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* BIRNEY. 113 BIRON". making speeches throughout the North, espe- cially before the legislatures of the various States, ami in 1837 was elected secretary of the American Anti-Slavery Society. In this capacity he conducted the correspondence of the Society, employed its lecturers, and prepared its reports; and, in addition, he continued to make frequent addresses before legislatures and large ])ublic assemblies. He soon came to be regarded every- where as the leader of the •Constitutional' Aboli- tionists; that is, of the Abolitionists who op- posed all revolutionary measures, fought against secession, and endeavored to eflfect their desired reforms through the ordinary machinery of gov- ernment; and both in 1840 and in 1844 he was the unanimous candidate of the Liberty Party (q.v. ) for the Presidency, receiving 70(i9 votes in the first election and 62.2C3 in the second. He was disabled by a fall from his horse in 1845, and passed the last twelve years of his life in retirement as an invalid, first in Bay City, Mich., and afterwards in Eagleswood, X. J. Besides nu- merous brief articles for the press, his chief writ- ings were his Letter on Colonisation (1834); American Churches the Bulwarks of American Slavery (1840); Speeches in England (1840); and Examination of the Decision of the United States Supreme Court in the Case of Strader et al. vs. Graham (18.50). Consult the excellent biography by his son, William Birnev, James G. Birnerj and'ufs Times (New York, 1890). BIRNEY, WiLi.i.AM (1819—). An American soldier and lawyer, the son of James G. Bimey. He was born near Hunt.sville, Ala.; was edu- cated at Yale College and in Europe; took an active part in the Revolution of 1848 in France, and for two years was professor of English liter- ature in the college at Bourges. He entered the Federal Army at the outbreak of the Civil War, was elected captain; attained the rank of briga- dier-general of volunteers in May, 1863, and from then until the close of the war was in com- mand of a division. In 18t)3-64 he served as one of the three superintendents charged with the enlistment of colored troops, and in this capacity organized seven regiments. He served ith con- spicuous gallantry in the battles of Second Bull Run. Chantilly, Fredericksburg, and Chancellors- ville; received the brevet rank of major-general of volunteers in March, 1865. "for gallant and meritorious services during thewar,"and resigned in August of the same year. After the war he lived for a time in Florida, but in 1874 removed to Washington and became a practicing attorney. Among his publications are the excellent Life and Times of James G. liirncy (1890) and A Plea for Intellectual and Spiritual Libert;/. BIRON, /v. 7>ron. be'rOx'. (1) A light-head- od, light-tongued lord in the suite of the King of Navarre, in Shakespeare's Love's Labor's Lost. (2) A character in the tragedy The Fatal Marriage, by Southerne; the husband of Isa- bella, and much-wronged brother of Carlos. The rflle was among the earliest of the younger Mac- ready. BIRON, CoNSPiRArr asd Tragedy op CiiARLKs, Dike of. The name of two tragedies, really two parts of a single theme, founded on the career of the French conspirator of the title. Performed in London in 1605 and 1608, they were prohibited at the instance of the French Ambassador, and three actors were arrested. BIRON, be'roN', Abmand de GoNTAtTLT (1524- 92 ). A French soldier. He became grand mas- ter of artillery in 1569, and was in command at the siege of Rochelle and in (iuicnne. After the assassination of Henry III., who had appointed him marshal in 1577. "he was among the first to declare for Henry IV. He brought a part of Normandy under subjection, and dissuaded Henry from going into England; distinguished himself in the battles of Arques and Ivry against the League, and was killed by a cannon-shot at the siege of Epernay, BIRON, CnABr.ES de Goxtailt, Duke de (1562-1602). A French soldier, son of Armand, under whose connnand he served with distinc- tion in the campaigns against the League, acquir- ing renown and the surname of 'Fulmen Gallia',' or 'Thunderbolt of France,' He was made ad- miral of France by Henry IV. in 1592, and marshal in 1594; became governor of Burgundy in 1595, and was created duke and peer o'f France in 1598. He was a nian of great in- trepidity, but was fickle and treacherous. He was sent to England in 1601 to announce the marriage of Henry with Maria de' Medici, but about the same time he was condemned by the Parliament for treasonable negotiations 'with Spain and Savoy, aiming at the overthrow of the Bourbon d.^Tiasty, the dismemberment of the kingdom into provincial States, and his owii ele- vation to the sovereignty of Burgundy. Induced to come to Paris, he was apprehended and be- lieaded in the Bastille. BIRON, l)e'r.'.n, Erxest .John, Duke of Cour- land (1690-1772). A Russian statesman. He was the son of a landed proprietor of the name of Biihren. Through BestuzhefT-Ryumin, who be- friended him, he obtained the favor of Anna Iva- novna, who was called to the Russian throne in 1730. The Council of the Empire attempted to secure from her an aristocratic constitution, but she crushed remorselessly the powerful nobility, notably the Dolgorukis and the Galitsins, aiid made her lover, Biron, who had adopted this French name in place of that of Biihren, her chamberlain and practical ruler of the Empire. Rambaud describes him "as a large, handsome man, uneducated, loving only his hor.ses; a su- perb lackey, morally as evil and vindictive as his mistress." His enemies and rivals were swept out of the way. while the poor Tctjple were ground down by taxation. The Russians have described this reign as th? Bironorachinn and the 'Gemmii yoke.' He is said to have caused over a thousand executions, while the number of persons exiled by him to Siberia is estimated at from twenty to forty thousand. His revpngefil severity is said to have exceeded that of his unscrupulous mis- tress. As an administrator, however, he showed considerable ability, and maintained order in the Empire. The Duchy of Courlnnd. in which Biron was born, was then in dispuli' between Poland and Russia. Anna conferred the duchy upon Biron, and Russian armies were employed to place on the Polish throne Augustus HI., Elector of Saxony, who had promised the investi- ture of Courland for Biron. The Emperor Charles VI., suliordinating everything to his Pragmatic Sanction, readily countenanced these violent acts, and the King of Prussia was bought by certain territorial concessions. In 1737. therefore, the nobles of Courland were obliged to