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Rh self in the early period of the revolutionary war on the northern frontier of the United States. In 1700 he entered the office of his uncle, Maj. Holland, surveyor-general of British North Amer- ica, and in 1814 succeeded to this office himself. While connected with the surveyor-general's de- partment in a subordinate capacity, he served in the colonial navy on the lakes, and in the royal Canadian volunteers until 1802. He was actively employed in the campaigns of 1813-'4, and in August, 1814, went to England to publish his top- ographical and geographical description of Can- ada, which was issued in 1816. During 1817 and 1818 he was engaged in establishing the boundary- line between the United States and the British Eossessions. In 1831 he published " The British •ominions in North America," containing the re- sult of fifteen years' labor on the topography, ge- ography, and statistics of Canada, and in 1832 the '• Topographical Dictionary of Lower Canada."

BOUCICAULT, Dion, British dramatist, b. in Dublin, Ireland, 20 Dec, 1822; d. in New York city, 18 Sept., 1890. Boucicault was educated for a civil engineer under his guardian. Dr. Dionysius Lardner, of the university of London, but devoted himself to the drama. In March, 1841, he pro- duced the comedy " London Assurance," which was brought out in Covent Garden theati'e, and met with great success. He married Agnes Rob- ertson, and in September, 1853, came to the United States, delivered lectures in New York, and then returned to the stage. In 1860 he went to London and brought out, at the Adelphi theatre, his fa- mous Irish play of " Colleen Bawn," founded on Gerald Griffin's novel of " The Collegians." In 1861 was produced, in the same theatre, a drama illus- trating the evils of American slavery, called " The Octoroon." After that he wrote, in rapid succes- sion, more than 100 dramas, some of them original, and others adaptations from the French. In 1862 he brouglit out " Dot " and " Tlie Relief of Luck- now " ; in 1863, '• The Trial of Effie Deans " ; in 1864, '* The Streets of London " ; in I860, " Arrah- Na-Pogue," " Rip Van Winkle," which was ren- dered famous by the acting of Joseph Jefferson, .and •' The Parish Clerk," which last piece was written for Mr. Jefferson: in 1866, "The Plying Scud," " Hunted Down," and *' The Long Strike " ; in 1867, " How She Loves Him " and " Foul Play," the latter written in collaboration with Charles Reade; in 1868, "After Dark"; in 1869, "Lost at Sea " and " Formosa " ; in 1870, "The Rapparee," •or the " Treaty of Limerick," and "Jezebel"; in 1872, " Babil and Bijou." In the autumn of 1874 he returned to the United States, where, since 1876, he has resided most of the time. In 1873 he pro- duced, at Booth's theatre. New York, the Irish play of " Daddy 0' Do wd" ; at Wallack's theatre, " Mora " and " Mimi," and at the Union square theatre, " Led Astray." In December, 1873, he opened the New Park theatre in partnership with William Stuart. During his former residence in the United States he had established a theatre in Washington in 1858, and reconstructed the Metro- politan theatre in New York, changed it into the Winter Garden in 1859, and in 1862, after his re- turn to England, he built over Astley's theatre a.nd altered its name to the Westminster, a specula- tion that proved a failure. Of his other plays the best-known are " Janet's Pride " ; " Louis XI. " ; " Faust and Marguerite " ; " Paul Lafarge " (1870) ; " A Dark Nighf's Work " (1870) ; " The" Dead Se- cret" (1878); "Andy Blake," and "The Shau- ghrann." Mr. Boucicault excelled as a dramatist in brightness of dialogue, dramatic action, and the treatment of incidents. His melodramas are more natural than those that preceded them. He ele- vated and improved the character of the Irish drama. The plots of his plays are seldom original ; but in the drawing of character, the introduction and handling of dramatic incidents, and the com- position of scenes of pathos, passion, or humor, he displayed originality, knowledge of human nature, and dramatic judgment. He has elevated the status of the dramatic author by insisting on higher rates of compensation than were usual, and by making the play itself the leading attraction.

BOUCK, William C., governor of New York, b. in Schoharie co., N. Y., in 1786; d. there, 19 April, 1859. After filling several town offices he was appointed sheriff of the county in 1812. was a member of the state assembly in 1813, 1815, and 1817, state senator in 1820, canal commissioner from 1821 till 1840, and governor of the state from 1843 till 1845. He was a member of the state con- stitutional convention in 1846, and from that year till 1849 was assistant treasurer in New York city. His last ten years were spent on his farm.

BOUDINOT, Ellas, philanthropist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 2 May, 1740; d. in Buriington, N. J., 24 Oct.. 1821. His great-grandfather, Elias, was a French Huguenot, who fled to this country after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. After re- ceiving a classical education, he studied law with Richard Stockton, and became eminent in his pro- fession, practis- ing in New Jer- sey. He was devoted to the patriot cause, in 1777 appoint- ed commissary- general of pris- oners, and in the same year elected a dele- gate to con- gress from New Jersey, serving from 1778 till 1779, and again from 1781' till 1784. He was chosen presi- dent of con- gress on 4 Nov., 1782, and in that capacity signed the treaty of peace with England. He then resumed the practice of law, but, after the adoption of the constitution, was elected to the 1st, 2d, and 3d congresses, serving from 4 March, 1789, till 3 March, 1795. He was appointed by Washington in 1795 to succeed Rittenhouse as director of the mint at Philadelphia, and held the office till July, 1805, when he resigned, and passed the rest of his life at Burlington, N. J., devoted to the study of biblical literature. He had an ample fortune, and gave liberally. He was a trustee of Princeton col- lege, and in 1805 endowed it with a cabinet of nat- ural history, valued at |3,000. In 1812 he was chosen a member of the American board of com- missioners for foreign missions, to which he gave £100 in 1813. He assisted in founding the Ameri- can Bible society in 1816, was its first president, and gave it $10,000. He was interested in at- tempts to educate the Indians, and when three Cherokee youth were brought to the foreign mis- sion school in 1818, he allowed one of them to tak^