Page:Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography Volume 1.pdf/838

BRU autumn of 44. instead of confining himself to the province assigned to him he went to Athens; ingratiated himself with the Romans of high family whom he found there; persuaded Apuleius to deliver to him a large sum of public money which he was taking up to Rome, and Q. Hortensius to hand over to him, instead of to C. Antonius, the lawful proconsul, the province of Macedonia; tampered successfully with the troops of Dolabella and other officers; and, by these and similar means, made himself master of Achaia, Macedonia, and Illyricum, and of an army of seven legions. Yet the senate, on the motion of Cicero, ratified without hesitation all his measures! After the sanguinary proscription at Rome in 43, by Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, many of the aristocratical party fled to Brutus for protection. At the end of the year Brutus and Cassius met at Sardis, and arranged a plan of operations against the triumvirs. But their dilatory and vacillating measures showed that they were no match for Antony, a soldier trained in the school of Cæsar. In the autumn of 42 the armies met at Philippi, with such result as might have been anticipated. The first action, which might have been a victory, was changed by the weak and premature despair of Cassius into a defeat. In the second action Brutus was completely defeated; and, being cut off from his camp, fled with some of his friends to a narrow lonely glen not far from the field of battle. We must refer to Plutarch for the striking story of his behaviour during his last hours, till the moment when he fell on Strato's sword. Brutus was twice married—to Claudia, whom he divorced, and to Porcia, the daughter of Cato.—T. A.  BRUYÈRE,. See.  BRUYN,, professor of natural philosophy and mathematics at Utrecht, was born at Gorcum in 1620. After having applied himself closely to study in various places, he settled at Utrecht, and became the pupil of Professor Ravensberg, whom he succeeded as professor of natural philosophy and mathematics. He wrote "De Vi Altrice;" "De Corporum Gravitate et Levitate;" "De Cognitione Dei Naturali;" and "De Lucis Causis et Origine." He died in 1675.—T. J.  BRY,, a celebrated engraver of the 16th century, has executed many valuable works on botany, containing delineations of plants. His works are entitled "Florilegium" and "Anthologia."—J. H. B.  BRY or BRIE,, an eminent German engraver and great worker, born at Liege in 1528. He set up at Frankfort as printseller and bookseller, studying the works of Sebald Beham. He preferred street processions and parties of shaved and feathered men, working with his graver in a neat, free style, drawing the heads especially with peculiar spirit and expression. Brie died in 1598.—His two sons, and, both became engravers. They executed a "Triumph of Death," &c., and a portrait of Mercator.—W. T.  BRYAN or BRYANT,, an English statesman and man of letters of the sixteenth century. After his education at Oxford, and some years spent in travel, we hear of him in 1522 attending on the earl of Surrey in the expedition to the coast of Brittany, and leading successfully the troops sent against the town of Morlaix, for which service he was knighted. He was afterwards sent on several diplomatic errands to Spain, France, and Rome, and was gentleman of the privy chamber to Henry VIII. and his son. In the reign of the latter, he joined an expedition into Scotland, and distinguished himself at the battle of Musselburgh. He was sent to Ireland in 1549 as lord-chief-justice, and died there in the following year. He wrote some pieces which are found, with the productions of Wyat and Surrey, in a collection of poems by uncertain authors, printed in 1565.—J. B.  BRYAN,, an American jurist and politician of the revolutionary period, descended from an old and respectable family, was born in Dublin about 1730, emigrated to America at an early age, and lived in Pennsylvania over forty years. In 1776 he was named vice-president, and in 1778 became acting president of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania. While a member of the legislature in 1779, he projected and procured the enactment of a law for the gradual abolition of slavery. In 1780 he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of Pennsylvania, which office he held till his death in January, 1791. He was a conspicuous opponent of the adoption of the federal constitution.—F. B.  BRYAN,, author of the celebrated "Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers," was born at Newcastle in 1757. He resided in Flanders from 1781 till 1790, and on his return became known as an accomplished connoisseur of paintings. He was employed to introduce to the British public the well-known Orleans collection. His dictionary, the fruit of many years' research and study, was published in 1812, and still retains its place as a standard work.—J. B. <section end="838H" /> <section begin="838I" />BRYANT,, an English botanist of the eighteenth century, published a history of esculent plants, a dictionary of the ornamental trees, shrubs, and plants cultivated in Great Britain, and an account of two species of lycoperdon.—J. H. B. <section end="838I" /> <section begin="838J" />* BRYANT,, an eminent American poet and man of letters, was born November 3, 1794, at Cummington in western Massachusetts. When he was but thirteen years old he wrote "The Embargo, or Sketches of the Times, a satire," and the "Spanish Revolution and other Poems," Boston, 1808. The youthful poet was entered at Williams college in 1810, but left it before graduation, to begin the study of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1815, and was engaged in legal practice for ten years, mostly at Great Berrington, Mass. In 1825 he finally quitted the profession, and went to reside in the city of New York, where he has since exclusively devoted himself to literary pursuits. "Thanatopsis," the unrivalled production of a youth only eighteen years old, was published by him in the North American Review in 1816. In 1821 Bryant published at Cambridge a volume containing "The Ages," "Thanatopsis," and a few other of his finest productions. The book established his position in the front rank of English poets. All the pieces in it are polished to the last degree of nicety, but they cannot be said to betray labour, for theirs is the highest art that conceals art. The forms of expression, the imagery, and the general turn of thought, are perfectly simple and natural. The first outbreak of Bryant's genius was the most rich and abundant. Since the appearance of "The Ages," he has published only short poems, and at considerable intervals. The whole of his published poetry, the production of a full half century, is contained in a single volume of very moderate size. Several of Bryant's poems appeared first in the New York Review, which he edited in 1825-27. In 1826 he became the editor of the Evening Post, one of the oldest and most influential newspapers in the United States, with which he has ever since been connected. Bryant has always been a generous and uncompromising advocate of free soil and free institutions. He has also laboured effectually to diffuse a taste for the fine arts in America, has been president of several associations for this purpose, and has always shown himself a kind and judicious friend to young artists. As a prose writer, his style is pure, easy, and idiomatic. Few who have been compelled by circumstances to write so much, have written so uniformly well. He has twice visited Europe, travelling over the British isles and a large portion of the continent. Mr. Bryant resides at Roslyn, a beautiful village on the Sound, at a short distance from New York.—F. B. <section end="838J" /> <section begin="838Zcontin" />BRYDGES,, Bart., a well-known and highly-gifted writer, was born at Wootton, county of Kent, in 1762. He was educated first at the grammar school at Maidstone, then at the King's school, Canterbury, and in October, 1780, entered Queen's college, Cambridge, where he remained two years. He was called to the bar in November, 1789, but never practised. In 1790, after the death of the last duke of Chandos, his elder brother, the Rev. E. T. Brydges, was induced by his persuasion to prefer a claim to the barony of Chandos; but in June, 1803, the house of lords rejected the claim. This result was deeply mortifying to Sir Samuel, and coloured the remainder of his life. He complained bitterly, and through every possible channel, of the injustice of the decision, and used to add to the signature of his name—"Per legem Terræ Baron Chandos of Sudeley." The best authorities, however, believe his pretensions to be utterly unfounded. In 1808 he received the order of St. Joachim of Sweden, and in 1814 was created a baronet. He represented Maidstone from 1812 to 1818. On the loss of his seat he quitted England, and spent the remainder of his long life on the continent. He died September 8, 1837, at Champagne Gros Jean, near Geneva, in his seventy-fifth year Sir Egerton is a very voluminous author. His most important works are a volume of sonnets and other poems, which possess great merit; "Censura Literaria," a curious and valuable bibliographical work in ten volumes 8vo; "Memoirs of the Peers of England during the reign of James I.;" "Res Literariæ," three volumes; "Letters from the Continent;" "Letters on Lord <section end="838Zcontin" />