DAGUESSEAU
603
DAHOMEY
name. At any rate, all scholars agree that the name
and worship of Dagon were imported from Babylonia.
The Tell-el-Amarna letters (about 14S0-1450 B. c), which have yielded the names of Yamir-Dagan and Dagan-takala, rulers of Ascalon, witness to the an- tiquity of the Dagon-worship among the inhabitants of Palestine. We learn from the Bible that the deity had temples at Gaza (Judges, xvi, 21, 2.3) and Azotus (I K., V, 1-7); we may presume that shrines existed likewise in other Philistine cities. The Dagon-wor- ship seems even to have extended beyond the confines of their confederacy. The testimony of the monu- ments is positive for the Phoenician city of Arvad; moreover, the Book of Josue mentions two towns called Bethdagon, one in the territory of Juda (Jos., XV, 41), and the other on the border of Aser (Jos., xix, 27) ; Josephus also speaks of a Dagon " beyond Jeri- cho" (Antiq. Jud., XIII, viii, 1; De bell. Jud., I, ii, 3): all these names are earlier than the Israelite con- quest, and, unless we derive them from diigCm, witness to a wide dissemination of the worship of Dagon throughout Palestine. This worship was kept up, at lea-st in certain Philistine cities, until the last centuries B, c. Such was the case at Azotus; the temple of Da- gon that stood there was burned by Jonathan Macha- beus (IMach., x, 84; xi, 4).
Unlike the Baals, who, among the Chanaanites, were essentially local deities, Dagon seems to have been considered by the Philistines as a national goii (I Par., X, 10). To him they attributed their success in war; him they thanketl by great sacrifices, before him they rejoiced over the capture of Samson (Judges, xvi, 23); into his temple they brought the trophies of their vic- tories, the Ark (I K., V, 1, 2), the armour, and the head of Saul (I K., xxxi, 9, 10; I Par., x, 10). A bronze demi-rilievoof AssjTO-Phoenician workmanship would also suggest that D;vgon played a prominent part in the doctrines concerning death and future life. As to the ritual of his worship, little can be gathered either from the documents or from Scripture. The elal)orate arrangements for returning the Ark (I K., v, vi) may have been inspired more by the circimistances than by any ceremonies of the Dagon-worship. We only know from ancient writers that, for religious reasons, most of the Syrian peoples abstained from eating fish, a practice that one is naturally inclined to cormect with the worship of a fish-god.
MooBE, Judges in Inlrrnntiojial Crit. Comment. (EdinbufKh and New York, 1895); Smith, Hisl. Geog. of the Holy Land (6th ei!.. London, 1899): Sayce, historical Criticism, and the Monu- mrnl.i (London, 1894); Seldex, De diis .Syris (London, 1667); Lagrange, EtudeJi sur les rrliffions srmitiques (Paris, 1903); Lajard. Recherches sur le cultc de Vimus (Paris, 1837-1847); Babelon, Catalogue de.t monnaics de la Bibliothcgue nationale; Les .Ichcmrnides (Paris, 1893). CHARLES L. SOUVAY.
Dagfuesseau (or d'Aguesseau), HENRi-FRANfois, chancellor of France, b. at Limoges, 27 November, 1668; d. at Paris, .5 February, 1751. He belonged to a distinguished family which had produced many able magistrates, and was educated by his father, who was intendant of Languedoc and afterwards a coimcillor of state. Ha\'ing been appointed advocate-general of the Parlement of Paris at the age of twenty-two, Da- guesseau performed the duties of his office in the most satisfactory manner for ten years, his speeches being models of elegant diction and clear reasoning. In 1700 he was promoted to the office of attorney-general. In this position he re-established order in the courts, reformed the management of the hospitals, prevented and corrected abuses. In 1709 war, famine, and pul>- lic distress gave him an opportunity to display all his energy, judgment and goodness of heart. He was con- sulted on the most difficult points of administration and drew up many memorials for the king. Towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV, however, he was threatened with disgrace for refusing to register the Bull "T'nigenitus", of which, as he was a strong Gal- ilean, he was a pronounced opponent.
In 1717 the regent, the Due d'0rl6ans, appointed
Daguesseau chancellor, but before a year had elapsed,
the seals were taken from him because he opposed the
projects of the notorious John Law. In 1720, after
the failure of Law's schemes, he was recalled to his
former office. He repaired the mischief done during
his retirement and by his firmness and sagacity pre-
vented total bankruptcy. With a view to concilia-
tion he finally consented to the registration of the
Bull " Unigenitus ". He was again disgraced in 1722,
through the influence of Cardinal Dubois, and retired
to his estate at Fresnes, where he passed five years.
Here the Scriptures, which he reail and compared in
various languages, and the juris|3rudence of his own
and other countries w'ere the jirineipal objects of his
study; the rest of his time he devoted to philosophy,
literature, and gardening. Daguesseau was recalled
to office in 1727. Chancellor now for the third tune,
he revived public respect for law, introduced several
important enactments regarding donations, testa-
ments, and succession, and effected n greater imiform-
ity in the execution of the laws (hl(Ml^ll(lllt the several
provinces. In 1750 he resigneil his iiusitmn, the king
l)estowing upon him a pension of 1U0,UU0 francs, which
he enjoyed until his death.
During his long career Daguesseau was a man of spotless honesty and absolute devotion to the public interest. He was an upright magistrate, a fine orator and jurist, and a remarkable linguist. He used his ex- tensive knowledge and intellectual acquirements in the cause of religion and morals. Saint-Simon speaks of him thus: " Talent, industry, penetration, universal knowledge, dignity, purity, eciuity, piety and inno- cence of life are the foundation of M. d'Aguesseau's character." The greater part of Daguesseau's writ- ings and letters were edited by Pardessus, "(Euvrcs completes" (Paris, 1818-1820), 16 vols. 8vo; other letters were edited by M. Rives, "Lcttres in6d!tes" (Paris, 1823).
BouLLEE, liistoirc dr la vie et des wuvres du cJtancelier d' Agues- seau (Paris, 1835); Monnier, Lc chancelier d'Aguesseau, sa conduite et scs iddes politiqucs (Paris, 1S60).
Jean Le Bars.
Dahomey,VicARiATE Apostolic of, in West Africa, is territorially identical with the French colony of the same name. This colony has a coastline of about 75 miles on the Slave Coast of the Gulf of Guinea, whence it stretches northwards to the French Sudan; it is bounded on the east by the British territory of Lagos and the River Ocpara, and on the west by the Gennan territory of Togo and the River Mono. Its area is es- timateil at about 59,000 square miles, and its total population in 1902 was probably a little less than half a million. The chief exports of the colony are i)alm kernels and palm-oil. Its indigenous population is of the pure Negro stock, chiefly of the Fon subdivision of the Ewe family. About the year 1728 the territory now know^l as Dahomey was subject to three native dynasties, one of which at that date conquered the other two and set up its own despotism under the present territorial designation. This despotism, tem- pered only by the fear inspired by Fetishism (q. v.), of which Dahomey was said to be the last extant stronghold at the end of the nineteenth century, ended with the capture and exile of King Behanzim by a French military expedition in 1892.
Tlie Faith was first preached in Dahomey in the year 1660, when certain French residents introduced Franciscan missionaries. Against this Catholic enter- prise the English adventurers successfully combined with native priests of Feti.shism. In 1674 Father CJonsalvez, a Dominican, with two companions, was poisoned; an Augustinian, who visite<l the coast in 1699, escaped tleath by flight. No further attempt to plant the Faith in Dahomey is recorded until 1S60, when Fathers Borghero and Fernandez, of the then newly founded Lyons Society of jVfrican Missions, ar-
