Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/702

698 DASENT DASENT, George Webbe, an English author, born about 1818. He was educated at King's college, London, and Magdalen hall, Oxford, where he graduated in 1840. He was called to the bar in 1852, but has devoted himself mainly to the study of Scandinavian literature, residing for some time in northern Europe. For several years he was one of the staff of the London "Times," and he has been fre- quently employed as an examiner in the English and modern languages in connection with the civil service appointments. In 1870 he was ap- pointed civil service commissioner, and in 1871 succeeded Mr. Froude as editor of " Eraser's Magazine." He has published " The Prose or Younger Edda of Snorro Sturleson," translated from the Norse (1842); "Theophilus Euty- chianus, from the original Greek, in Icelandic, Low German, and other Languages " (1845) ; "The Norsemen in Ireland" (1855); "Popu- lar Tales from the Norse " (1858) ; " The Story of Burnt Njal " (1861) ; " Selection of Norse Tales, for Children" (1862); Annals of an Eventful Life," a novel (1871) ; and " Lady Sweetapple, or Three to One" (1872). He has also contributed papers to periodicals upon subjects relating to Norse literature and his- tory, .including one on "Ancient Iceland" in the "Oxford Essays." A collection of his essays was published in 1873, under the title of "Jest and Earnest." DASH, Countess, the pseudonyme of a French authoress, born in Paris about 1805, died there, Sept. 9, 1872. She was a daughter of M. de Courteras, and married the marquis de St. Mars. Eeverses of fortune made her seek a literary career ; and on her remarking that she wished to write under an assumed name, that of her favorite dog " Dash " was suggested, which she adopted. Her first work, Le jeu de la reine, was published in 1839. Prominent among her works are La lelle aux yeux cPor (1860), Les galanteries de la cour de Louis XV* and La sorciere du roi (1861), Lenaindu diable (1862), Les dernieres amours de Mme. Dubarry (1864), and La league empoisonnee (1866). A collection of her works was pub- lished in 1864, in 34 volumes. DASHKOFF, Tekaterina Romanovna, a Russian princess, born in 1744, died near Moscow, Jan. 4, 1810. She was the third daughter of Count Roman Vorontzoff, received a literary educa- tion at the house of her uncle the grand chan- cellor, and early exhibited an independent and energetic spirit. When hardly past childhood she was introduced into the court, and became attached to the person of the future empress Catharine II. In her 16th year she married Prince Dashkoff, with whom she lived for some time in Moscow, and then returned to the court, where her sister Elizabethhad become the favor- ite of the new emperor, Peter III. Jealous lest her sister should ascend the throne, and dis- gusted with the despotism and disorders of the court, she became at the age of 18 the soul of a conspiracy which deprived Peter of his throne DASYURE and life, and made his German wife the auto- crat of Russia. The means she employed to strengthen this conspiracy were often question- able ; and at the execution, dressed in male costume and mounted on horseback, she com- manded a body of soldiers. But the scanty rewards the empress bestowed upon her by no means answered the expectations of the prin- cess ; her request to be appointed colonel of the imperial guard was refused, and her inde- pendence of character and bluntness of man- ners soon deprived her of the imperial friend- ship. Retired from court, she devoted herself to study and the society of scholars ; and after the death of her husband she travelled through the west of Europe. On her return to St. Peters- burg in 1782, she met with a more favorable disposition on the part of the empress, who appointed her to the presidency of the acad- emy of sciences, and in 1784 to that of the new Russian academy. She .took an active part in the elaboration of the great Russian dictionary, which was completed according to her plan. She also wrote plays and contribu- tions in prose and verse for periodicals, and edited a monthly magazine. After the death of Catharine (1796), she was commanded by Paul to retire to a poor village in the govern- ment of Novgorod, " where she could meditate on the events of 1762." The intercession of her friends finally released her from this exile, and she spent the last years of her life on an estate near Moscow. The "Memoirs of the Princess Daschkaw, Lady of Honor to Catha- rine II., edited from the Originals by Mrs. Bradford" (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1840), were written from a manuscript of the princess which has been destroyed. DASYURE (dasyurus, Geoff.), a genus of Aus- tralian marsupials, including the common da- syure and the Tasmanian or native devil. The latter (D. ursinus), called also ursine opossum, fairly earns its title from its great ferocity, even Common Dasyure (Dasyurus viverrinus). when well treated in captivity. Its fierceness makes it more than a match for the most power- ful dog. Its general color is black, with a con- spicuous white band across the breast, and her