Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/848

* BYR. 748 RoBEKT. See Bayer, ICabl Robert BYRON. BYR, 1)1.1 Emmkrh II. BYRD, bt'id, William (1674-1744). An American author, son of Col. William Bynl, a Colonial olllcial. He was born at Westover. Va., educated in Knf.'land for the law, and, on his re- turn to liis Colonial estates, became a man of great inlluenco in llie Colony. He was a mendu'r of the King's Council for 37 years, and finally its president. Ue lived in lordly state at his plan- tation, Westover. and gathered the most valuable library in the Colony, numberinf; about 4000 volunies. He was tjie founder of Richmond (17;!:5)', also one of the eouimissiouers on the North Carolina boiindary, and did much to en- courage immigration. He was a patron of art and soienic, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Great lirilain. Byrd is best remembered as the author of the Westover jl/an«scrip(s, pub- lished in 1841 under three titles: The History of the Dividing Line; A Journey to the Land of Eden; and .1 Progress to the Mines, all re- markable for their "style, wit, keen obseiTation, and intrinsic interest. The best edition of these is that of ..(. S. Bassett ( 1901 ) . Byrd's interest- ing letters have been published in The Virginia Magiizinf of History and Biography (1902). BYRGITTS, ber'jr-us, Justus, or Jobst Bijrgi (lo.'ii-lll^'i). A Swiss mathematician and in- ventor of various astronomical instruments. He was born at Lichtensteig, Canton of Saint Gall, and was emploved as a meehanician first in the service of Wilhelm IV'., Landgrave of Hesse, then of Emperor Rudolph II. Among his inventions may be noticed the proportional compasses. He also found a method of resolving spherical tri- angles, and is said to have hit upon the idea of logarithms. BYRLAW, bPr'la (Ice!, liyr, AS. by, Engl. hi/, settlement + log, Engl. law). In early Eng- lish and Scottish history, the local custom or law of a township, village, or rural district. This law appears to have been administered by poi>ular local tribunals, having no connection w ith the regular courts of the kingdom, and to have been concerned, for the most part, with dis- putes as to boundaries, trespass of cattle, etc. It prevailed extcnsivelv in England, especially in Kent, as late as the" Thirteenth Century, but has now almost everywhere yielded to the com- mon law and the regi'ilar tribunals. BYRNE, bcrn. Thomas Sebastian (1842—). An .Xmcrican Roman Catholic divine, born at Hamilton, Ohio. He received his education at the public schools, the Preparatory Seminary of Saint Thomas, Bardstown, Ky., and Saint Mary's Col- lege of the West, where he graduated in 18G4. .'Vfter a supplementary course at the American College, Rome, he was ordained priest in Cin- cinnati (1800). and became instructor at Mount Saint ]Iary's Seminary. He was subseqtiently placed in ciiarge of the Cincinnati Cathedral, and upon the reopening of Saint Mary's Seminary he became rector of that institution. In 1804 he was appointed Bishop of Xashville. In col- laboration with the Rev. Dr. Pabisch. he trans- lated Hr. Alzoy's Church History (3 vols.. 1874- 78). His other publications include Man from a Catholic Point of Vien-, which was read at the Parliament of Religions (Chicago, 1803). BYRNIE, ber'ni (AS. byrne. corselet. OHG. hrunna, Olcel. hrynja, breastplate; cf. Olr. hruinne, breast). A shirt of mail. In the time of the Carolingians it reached only to the hips, but in the Tenth Century it extended to the knees. The sleeves were made wide and short, allording no protection to the forearm. See Coat OK Mail. BY'RON, Anne I.sabella Milbanke (1702- IStiO). The wife of Lord Byron, and the only child of Sir Ralph Milbanke. " She was born May 17, 1702; married Lord Byron January 2, 1815, and separated from him in Februarv of the next year. On the death of Lord (properly Baron) "Scarsdale, she became Baroness of Wentworth, and for several years before her death employed her large income in works of charity. She died ]lay 10, 1860. One child was borne by lier to Byron, "Ada, sole daughter of my house and heart," who married William, Lord King, after- wards Earl of Lovelace. Consult Stowe, Lady Byron Vindicated (Boston, 1869). BYRON, George Gordon, sixth Lord (1788- 1824). One of the greatest of English poets. He was born in London. January 22. 17S8. and was the only son of Capt. .Tohn Byron, of the Guards, and Catherine Gordon of Gight, a Scottish heiress. Captain Byron and his wife did not live happily. The husband was a profligate, and the wife's fortune was soon squandered at the gaming-table. Separated from her husband. Lady Byron retired on an income of £1.50 a year, to Aberdeen, with her lame boy, wliom in ln'r ca- prieiousness she treated with alternate violence and affection. In his eleventh year Byron suc- ceeded his grand-uncle, William. Lord Byron, and mother and son immediately left the north for Newstead Abbey, the ancient seat of the- family, a few miles distant from Nottingham, in the romantic district of Sherwood Forest. On. succeeding to the title, Byron was placed in a private school at Dulwieh, and thereafter sent to Harrow (1801). The most remarkable thing about his early years was his extraordinary at- tachments. In "his eighth year, in Aberdeen- shire, he fell in love with Mary Dull'. His cousin, Margaret Parker, who died early, was- his next idol. His strongest passion, however, was for IMary Chaworth, whom he first met when on a visit to'Newstead in 1803. Miss Chaworth's- father had been killed in a duel by Lord Byron, the grand-uncle of the poet, and marriage would have healed the family feud and joined rich es- tates. But it was not to be. Miss Chaworth was Byron's senior by two years, and evidently felt little flattered by the worship of the lame Harrow boy. Next year came the parting inter- view described in The Dream. In 1805 Byron- entered Trinity College, Cambridge. The next year he had a' Newark bookseller print for him a volume of his verse, the entire impression of which he was induced to destroy. With addi- tions and omissions, the volume was republished in 1807. Later in the same year Byron made his first real appearance before the ])iblic in Hour.i of Idleness. The poems contained in this volume were not absolutely without merit: but they might have been w'ritten by any well-educated boy who, in addition to ordinary cleverness, pos- sessed the slightest touch of poetic sensibility. The volume was fiercely assailed by Brougham in the Edinburgh Revietr, and his sarcasms stung Byron into becoming a poet. Byron attributed the^ attack to Jetrrey. The satire Eni/lish Hards and ficotch Reviewers was written in reply to the