DIIHANGAS, a t. near the seacoast, in the province of Ilbilo, island of Panay, one of the Philippines. The vast plain of D. produces abundance of rice. Pop. of town, 25,000.
Duxes, ALEXANDRE, a French novelist, was the son of the republican general, Alex andre Davy-Dumas, who was himself the offspring of the marquis Davy de la Pail leterie and a negress. The crisp hair and thick lips of D. bore testimony to his African origin, a testimony which is confirmed by the savage voluptuousness and barbaric taste of his partial innumerable compositions. D. was born at Villers-Cotterets, 24th July, 1803. His father died when he was quite a child, and he received in consequence a very imperfect education. At the age of 20, he came to Paris to seek his fortune, and after a short time received an appointment in the household of the due d'Orleans. In 1826, he first appeared as an author in a volume of Nouvelles; but it was not till 1829, when his historical drama, Henri III. et sa Cour, was brought upon the stage, that France fairly mistook him for a genius. This work appeared at the time when roman helm?, was beginning to triumph over classicism in French poetic literature, and was hailed by the advocates of the former as a crowning victory. The due d'Orleans, who was delighted with the production, led the applause, on the first night of its representa tion, in honor of the author. Next morning, D. was made librarian to his highness. From this period, he became more and more a noted character in Paris, dexterously con triving at once to feast the appetites of the mob, and to continue the companion of princes. In 1846, he accompanied the due de Montpensier to Spain, as the historio grapher of his marriage. Afterwards, he visited Africa: and on his return to Paris, finding his income inadequate to meet the expenses of his costly mode of life, he opened a theater of his own. The revolution induced him to attempt a political career; but France, in spite of its discreditable admiration of this literary Cagliostro, had sufficient good sense to turn the cold shoulder to him. In 1853, "financial considerations" com pelled him to seek refuge in Belgium. Subsequently, his pecuniary star being once more in the ascendant, D. visited the east. After the conquest of Sicily by Garibaldi in 1860, he followed in the wake of the great liberator, who does not seem, however, to have been imposed upon by his mountebank worship and bombastic enthusiasm.
It would require pages to enumerate all the productions which have been issued under the name of D.; but for two reasons, this is unnecessary: first, they are for the most part worthless, and second, they are for the most part not his. M. Alphonse Karr, in his Mercantilisme Litteraire (1845), and M. Eugene de Iliirecourt, in his Fabrique de Romans, Matson A. Dumas et Ole (1845), have exposed the astounding quackery of this writer. It would seem that D. had introduced the sweating-system into literature, for he had in his employment a large number of poor authors and literary hacks, whose cir cumstances or position hindered them from demanding a legitimate emolument for their labor. To these persons, D. was in the habit of giving a fdw brief outlines of a novel or drama, and then paid them for composing the work, which appeared as the produc tion of D.'s miraculous pen. Thus it happened that D. sometimes contrived to issue more volumes in a year than it was possible for a human being to transcribe in the same period. His best known works are Les Trois Mousguetaires (8 vols., 1844), Le Comte de Monte Cristo (12 vols., 1841-45), La Brine Margot (6 vols., 1845). His 3femoires, com menced in 1852, only confirm the impression of his character which one drives from the perusal of his books. Altogether, it may be said that the appearance in literature of a writer like D. is a portentous phenomenon; and the avidity with which his immoral fictions are devoured, is the most severe condemnation of modern, and especially French, society that could well be pronounced. He died 5th Dec., 1870.—DuMAS, ALEXANDRE, or Dumas the younger, son of the preceding, who has unhappily followed the footsteps of his father, was born at Paris, 28th July, 1824. His principal work is La Dame _aux Camilias (2 vols., 1848), a novel on which is founded the notorious opera of Le! Trartata. It is perhaps the most audaciously immoral work in existence. The heroine is a prostitute, who, while following her avocation, contrives (in a manner known only to French novelists) to keep up an unsullied affection for a young gentle man, who is a compound of sentimentalism, imbecility, and lust. Among D.'s other works may be mentioned 14 Roman d'une Femme; La Dame aux Perles; and several dramatic pieces. He was installed as a member of the French academy in 1875.