DANUBE
spoke, keen and eloquent. He was devoted to music and painting. Boccaccio calls him "that singular splendor of the Italian race"; Carlyle: "the voice of ten silent centuries." See translations by Cary, Wright, Longfellow and Parsons-Norton. For life, character and works, see A Shadow of Dante, by Maria Francesca Rossetti.
Danton (ddn'tun), Georges Jacques, one of the great leaders in the French Revolution, was born at Arcis-sur-Aube, Oct. 28, 1759. A quiet, studious lawyer, practicing as an advocate in Paris, the fever of the times, however, soon filled his veins. Mirabeau quickly recognized his genius, and Danton became the leader of the populace. Along with Marat and Camille Des-moulins, he founded the Cordelier's Club, which soon became the rallying-point of all the hotter revolutionists. His harsh and daring countenance, his beetling black brows and voice of enormous power, thundering against the aristocrats, roused the people to fury. He became minister of justice, and for some time was the leading spirit of the Revolution. He roused the people of Paris to send forth armies to repel invaders from the soil of France. He probably had a share in the September murders in the prisons. He voted for the death of Louis XVI, and was a member of the committee of public safety. He succeeded in crushing the moderate party; but he could not restrain the forces he had created, and he himself at last fell a victim to the guillotine. The Mountain, as the ruling party was now called, saw a bloodier leader in the narrow and bitter Robespierre. When arrested, Danton showed no fear, but treated his judges with a contempt which hastened his doom. When asked his name before the bar of the tribunal, he replied: "My name is Danton, a name tolerably known in the Revolution; my abode will soon be annihilation; but I shall live in the Pantheon of history." He was guillotined on April 5, 1795. To the headsman he remarked: "Thou wilt show my head to the people; it is worth showing." See Carlyle's French Revolution.
Dantzic (dant'ztk), an important seaport and capital of West Prussia, and a fortress of the first rank, stands on the bank of the western branch of the Vistula. It is about four miles from the river's mouth, in the Gulf of Dantzic, an inlet of the Baltic. Dantzic was an important town in the loth century, and passed through various hands. Since 1793 ^ nas been a city of Prussia, except during the time of Napoleon, when it existed as a separate dukedom. Several old churches and monasteries, with the town-hall and exchange, are the chief buildings. Dantzic was at one time a prominent member of the Hanseatic league, and is still one of the chief commerical cities of northern Europe. Besides its
large trade by sea, river and railroad, there are many manufactures, including beer, sugar, tobacco, iron-works, etc. There is a library of 100,000 volumes. Population, 170,347.
Dan'ube, the second river of Europe, inferior only to the Volga. It is formed by the Brege and the Brigach, two mountain-streams rising in the Black Forest in Baden and uniting at Donaueschingen, 2,264 feet above sea level. At Ulm, the head of steam navigation, its elevation is about 1,500 feet; at Vienna 500 ; at Budapest 350; and at Moldova 200 feet. The Danube has a total length, including windings, of 1,740 miles, and drains an area estimated at 315,000 square miles. There are 400 tributaries, 100 of them navigable. There are three principal divisions of the river-basin. The upper course ends at Passau, where the river leaves German territory. At Passau its width is 231 yards and its depth 16 feet. The river then enters Austrian territory, and for some distance its scenery rivals that of the Rhine. It passes from the Austrian dominions through an opening called the Carpathian Gate, where it is 320 yards wide. After dividing and forming several islands, it enters the fertile Hungarian plain. Lower down, it forms the boundary between Hungary and Servia, and near Belgrade it is 1,706 yards wide. But within a stretch of 75 miles, beyond Ujpalanka are eight distinct rapids, shut in by lofty walls. The lower Klissura is the most strikingly picturesque of these; but the most difficult passage is the shortest (one and a half miles), the Iron Gate, below Orsova, where the middle course of the river ends. Here the stream has a breadth of only 129 yards, and the piled-up waters reach a depth of 28 fathoms; ledges of rock lift their tooth-like points above the surface; and all around a seething stretch of whirlpools, cataracts, eddies and counter-eddies combines with the river's rapid fall to present a serious and, formerly, impassable obstacle to navigation. Thence the lower course passes in a wide stream till it divides into the delta, through which it pours its waters into the Black Sea. The delta is a vast wilderness, covering an area of 1,000 square miles, and resembling an immense green sea of rushes; it is cut up by numerous channels and lakes, and is the haunt of sea-birds, wolves and buffaloes. The farthest mouths are 60 miles apart. The three main channels are the Kilia, St. George and Sulina. It is by the Sulina mouth that ships enter, although it discharges only two twenty-sevenths of the river's waters. The Danube is of great commercial importance. One company alone, which does a large business on its waters, has nearly 200 steamers and over 700 towboats. The Danube is connected with the Rhine by Ludwig's Canal, and with the Elbe by the Moldau, Muhl and other canals. Since 1856 the
