Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/619

BIG daughters, and had some private property in the district, where he hoped to pass the evening of his life in tranquillity: he visited his birthplace for the last time, in order to make some arrangements for this purpose, but on his return had to hear a sad story of his wife's infidelity. Her paramour was a musicmaster. Bigot's servants were so indignant at the injury and insult, that the wretched man suffered at their hands the fate of Abelard. This incident was the subject not only of vexatious litigation, which harassed Bigot for many a long year in the civil courts, but was also the subject of criminal proceedings, which might have terminated in his conviction and execution. His fears, even after the danger was over, still for ever brought the scaffold before his imagination. In his "Christianæ Philosophiæ Præludium" he repeatedly adverts to his calamities. In one passage he speaks of the ingratitude of his country, which he is determined to leave for ever:—"The stars," he says, "promise that I shall die in a distant land, and they point distinctly to the north." He removed to Metz, and regarded himself as by this movement aiding to fulfil the prediction. Some Latin and some French verses of his are preserved. The date of his death is unknown; the place is also unrecorded; we are therefore ignorant how far the event verified his astrological calculations.—Lancelot Bayle.—J. A., D.  BIGOT,, a French jesuit missionary among the Penobscot Indians towards the close of the seventeenth century. He had great influence over the Abenaki tribe, and was employed by Denonville to retain the savages as allies of France against the English. He was domesticated among them, gave them religious instruction, accompanied them in their warlike expeditions, and was a leader of their councils. Some of his adventures, sufficiently marvellous, were related by him personally to Charlevoix, from whom we learn them.—B. C.  BIGOTIER, in Latin, a French poet, born at Treffort, lived in the sixteenth century. He wrote in Latin, and was professor of rhetoric at Lyons.  BIHARI LOL, contemporary with Kabir, one of the most distinguished Hindoo writers. He has been called the Thomson of India. Author of a poem entitled "Fât-Suï."  BILDERBECK,, baron, a French romancist and dramatic writer, born at Wissembourg, Alsace, lived about the end of the eighteenth and the commencement of the nineteenth century. Author of "Achmet, or Maternal Ambition," several melodramas, comedies, vaudevilles, &c.  BILDERDYK,, was born in Amsterdam in 1756, and would have the world to believe that he was descended from the ancient counts of Taysterband, but the world only laughed at his pretensions. He turned out, however, to be something better—an accomplished scholar, and a poet of considerable merit. While a youth at the university of Leyden, he was remarkable for ardour in his studies and the extent of his knowledge, especially in languages, and for his love of poetry. In his twentieth year he won the prize of the Literary Society of Leyden, for the best poem on the subject of the influence of poetry upon government, and the following year he obtained two other prizes. The "Romance of Elius," published in 1778, established his reputation, and was deservedly admired, both for its style and imagery. This was followed by a translation of the Œdipus Tyrannus of Sophocles, and some fugitive pieces in rhyme and blank verse. The society proposed in 1780 a question upon the relations of poetry and philosophy, and the advantages of the one to the other. On this, too, Bilderdyk won the first prize, and subsequently enlarged and published his essay. He now went to the Hague, and commenced the profession of avocat, but his devotion to the house of Orange forced him to leave his native land when Pichegru entered it, and so he retired to Germany, whence, after two years, he came in 1800 to London, where he delivered lectures on poetry, and translated into Dutch some of the poems of Ossian, and published several poems. When Louis Bonaparte ascended the throne of Holland, Bilderdyk having come to Amsterdam, was favourably received by the king, who made him a member of the institute he was then founding, with a pension. This for a while alleviated the trials of the poet, who, despite his industry and reputation, was scarcely able to procure a livelihood. But his good fortune was but short, for on the abdication of Louis he lost his pension, and falling under the suspicion of the government he fled from Amsterdam, and after passing from place to place finally settled in Haarlem, where he died on the 18th Dec, 1831. As a poet Bilderdyk holds a high place in Dutch literature. His learning was extensive, and there is no description of poetry which he has not attempted. If his genius was not of the highest order, he has the merit of having written carefully and elegantly. The purity of his style, and the harmony of his compositions, are the more to be valued for the difficulty of the language in which he wrote. Bilderdyk was twice married; his second wife, Catherine Wilhelmine, was herself no mean poetess, and wrote several pieces, in conjunction with her husband, and two tragedies. She died at Haarlem, April 16th, 1832.—J. F. W.  BILFINGER or BULFINGER,, born in 1693 at Canstadt in Wurtemberg; died in 1750; a distinguished follower of Leibnitz. His attention was diverted from the study of theology, to which he had at first devoted himself, by reading the writings of Wolf; and after publishing a work of some note, in which he attempted to reconcile theology with the Leibnitzian philosophy, he repaired to the university of Halle, to receive the benefit of Wolfs oral instruction. He was afterwards, through the interest of Wolf, appointed professor of logic and metaphysics at St. Petersburg, and obtained the prize offered by the Academy of Sciences at Paris for the best essay on the cause of weight in bodies. The duke of Wurtemburg, attracted by his fame, recalled him to his native state, and conferred upon him a high office in the government, whose duties he discharged with much ability. His works are not marked by originality, but they are good as expositions of the philosophy of Leibnitz and Wolf.—J. D. E.  BILGNER,, a celebrated German surgeon, was born in 1720, at Chur in Switzerland. In 1741 he was appointed surgeon-in-chief to a new regiment of cavalry in the service of Wurtemberg. He afterwards passed, with his regiment, into the Prussian service, in which he took part in the second Silesian war, and after the peace of Dresden, was left in charge of the wounded at Kesselsdorf. In 1757, having changed his regiment, he was engaged in a campaign in Bohemia, Saxony, and Silesia, and had the care of the wounded after the battles of Prague, Rossbach, and Leuthen, in which arduous duty he acquitted himself with so much distinction, that he was appointed royal surgeon-general in the Prussian army. On the 21st March, 1761, he received the degree of doctor of medicine and surgery at Halle, when he sustained a thesis entitled "De membrorum amputatione rarissime administranda aut quasi abroganda," in which he insisted upon the possibility and importance of curing wounds without amputation. In his views upon this subject, in which he had been to a certain extent forestalled by some French surgeons, Bilgner met with much opposition; but his inaugural dissertation, which is regarded as marking an epoch in military surgery, was translated into various European languages. Soon after its publication, Bilgner was elected a member of various German scientific societies, and of the Royal Society of London. In 1762 he received the degree of doctor of philosophy at Wittenberg, and was afterwards appointed body surgeon to the queen. In 1794 the emperor granted him a patent of nobility, of which, however, he made no use during the short remainder of his life, which ended in 1796. Besides the dissertation above referred to, Bilgner published several works upon military surgery, some of which attracted much attention. Of these the most important are—"Instructions in Surgery in Field Hospitals," Leipzig, 1773, and "Surgical operations in the Prussian Field Hospitals from 1756-1763," Berlin, 1763.—W. S. D. <section end="619H" /> <section begin="619I" />BILHUBER,, a German physician, born at Aurach in 1758, studied at Tübingen, where he took his degree in 1779. He was at first physician to the town of Vayhingen in Wurtemberg, but removed in 1791 to Ludwigsburg, where he died in April, 1793. His writings consist o "Dissertatio inauguralis de magnesia cruda et calcinata," published at Tübingen in 1779, and a "Collection of observations upon the Rot of cattle and sheep," Tübingen, 1791.—W. S. D. <section end="619I" /> <section begin="619J" />BILINTANI,, a Venetian theologian and poet of the first half of the 16th century. He accompanied Charles V. in several of his campaigns, and celebrated his triumphs in a poem of ten cantos, entitled "Carlo Cesare V. Africano," &c. <section end="619J" /> <section begin="619Knop" />BILIVERT,, a Florentine painter between 1576 and 1644. He was a pupil of Cardi (called Ligoti), and in his eclectic manner patched on to his merit the grand upholstery colour of Paul Veronese and the free grace of Santo da Titi. He painted some large church pieces in fresco and oil; but his greatest work was the "Chastity of Joseph," in the gallery at Florence.—W. T. <section end="619Knop" />