ht be
expected, his writings are characterised by the prevailing indelicacy of
the time.

DORSET, THOMAS SACKVILLE, 1ST EARL of, AND LORD BUCKHURST
(1536-1608).--Poet and statesman, was _b._ at Buckhurst, Sussex, the only
_s._ of Sir Richard S., and _ed._ at Oxf. and Camb. He studied law at the
Inner Temple, and while there wrote, in conjunction with Thomas Norton,
_Ferren and Porrex_ or _Gerboduc_ (1561-2), the first regular English
tragedy. A little later he planned _The Mirror for Magistrates_, which
was to have been a series of narratives of distinguished Englishmen,
somewhat on the model of Boccaccio's _Falls of Princes_. Finding the plan
too large, he handed it over to others--seven poets in all being engaged
upon it--and himself contributed two poems only, one on _Buckingham_, the
confederate, and afterwards the victim, of Richard III., and an
_Induction_ or introduction, which constitute nearly the whole value of
the work. In these poems S. becomes the connecting link between Chaucer
and Spenser. They are distinguished by strong invention and imaginative
power, and a stately and sombre grandeur of style. S. played a prominent
part in the history of his time, and held many high offices, including
those of Lord Steward and Lord Treasurer, the latter of which he held
from 1599 till his death. It fell to him to announce to Mary Queen of
Scots the sentence of death.

DOUCE, FRANCIS (1757-1834).--Antiquary, _b._ in London, was for some time
in the British Museum. He _pub._ _Illustrations of Shakespeare_ (1807),
and a dissertation on _The Dance of Death_ (1833).

DOUGLAS, GAVIN (1474?-1522).--Poet, 3rd _s._ of the 5th Earl of Angus,
was _b._ about 1474, and _ed._ at St. Andrews for the Church. Promotion
came early, and he was in 1501 made Provost of St. Giles, Edin., and in
1514 Abbot of Aberbrothock, and Archbishop of St. Andrews. But the times
were troublous, and he had hardly received these latter preferments when
he was deprived of them. He was, however, named Bishop of Dunkeld in 1514
and, after some difficulty, and undergoing imprisonment, was confirmed in
the see. In 1520 he was again driven forth, and two years later _d._ of
the plague in London. His principal poems are _The Palace of Honour_
(1501), and _King Hart_, both allegorical; but his great achievement was
his translation of the _AEneid_ in ten-syllabled metre, the first
translation into English of a classical work. D.'s language is more
archai