Mechanical Conjectures upon the Propagation of the Movements of Earthquakes;" "Dissertation upon the Ancient Junction of England with France;" "Upon the Determination of three great epochs by the products of Volcanoes." His life was one of great activity and usefulness, and he died full of years and honour.—E. L.
DESMICHELS, Louis Alexis, Baron, a French general, was born in 1779. he entered the army in his fifteenth year as a volunteer. He attained the rank of lieutenant in 1802, and a daring feat of arms which he performed in 1805, gained him the rank of captain and officer of the legion of honour. He fought with great distinction at Austerlitz and Jena, and at Eylau, where he was dangerously wounded. He was raised to the rank of colonel in 1811, and made general of brigade in 1813. He joined Napoleon on his return from Elba, and fought at Waterloo. After the Restoration he was unemployed until 1821, when he was created major-general. Louis Philippe in 1833 appointed him to a command in Algeria, raised him to the rank of lieutenant-general, and appointed him military governor of Corsica. General Desmichels died in 1845.—J. T.
DESMOND. A branch of the Geraldines, a noble Anglo-Irish family which, settling in Ireland in the time of Henry II., became ultimately "more Irish than the Irish themselves:"—
Maurice Fitz-Thomas, the first earl, to which dignity he was raised in 1329, became one of the most powerful subjects in that country, and took a leading part in the petty wars that distracted the kingdom. In 1338 the Irish barons took different sides; but Desmond adhered, with others of the greater nobles, to the king, and supported his authority. Edward, however, unfortunately adopted the unjust and shortsighted policy of discouraging the now native English aristocracy, by withdrawing from them his confidence, and delegating the government to English officers. The result was to call into existence two opposing and jealous factions—the old English settlers and the new English. A resistance was at once organized, at the head of which was Desmond; and a convention of the prelates, nobles, and commons was assembled at Kilkenny, in opposition to the parliament summoned by the lord-justice to meet in Dublin. The subject of their remonstrance is given by Leland. The barons urged the injustice of the king's dealing, the misgovernment of those who, without knowledge, experience, or love of Ireland, devoted themselves to repairing their own fortunes by plundering the country. The king sent over Lifford, a man of vigour and talent, who summoned Desmond to attend the parliament in Dublin. Desmond in reply convened a parliament of his own. Lifford interdicted the attendance of the nobles, marched into Munster, and seized the territories of Desmond, whom he compelled to submit. On the death of Lifford in 1346 Desmond went over to England to plead the grievances of his party before the king. He made a favourable impression, was retained in the king's service, whom he attended to France, where he took part in the siege of Calais; and in 1352 his estates, and those of the other barons which had been forfeited, were restored. So highly was he esteemed, that when the rebellion broke out in Ulster, the government of the country was committed to him. Unfortunately he did not live to fulfil the expectations raised by the vigorous commencement of his administration, as he died at Dublin in 1356, leaving the reputation of being "so just a man that he spared not his own relations when they were criminal."
Thomas, the sixth earl, succeeded to the earldom in 1399, when still a boy, and was exposed to the plots of his uncle James, a crafty, ambitious, and unscrupulous man. A romantic incident soon gave the uncle the means of accomplishing his nephew's downfall. While hunting, Thomas took shelter in the house of a dependent named M'Cormick, with whose lovely daughter, Katherine, the young lord fell violently in love. The occasion, if not concerted, was at all events improved by James, and the result was the marriage of lord and vassal. The indignation of relatives and followers was insidiously fomented by James, so that at length the earl had to fly. Again and again he returned to his own territories, but his uncle openly opposed him, and he was at last obliged formally to surrender his title and territories, and retiring to Rouen, died there in 1420.
James, the seventh earl, having thus succeeded, obtained a parliamentary confirmation of his title, and became powerful and popular. He gained the favour of the English sovereigns by his activity and success in quelling disturbances, and was specially favoured by Ormonde. He obtained great wealth and territorial possessions, living in regal splendour and exercising almost kingly power. He died at Youghal in 1462.
Thomas, the eighth earl, was son of the preceding, whom he resembled much in character. When the Ormonde family levied war against the deputy. Sir Rowland Fitz-Eustace, Thomas raised twenty thousand men, and ultimately defeated the insurgents, for which service he was appointed deputy. His administration was oppressive, and his insolence raised up many enemies. Having gone to England, he was favourably received by King Edward; but it is said that he gave mortal offence to Lady Elizabeth Grey, by speaking sneeringly of her as "a taylor's wife." When she became queen, she resolved on revenge, and it is said enlisted the earl of Worcester, when sent as deputy to Ireland, to gratify her resentment. Certain it is Worcester's conduct gave Desmond deep offence, and drove him to rash and outrageous acts, which gave some countenance to the rumour that he aimed at independent sovereignty. Desmond was attainted by act of parliament in 1487, whereupon he repaired to the deputy to justify himself, when he was seized and beheaded.
Maurice, tenth earl, was son of the preceding, and succeeded his brother in 1487. He was a brave man, and a successful warrior, acquiring the cognomen of Bellicosus, though obliged from lameness to be carried in a fitter. In 1497 he joined Warbeck and besieged Waterford. Ultimately he submitted to the king, who not only forgave the offence, but granted him privileges and emoluments. He died at Tralee in 1520.
Gerald, sixteenth earl, succeeded in establishing his claim against Thomas, his elder brother, and from his elevation exhibited extravagant ambition, a defiance of England, and a traitorous intercourse with foreign states, that procured him to be noted as "ingens rebellibus exemplar." His first feud was with Ormonde, by whom he was defeated and taken prisoner on 15th February, 1567. Wounded and borne from the field upon a litter, his enemies exclaimed—"Where is now the great earl of Desmond?" "Where," he replied, "but in his proper place—still upon the necks of the Butlers!" Both earls were summoned to London, and forced to enter into recognizances for their future conduct. Commissioners were appointed in Ireland to settle their differences. A part of the award was, that the earls should shake hands. In the chapter-house of St. Patrick's, Dublin, two centuries after, an aperture was shown in an oak door, through which the ceremony was performed, each fearing to be poniarded by the other. To trace the progress of Desmond's outrages and rebellion, would be to write the history of the time in Ireland. He joined his kinsman, James Fitzmaurice, in the great rebellion, which had for its object the subjugation of England by Spain. Finally, after the end of ten years, his adherents were all cut off, his castles reduced, his territories wasted, and himself and a few followers hunted, "like a sort of deer," through the mountains and bogs. He took shelter at last in the mountains of Kerry, with his countess, the companion of all his vicissitudes. The few who remained faithful to him were forced to subsist by seizing on cattle. On one of those occasions they were pursued by the owners, who tracked them to their fastness. All escaped save one, an old man, who lay stretched before the fire. One of the soldiers struck him, when he cried out—"I am the earl of Desmond; save my life." The soldiers carried him for a while, but his followers drawing nigh, they feared they might lose the reward offered by the government; so one Daniel O'Kelly smote off his head, which was brought to Ormonde, sent by him to the queen, and impaled on London bridge. His estates were divided amongst the English "undertakers." With him may be said to have fallen the great house of Desmond. The son of his brother James—known as the "Sugaun" earl—assumed indeed, as was his right, the title; but the queen refused to acknowledge him, or restore the possessions. This drove him into rebellion. After a life full of romantic adventure and suffering, he was captured, and conveyed a prisoner to Cork, whence, on the 14th August, 1601, he was transmitted to the tower of London, where he remained until his death in 1608. Meantime James, the son of Gerald, was recognized by the queen, but being a protestant, the Irish would not acknowledge him; and returning to England, he died, as it is said, by poison.
To one other member of this illustrious family we shall devote a few lines, and thus close the record. John, the brother of
