DENNIS

dennis, john (1657-1734), english critic and dramatist, the son of a saddler, was born in london in 1657. he was educated at harrow school and caius college, cambridge, where he took his b.a. degree in 1679. in the next year he was fined and dismissed from his college for having wounded a fellow-student with a sword. he was, however, received at trinity hall, where he took his m.a. degree in 1683. after travelling in france and italy, he settled in london, where he became acquainted with dryden, wycherley and others; and being made temporarily independent by inheriting a small fortune, he devoted himself to literature. the duke of marlborough procured him a place as one of the queen's waiters in the customs with a salary of £120 a year. this he afterwards disposed of for a small sum, retaining, at the suggestion of lord halifax, a yearly charge upon it for a long term of years. neither the poems nor the plays of dennis are of any account, although one of his tragedies, a violent attack on the french in harmony with popular prejudice, entitled _liberty asserted_, was produced with great success at lincoln's inn fields in 1704. his sense of his own importance approached mania, and he is said to have desired the duke of marlborough to have a special clause inserted in the treaty of utrecht to secure him from french vengeance. marlborough pointed out that although he had been a still greater enemy of the french nation, he had no fear for his own security. this tale and others of a similar nature may well be exaggerations prompted by his enemies, but the infirmities of character and temper indicated in them were real. dennis is best remembered as a critic, and isaac d'israeli, who took a by no means favourable view of dennis, said that some of his criticisms attain classical rank. the earlier ones, which have nothing of the rancour that afterwards gained him the nickname of "furius," are the best. they are _remarks ..._ (1696), on blackmore's epic of prince arthur; _letters upon several occasions written by and between mr dryden, mr wycherley, mr moyle, mr congreve and mr dennis, published by mr dennis_ (1696): two pamphlets in reply to jeremy collier's _short view; the advancement and reformation of_ _modern poetry_ (1701), perhaps his most important work; _the grounds of criticism in poetry_ (1704), in which he argued that the ancients owed their superiority over the moderns in poetry to their religious attitude; an _essay upon publick spirit ..._ (1711), in which he inveighs against luxury, and servile imitation of foreign fashions and customs; and _essay on the genius and writings of shakespeare in three letters_ (1712). dennis had been offended by a humorous quotation made from his works by addison, and published in 1713 _remarks upon cato_. much of this criticism was acute and sensible, and it is quoted at considerable length by johnson in his _life of addison_, but there is no doubt that dennis was actuated by personal jealousy of addison's success. pope replied in _the narrative of dr robert norris, concerning the strange and deplorable frenzy of john dennis ..._ (1713). this pamphlet was full of personal abuse, exposing dennis's foibles, but offering no defence of _cato_. addison repudiated any connivance in this attack, and indirectly notified dennis that when he did answer his objections, it would be without personalities. pope had already assailed dennis in 1711 in the _essay on criticism_, as appius. dennis retorted by _reflections, critical and satirical ..._, a scurrilous production in which he taunted pope with his deformity, saying among other things that he was "as stupid and as venomous as a hunch-backed toad." he also wrote in 1717 _remarks upon mr pope's translation of homer ..._ and _a true character of mr pope_. he accordingly figures in the _dunciad_, and in a scathing note in the edition of 1729 (bk. i. 1. 106) pope quotes his more outrageous attacks, and adds an insulting epigram attributed to richard savage, but now generally ascribed to pope. more pamphlets followed, but dennis's day was over. he outlived his annuity from the customs, and his last years were spent in great poverty. bishop atterbury sent him money, and he received a small sum annually from sir robert walpole. a benefit performance was organized at the haymarket (december 18, 1733) on his behalf. pope wrote for the occasion an ill-natured prologue which cibber recited. dennis died within three weeks of this performance, on the 6th of january 1734. his other works include several plays, for one of which, _appius and virginia_ (1709), he invented a new kind of thunder. he wrote a curious _essay on the operas after the italian manner_ (1706), maintaining that opera was the outgrowth of effeminate manners, and should, as such, be suppressed. his _works_ were published in 1702, _select works ..._ (2 vols.) in 1718, and _miscellaneous tracts_, the first volume only of which appeared, in 1727. for accounts of dennis see cibber's _lives of the poets_, vol. iv.; isaac d'israeli's essays on pope and addison in the _quarrels of authors_, and "on the influence of a bad temper in criticism" in _calamities of authors_; and numerous references in pope's _works_. denomination (lat. _denominare_, to give a specific name to), the giving of a specific name to anything, hence the name or designation of a person or thing, and more particularly of a class of persons or things; thus, in arithmetic, it is applied to a unit in a system of weights and measures, currency or numbers. the most general use of "denomination" is for a body of persons holding specific opinions and having a common name, especially with reference to the religious opinions of such a body. more particularly the word is used of the various "sects" into which members of a common religious faith may be divided. the term "denominationalism" is thus given to the principle of emphasizing the distinctions, rather than the common ground, in the faith held by different bodies professing one sort of religious belief. this use is particularly applied to that system of religious education which lays stress on the principle that children belonging to a particular religious sect should be publicly taught in the tenets of their belief by members belonging to it and under the general control of the ministers of the denomination.