Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/796

* BXJRNSIDE. 708 BURB. paign. taking part in all the important battles during that time, and having charge of the mine oi)eriiti<)ns at Petersburg. For his coiuluct on tili^s latter oecasion, he was subsequently cen- sured by a court of in(iuiry which, after a pro- longed investigation, found him. along with sev- eral other officers, "answerable for the want of success.' Many military critics, however, have since contendeil that Burnside was not really at fault, and that the responsibility for the fiasco should be placed elsewhere. l)n April 1.5, 18li5, Burnsi(k' resigned from the service, and subse- (piently was prominent as a projector and man- ager of railroads. He was Governor of Khode Island from lS(it! to 18(!!), and from 1875 until his death was a member of the United States Senate. In 1870 he visited Europe, and during the siege of Paris acted as a medium of com- munication between the French and Germans. As a soldier he rendered valuable services in the capacity of corjjs commander, but proved unable to cope with the problems and difficulties which fall to the lot of a commanding general. Con- sult: Poore, Life and Public Services of Ambrose H. Burnside (Providence, 1882), and Woodbury, Major-General Uurnside and the Xinlh Army Corps (Providence, 187). BURNTISLAND, bfirnt'ihiud. A seaport of Fifeshire, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, about eight miles north-north- vest of Edinburgh (Jlap: Scotland, E 3). Its streets are clean and well kept. Burntisland is an important station of the North British Rail- way, having a steamboat ferry connecting it with Granton, the station on the opposite side of the Forth.' It has a commodious harbor, which was greatly improved in 1870. Its in- dustries consist princi])ally of distilling, oil- refining, and the shipping of coal and iron. In summer it is much frequented as a watering- place. Together with Kingliorn, Dysart, and Kirkcaldy it sends one member to Parliament. Population, in 1801, 4002; in 1001, 4720. BURNT SIENNA, si-en'na. A fine orange- red pigment, transparent and ]iermanent, used in both oil and water-color painting. It is ob- tained by simply burning the ferruginous ochreous earth known as terra di Sienna. E.x- cellent greens are produced by nii.ing it with Prussian blue. It mixes well with other pig- ments generally, dries quickly, and is most valu- able in warming and enriching shadows. BURNT STONES. A variety of carnelian usually found in ruins. They have a dull appear- ance externally, but exhibit a beautiful red, es])ecially if handsomely cut. BURNT UMBER. A pigment of a russet- brown color. It is semi-transparent, mixes well with most other iiigments. and dries quickly. It is obtained by burning umber, an ochreous earth containing manganese, and deriving its name from the place where it was first discovered — Umbria, in Italy. BUR-OAK. See Oak. BURR, Aaron (1710-57). An American clergyman and educator. lie was born in Fair- field, Conn., and graduated at Vale in 17;!0. Two years later he became i)astor of the Presbyterian church in Newark, N. J., and in 1748 second president of the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University. As his predecessor, Jona- than Dickinson, was president only a few months. Dr. Burr, in his administration of nine years, really laid the foundations of the college. He was a thorough scholar and an eloquent preacher. His wife was the daughter of Jonathan I'^dwards. He was the father of Aaron Burr (1750-1830). Dr. Burr published a Latin grammar known as The Xcwark (Irammar (1752); The Supreme Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ (new cd., 1701), and several sermons. BURR, Aaron (1756-1836). An American politician, Vice-President of the United States from 1801 to 1805. He was born in Newark, N. J., February 0, 1750, and was the son of the Rev. Aaron Burr, D.D., second president of Princeton College, and the grandson of Jonathan Edwards (q.v. ), the famous theologian. His paternal grandfather, according to Hildreth, was a German who had settled originally at Fair- field, Conn. His father died in 1757 and his mother in the following year, and he, with his sister, was brought vip by his maternal uncle, the Key, Timothy Edwards, at Elizabethtown, N. J. He graduated at Princeton in 1772, studied theology under the Rev. Dr. Bellamy, of Beth- lehem, Conn., and then (1774) studied law with Tappan Reeve, his brother-in-law, in Litchfield, Conn. He entered the Continental Army in 1775, soon after the battle of Bunker Hill; took part in Benedict Arnold's Canadian expedition ; be- came in turn a member of Washington's military family (April, 1770), and an aide to General Putnam (June, 1770) ; served with distinction as lieutenant-colonel at Hackensack and Jlon- mouth (q.y. ), where he commanded a brigade; was placed in connuand of the American lines in Westchester County (N. Y.) — in the so-called Neutral Ground — in January, 1770; and inMarch of this year resigned from the service. He was involved in the opposition to Washington, and at the time of the more serious friction sided with Ia^c and Gates. (See Conway Caual. The.) In 1782 he began the practice of the law in Albany, N. Y. In July of the same year he married Mrs. Theodosia Prevost, the widow of a British officer who had died in the West Indies, and in the following year their only child, Theo- dosia, was born in New York. (See Burr, Theo- iio.siA.) In 1S3:! Burr, then in his seventy- eighth year, married JIadame Jumel, the widow of a French merchant, who had an estate in the northern part of ilanhattan Island, and who possessed some property. JUuch of this, property was soon spent by Burr, and the ccmple separated, but were never divorced. Burr definitely established his home in the city of New York, in December, 1783, soon after his first marriage, and his political activity and advancement there soon became marked. He was a member of the State Asseml)ly in 1784- 85, and again in 1707-00; was .Vttorncy-General of the State in 178)); was a member of the Unit- ed States Senate from 1701 to 1707; an<l in 1801, just before becoming Vice-President, was chairman of the Constitutional Convention of New York. In 1702 he declined a nomination to the .Supreme Court of New York. He was an early, zealous, and unscrupulous leader among the Republicans (afterwards Democrats), and the especial rival of Alexander Hamilton, the