such occasions. Games were employed to amuse them. Agricola, the heroic commander in Britain, was recalled because of his victories, and the jealousy of his fame probably caused his subsequent death. War having been terminated by an ignominious peace with Decebalus in 89, Domitian satiated his thirst for blood at home, until, as Tacitus says, silent fear reigned at Rome. This historian, the son-in-law of Agricola, has branded the memory of Domitian in eloquent terms. After many conspiracies which were discovered, one succeeded in ending the reign and life of the tyrant.

DOMRÉMY, or DOMREMY LA PUCELLE, & French village, in the department of Vosges, 7. m. from Neufchâteau, on the Meuse, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. The cottage in which she was born has been repaired at the expense of the government and a free school for girls established in it. A chapel has also been dedicated to her and a monument raised in her honor, to which Louis Philippe contributed a cast of the statue of the maid of Orleans executed by his daughter, Princess Marie.

DON, a title of honor, chiefly used among the Spaniards. The corresponding title among the Portuguese is dom, the right to which is considered as an especial privilege which no one can assume without the consent of the sovereign. Dom is also sometimes employed in France as a clerical title. The word is derived from the Latin word dominus, lord or master. The old English form of the word is dan, frequently occurring in Chaucer.

DON. I. A river of Russia, the Tanais of the ancients, and the Tuna, Doona, or Dana of the Tartars. It is one of the largest rivers of Europe. It rises in a small lake in the government of Toola, flows S. E. and S. W., passes Voronezh, Pavlovsk, Novo Tcherkask, Tcherkask, Nakhitchevan, Rostov, and Azof, and, having separated into 3 branches, enters the sea of Azof through channels so shallow that only flat-bottomed boats can pass through them. Its length in a direct line is 468 m., but including windings it is 995 m. In the summer, navigation on the Don is difficult, but in winter the water is high enough for vessels of great size. The course of the river lies through a low country, covered

with vast forests of oak and pine. The current is sluggish, and sand banks, over which there are often only 2 feet of water, are of frequent occurrence. The principal tributaries of the Don are the Sosna and the Donetz on the right, and the Voronezh (or Voronetz), the Khoper, the Medvieditza, the Sal, and the Manitch on the left. II. A river of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, next to the Dee in size, but of little commercial impor-. tance. It rises on the declivity of Ben Aven, flows S. E. 62 m., and enters the German ocean near the town of Aberdeen. It is navigable for a very short distance from the sea. Near its mouth stands the celebrated one-arched Gothic bridge of Balgounie, mentioned by Byron in one of his early poems. A handsome new bridge of 5 arches has been built a little below the old structure. The salmon fisheries of the Don were lately rented for £2,000 per annum. III. A river of Yorkshire, England, 55 m. long, rising near the borders of Cheshire, and flowing into the Ouse. It is navigable from Sheffield, 40 m., and communicates by canal with the Trent and the Calder.

DON JUAN, a mythical personage, a type of licentiousness and dissipation, accomplished and wicked, represented with all the graces which win woman's heart, and at the same time with all the snares which beguile woman's virtue. According to tradition, the patrician family Tenorio of Seville was the first to produce a Don Juan of sufficiently remarkable character to become the representative man of the order. His life is placed by some legends in the 14th century under the reign of Pedro the Cruel, and by others in the 16th century in the era of Charles V. He is represented to have been in the act of abducting a daughter of the governor of Seville when caught by her father; a duel ensued, in which the governor was the victim. A statue having been erected to the deceased in the family vault in the convent of San Francisco, Don Juan enters the vault, and invites the statue to join him in his revels. The stony guest appears at the banquet to the great amazement of Don Juan, and terminates the festivity by consigning his godless entertainer to the infernal regions. The story was first dramatized at the beginning of the 17th century by the Spanish poet Gabriel Tellez, commonly called Tirso de Molina, under the title of El burlador de Sevilla, ó el convivado de piedra. This drama was soon after its publication adapted for the Italian stage, and thence found its way to Paris, where it became the basis of several French adaptations, of which Molière's Don Juan, ou le festin de pierre, and Thomas Corneille's production, modelled after Molière's play, are the most celebrated. In England a play written by Shadwell, called "The Libertine," and treating the same subject, was performed in 1676. The subject was not produced on the Spanish stage in its present form till about 1675, when it was rewritten by Antonio de Zamora. This version of Zamora furnished the groundwork of the modern treatment of the