Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/466

 460 BURLINGAME BURLINGTON can party on its formation in 1854, and was in that year elected by it to the 34th congress. In the following year he cooperated in the for- mation of the republican party, to which he ever afterward steadily adhered. In congress he bore himself with courage and address, imd was recognized as one of the ablest debaters on the anti-slavery side of the house. For the se- vere terms in which he denounced the assault committed by Preston S. Brooks upon Senator Simmer in 1856, he was challenged by Brooks. He promptly accepted the challenge, and nam- ed rifles as the weapons to be used, and Navy island, just above Niagara Falls, as the place of fighting. To the latter proposition Mr. Brooks demurred, alleging that, in order to meet his op- ponent in Canada, in the then excited state of public feeling, he would have to expose himself to popular violence in passing through " the ene- my's country," as he called the northern states. The matter presently fell through, but the manner in which Mr. Burlingame had conduct- ed himself greatly raised him in the estimation of his friends and of his party ; and on his re- turn to Boston at the end of his term he was received with distinguished popular honors. He was reflected to the 35th and 36th con- gresses ; but failing, after an animated and close contest, to be returned to the 37th, his legisla- tive career ended in March, 1861. He was im- mediately appointed by President Lincoln min- ister to Austria; but that government declining to receive in a diplomatic capacity a man who had spoken often and eloquently in favor of Hungarian independence, and had moved in congress the recognition of Sardinia as a first- class power, he was sent as ambassador to China. In 1865 he returned to the United States with the intention of resigning his office ; but the secretary of state urged him to resume his functions for the purpose of carrying for- ward important projects and negotiations which he had initiated. To this he finally consent- ed. When in 1807 he announced his intention of returning home, Prince Kung, the regent of the empire, offered to appoint him special am- bassador to the United States and the great European powers for the purpose of framing treaties of amity with those nations an honor never before conferred on a foreigner. This position Mr. Burlingame accepted, and at the head of a numerous mission he arrived in the United States in March, 1868. On July 28 supplementary articles to the treaty of 1858 Were signed at Washington, and soon afterward ratified by the Chinese government. These marked the first official acceptance by China of the principles of international law, and pro- vided, in general, that the privileges enjoyed by western nations under that law the right of eminent domain, the right of appointing consuls at the ports of the United States, and the power of the government to grant or with- hold commercial privileges and immunities at their own discretion subject to treaty should be secured to China; that nation undertaking to observe the corresponding obligations pre- scribed by international law toward other peo- ples. Special provisions also stipulated for entire liberty of conscience and worship for Americans in China and Chinese in America ; for joint efforts against the cooly trade ; for the enjoyment by Chinese in America and Ameri- cans in China of all rights in respect to travel and residence accorded to citizens of the most favored nation ; for similar reciprocal rights in the matter of the public educational institutions of the two countries, and for the right of es- tablishing schools by citizens of either coun- try in the other. The concluding article dis- claims on the part of the United States the right of interference with the domestic admin- istration of China in the matter of railroads, tel- egraphs, and internal improvements, but agrees that the United States will furnish assistance in these points on proper conditions, when requested by the Chinese government. From America Mr. Burlingame proceeded in the lat- ter part of 1868 to England, and thence to France (1869), Denmark, Sweden, Holland, and Prussia, in all of which countries he was favorably received, and in all of which but France, to which he intended returning later, he negotiated important treaties or articles of agreement. Reaching St. Petersburg early in 1870, he had just entered upon the business of his mission when he died of pneumonia af- ter an illness of only a few days. BURLINGTON, a central county of New Jer- sey, extending entirely across the state, and bounded S. E. by the Atlantic and N. W. by the Delaware river ; area, 600 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 53,639. Several streams falling into the Atlantic and the Delaware water it. The sur- face is level. The soil near the river is re- markably fertile ; in other localities it is sandy. Pine woods are found in various parts of the county. Bog iron ore is abundant, and in the western portion are frequently found, imbedded in marl, petrified vegetables and animal relics. It is intersected by the Camden and Amboy, the Mt. Holly branch and the Atco branch of the New Jersey Southern, the Camden and Burlington County, and the Pemberton and Hightstown railroads. The chief productions in 1870 were 200,120 bushels of wheat, 102,- 411 of rye, 983,879 of Indian corn, 175,738 of oats, 581,955 of Irish and 114,517 of sweet potatoes, 58,165 tons of hay, 494,769 Ibs. of butter, and 47,247 of wool. There were 6,407 horses, 1,288 mules and asses, 14,796 milch cows, 3,852 other cattle, 1,669 sheep, and 15,760 swine. Capital, Mount Holly. BURLINGTON, a city, port of entry, and the capital of Chittenden co., Vermont, on a bay of the same name, upon the E. shore of Lake Champlain. 40 m. by rail N. W. of Montpelier; pop. in 1870, 14,387. It is the largest city in the state, and is noted for its beauty of situa- tion, grandeur of scenery, and sublime views. It stands on a gentle slope, the ground rising gradually from the lake till it reaches the height