DANA, the name of an American family of which several members have attained eminence. Richard Dana (1699-1772) was a leading barrister of Boston, and a prominent opponent of the Stamp Act. His son, Francis Dana, born in Charlestown in 1743, also began life as a barrister. In 1774 he was chosen to represent Cambridge in the first provincial congress of Massachusetts ; and in the following year he visited England, bearing letters to Dr Franklin from several of the patriot leaders. From 1776 to 1780 he was a member of the Massachusetts council ; and in 1777 and 1778 he represented Massachusetts in the National Congress. He was also one of the committee appointed ta administer military affairs, In 1779 he was appointed secretary of legation to John Adams, the ambassador to England ; and for two years (1781-83) he was envoy to St Petersburg. He took an active part in politics till 1791, when, being appointed chief-justice of Massachusetts, he devoted himself to his judicial duties. He died at Cambridge, April 25,1811. Francis Dana was the father of Richard Henry Dana, born in 1787, the author of The Buccaneer and other Poems, and a number of essays, many of which first appeared in the Xorth American Review, of which Dana was one of the founders. His son, also named Richard Henry Dana, is an authority on maritime law, and the author of the popular novel Two Years before the Mast, which is founded on persona] experience, and of The Seaman's Friend, or The Seaman's Manual.