DELONEY, THOMAS (1543-1600).--Novelist and balladist, appears to have worked as a silk-weaver in Norwich, but was in London by 1586, and in the course of the next 10 years is known to have written about 50 ballads, some of which involved him in trouble, and caused him to lie _perdue_ for a time. It is only recently that his more important work as a novelist, in which he ranks with Greene and Nash, has received attention. He appears to have turned to this new field of effort when his original one was closed to him for the time. Less under the influence of Lyly and other preceding writers than Greene, he is more natural, simple, and direct, and writes of middle-class citizens and tradesmen with a light and pleasant humour. Of his novels, _Thomas of Reading_ is in honour of clothiers, _Jack of Newbury_ celebrates weaving, and _The Gentle Craft_ is dedicated to the praise of shoemakers. He "dy'd poorely," but was "honestly buried." DE MORGAN, AUGUSTUS (1806-1871).--Mathematician, _b._ in India, and _ed._ at Camb., was one of the most brilliant of English mathematicians. He is mentioned here in virtue of his _Budget of Paradoxes_, a series of papers originally _pub._ in _The Athenæum_, in which mathematical fallacies are discussed with sparkling wit, and the keenest logic. DENHAM, SIR JOHN (1615-1669).--Poet, _s._ of the Chief Baron of Exchequer in Ireland, was _b._ in Dublin, and _ed._ at Oxf. He began his literary career with a tragedy, _The Sophy_ (1641), which seldom rises above mediocrity. His poem, _Cooper's Hill_ (1642), is the work by which he is remembered. It is the first example in English of a poem devoted to local description. D. received extravagant praise from Johnson; but the place now assigned him is a much more humble one. His verse is smooth, clear, and agreeable, and occasionally a thought is expressed with remarkable terseness and force. In his earlier years D. suffered for his Royalism; but after the Restoration enjoyed prosperity. He, however, made an unhappy marriage, and his last years were clouded by insanity. He was an architect by profession, coming between Inigo Jones and Wren as King's Surveyor.