Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/275

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DROUET of which Das geistliche Jahr, nebst einem An- Jiang religioser Gedichte, appeared in 1852. DROUET, Jean Baptiste, a French revolution- ist, born at Sainte-Menehould, in Champagne, Jan. 8, 1763, died in Macon, April 11, 1824. After serving seven years as a common sol- dier, he returned to his native town, where he assisted his father, who was at the head of the post office. In the evening of June 21, 1791, the royal family, on their flight to the frontier, stopped at the town to change horses, when Jean Baptiste identified Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and caused them to be ar- rested. For this the national assembly voted him 30,000 francs, which he is believed to have refused ; and in September, 1792, he was chosen member of the convention by his native depart- ment of Marne. Here he became one of the most violent of the terrorists. He voted for the immediate death of the king, and on July 20, 1793, he proposed a wholesale butchery of the English residents of France. In September he was sent on a mission to the army of the north, fell into the hands of the enemy, and was sent to the fortress of Spielberg, This added to his popularity, and on his return to Paris in December, 1795, he was received with great en- thusiasm, and appointed secretary of the coun- cil of 500. He joined Babeuf 's conspiracy and was imprisoned, but made his escape, and took refuge in Switzerland, and afterward in the Canary islands. Here he aided the inhabitants in repelling the attack of Nelson on Teneriffe in 1797. Being acquitted in the Babeuf trial, he returned to Paris and resumed his old posi- tion. After the advent of Napoleon he sud- denly and completely dropped his republican convictions, became a sub-prefect, and fought in 1814 against the allies. During the hundred days he represented his department in the chamber of deputies, but under the restoration he was expelled from France as one of the regi- cides. He passed the last years of his life at Macon under the fictitious name of Merger, and was only identified after his death. DROUET D'ERLON, Jean Baptiste, count, a French general, born in Rheims, July 29, 1765, died in Paris, Jan. 25, 1844. He entered the army as a private in 1782, was discharged in 1787, reentered it as a volunteer in 1792, be- came aide-de-camp to Gen. Lefevre, was pres- ent at the sieges of Valenciennes, Quesnoy, and Conde, and in 1797 at the investment of Ehrenbreitstein. He was made a general of brigade in 1799, and fought in that year in Switzerland, at Schaffhausen, Zurich, and Constance. He also served at Ulm, Hohenlin- den, and Steyer, and was made general of di- vision in August, 1800. The success of the French arms at Jena was largely due to the skilful manoeuvres by which he defeated the Prussian column under Von Trescot. He further distinguished himself at the siege of Dantzic and the battles of Mohrungen and Friedland, and in 1807 received the title of count d'Erlon and a gift of 25,000 francs. He DROWNING 267 subsequently fought with distinction in the Tyrol and in the Peninsular war. After the first restoration he was given the command of the 16th division of the army, and received other honors ; but in March, 1815, he was ar- rested for complicity in a conspiracy against Louis XVIIL, and thrown into prison. The re- turn of Napoleon from Elba soon gave him his liberty, and he resumed his command. Na- poleon made him a peer of France in June, 1815, and treated him with great favor until the battle of Waterloo. Here his apparent in- action, which he afterward sought to prove was the effect of contradictory orders, caused the emperor to reproach him bitterly. He re- sided at Munich ten years, and established a brewery there. When Charles X. in 1825 granted amnesty to those who had fought for the reestablishment of the empire, he returned to France. After the revolution of July, 1830, he became commander of the 12th military di- vision, and in 1834 he was appointed governor general of the French possessions in Africa. In 1843 he was made a marshal of France. DROUTN DE LHU1S, Edonard, a French di- plomatist, born in Paris, Nov. 19, 1805. He studied law, was successively attached to the embassies at Madrid and the Hague, and in 1840 became head of the commercial bureau in the ministry of foreign affairs. In 1842 he took his seat as an opposition member of the cham- ber of deputies, was dismissed from office, and became one of the most active opponents of Guizot and a prominent orator at the reform banquets. After the revolution of 1848 he was elected to the constituent assembly, and became president of the committee on foreign affairs. He was a leading supporter of Louis Napoleon, who called him into his first minis- try. In June, 1849, he was appointed ambas- sador to England. He adhered to Louis Napo- leon after the coup d'etat of Dec. 2, and under the empire was minister of foreign affairs. In the negotiations preceding the Crimean war, at the conference of Vienna, he endeavored to prevent it, and resigned on account of his fail- ure. In 1856 the emperor sent a message to the senate reflecting upon its inactivity, where- upon Drouyn de Lhuys resigned his seat in the senate, and accepted the presidency of the council of administration of the eastern rail- ways. He again became minister of foreign affairs in 1862, and as such urged the cabinets of Prussia and England to propose a six months' truce between the contending parties in the United States, but without result. On Sept. 15, 1864, he signed the convention with Italy concerning the recall of the French troops from Rome. In 1866 he desired France to intervene between Prussia and Austria, but his views not- prevailing, he resigned Sept. 1. On the down- fall of the empire he went to the island of Jersey. DROWNING. The specific gravity of the hu- man body is very little greater than that of water ; for though the muscles and the bones are heavier (the one being 1*085, the other