DELOLME

delolme, jean louis (1740-1806), swiss jurist and constitutional writer, was born at geneva in 1740. he studied for the bar, and had begun to practise when he was obliged to emigrate on account of a pamphlet entitled _examen de trois parts de droit_, which gave offence to the authorities of the town. he took refuge in england, where he lived for several years on the meagre and precarious income derived from occasional contributions to various journals. in 1775 he found himself compelled to accept aid from a charitable society to enable him to return home. he died at sewen, a village in the canton of schwyz, on the 16th of july 1806. during his protracted exile in england delolme made a careful study of the english constitution, the results of which he published in his _constitution de l'angleterre_ (amsterdam, 1771), of which an enlarged and improved edition in english appeared in 1772, and was several times reprinted. the work excited much interest as containing many acute observations on the causes of the excellence of the english constitution as compared with that of other countries. it is, however, wanting in breadth of view, being written before the period when constitutional questions were treated in a scientific manner. along with a translation of hume's _history of england_ it supplied the _philosophes_ with most of their ideas about the english constitution. it thus was used somewhat as a political pamphlet. several editions were published after the author's death. delolme also wrote in english _parallel between the english government and the former government of sweden_ (1772); a _history of the flagellants_ (1782), based upon a work of boileau's; _an essay on the union of scotland with england_ (1787), and one or two smaller works. deloney (or delone), thomas, english ballad-writer and pamphleteer, produced his earliest indisputable work in 1586, and died about 1600. in 1596 thomas nashe, in his _have with you to saffron walden_, wrote: "thomas deloney, the ballating silk-weaver, hath rime enough for all myracles, and wit to make a garland of good will more than the premisses ... and this deare yeare, together with the silencing of his looms, scarce that, he being constrained to betake himself to carded ale; whence it proceedeth that since candlemas, or his jigge, john for the king, not one merrie dittie will come from him, but, the thunderbolt against swearers,--repent, england, repent--and, the strange judgements of god." in 1588 the coming of the armada inspired him for three broadsides, which were reprinted (1860) by j. o. halliwell-phillipps. they are entitled "the queenes visiting of the campe at tilsburie with her entertainment there," "a joyful new ballad, declaring the happie obtaining of the great galleazzo ...," and "a new ballet of the straunge and most cruell whippes which the spaniards had prepared." a collection of _strange histories_ (1607) consists of historical ballads by deloney, with some poems from other hands. this collection, known in later and enlarged editions as _the royal garland of love and delight_ and _the garland of delight_, contains the ballad of fair rosamond. j. h. dixon in his preface to _the garland of good will_ (percy society, 1851) ascribes to deloney _the blind beggar of bednall green_, and _the pleasant and sweet history of patient grissel_, in prose, with the whole of the _garland of good will_, including some poems such as "the spanish lady's love" generally supposed to be by other hands. his other works include _the gentle craft_ (1597) in praise of shoemakers, _the pleasant historie of john winchecombe_ (8th ed., 1619), and _thomas of reading or the sixe worthie yeomen of the west_ (earliest extant edition, 1612). kempe, the actor, jeers at these histories in his _nine daies wonder_, but they were very popular, being reprinted as penny chap-books.