De Quincey
THOMAS, an English author; born in Manchester, Aug. 15, 1785. He received a classical education at the grammar-school of Bath, and entered the University of Oxford in 1803, where he remained till 1808. While there he contracted the habit of eating opium.
In 1809, after leaving Oxford, he resided at Grasmere for 27 years. Here he cultivated the friendship of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey, and other distinguished authors. He made German literature and philosophy his special study, and translated some of the works of Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Lessing, and Richter. At first he took opium only once a week, but gradually the evil habit grew upon him, and at last he took it daily.
The consequences he describes in his principal work, "The Confessions of an English Opium-eater." In 1823 he went to London, where he published his " "Suspiria de Profundis," his "Templar's Dialogues," etc. His published works include: "Letters to a Young Man Whose Education has been Neglected" (1823); "Logic of Political Economy" (1844); "Klosterheim" (1839); etc. He died in Lasswade, near Edinburgh, Dec. 8, 1859. a- DERAJAT (der-a-jät'), the fluvial portion of Daman, itself a comparatively narrow strip in the Punjab, India, between the Suliman Mountains and the Indus, and which, when duly irrigated, is singularly fertile. It is divided into four districts and has an area of 20,300 square miles, and a population (1891) of 1,643, 600. Dera Ghazi Khan, the capital of one of the districts, is about 2 miles W. of the Indus. Pop. 27,886. Dera Ismail Khan, capital of another district, is 4½ miles W. of the Indus. Pop. 26,884.
DERBY is surrounded by ancient walls. The upper city forms the citadel, and contains the splendid palace of the ancient khans, now the residence of the Russian governor. The harbor is inaccessible to all but small vessels; but a considerable trade is done at the four large markets held here yearly. Silk and cotton fabrics, earthenware and weapons are manufactured, and saffron is cultivated. Derbend was long considered the key of Persia on the N. W. side. It was captured by the Arabs in 728, by the Mongols in 1220, and frequently changed hands before it was formally incorporated with Russian Caucasia in 1813. In 1920 Daghestan was in the hands of the Bolshevik government of Russia. Pop. about 15,000.