BEXJAMIX, PAEK. 



BIRXEY, DAXIEL B. 



167 



was as it has always been since the estab- 

 lishment of Belgian independence in 1831 

 between the Liberals and the Conservative, or, 

 as it is now commonly called, the Catholic 

 party. Before the dissolution of the Chamber, 

 the Liberal party reckoned 59 votes, and the 

 Catholic 57. The Catholic party, by absence, 

 had been able to render the valid'ity of the sit- 

 tings impossible, and thus had brought on a 

 dissolution. The election was attended with 

 more than ordinary excitement, and resulted in 

 a decided victory of the Liberals. In the new 

 Chamber the Catholic party has only 52 depu- 

 ties, and the Liberals reckon 64. 



BEXJAMIX, PARK, an American editor and 

 poet, born at Demerara, British Guiana, 

 August 14, 1809, died in Xew York City Sep- 

 tember 12, 1864. His father, a native of Xew 

 England but of "Welsh descent, was at the time 

 of his birth residing in Demerara as a merchant. 

 An illness in childhood improperly treated 

 caused him a permanent lameness, and at an 

 early age he was sent to his father's home in 

 Xew England for medical treatment and to be 

 educated^ He entered Harvard College in 1825, 

 and after remaining two years in that insti- 

 tution, removed to Trinity College, Hartford, 

 where he graduated in 1829, and immediately 

 commenced the study of law, and was ad- 

 mitted to the bar in Boston in 1832. His 

 tastes inclined, however, much more strongly 

 to literature than to law, and he very soon 

 entered the editorial fraternity, becoming one 

 of the original editors of "The Xew England 

 Magazine," a periodical established by J. T. 

 Buckingham. In 1837 he removed to Xew 

 York, and, in connection with Charles Fenno 

 Hoffman, edited the " American Monthly Mag- 

 azine," and subsequently was associated with 

 Horace Greeley, as editor of the " Xew Yorker." 

 His next literary enterprise was the editing for 

 a short time the " Brother Jonathan," a weekly 

 literary paper, which, however, he soon aban- 

 doned in consequence of some difficulty with 

 the publisher of the paper, and, in conjunction 

 with Epes Sargent and Rufus TV. Griswold, 

 started a rival weekly, called the " Xew 

 "World," which for some years had a successful 

 career. Some of his best sonnets and lyric 

 poems appeared in its columns. After five 

 years he sold his interest in this paper, and 

 after a short experience as a bookseller and 

 publisher, devoted himself exclusively to lit- 

 erature, being a frequent contributor "to mag- 

 azines and literary periodicals, and a lecturer 

 and poet before lyceums and on public occa- 

 sions. His poems, which embrace many popu- 

 lar lyrical and satirical pieces, have never been 

 collected, but are scattered through the recent 

 periodical literature of the country, and several 

 of the larger poems, though often recited, have 

 never appeared in print. 



BIXGHAM, PEEEGRIXE, an English jurist 

 and legal writer, born in London in 1788, died 

 in the same city November 1, 1804. He was 

 educated at "Winchester and Magdalen College, 



Oxford, proceeding B. A. in 1810, and waa 

 called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1818. 

 He was for some years one of the Police Mag- 

 istrates at Great Marborough Street, and was 

 the author of " The Law and Practice of Ex- 

 ecutions" (London, 8vo, 1815);" "A Treatise 

 on Infancy and Coverture" (London, 8vo. 

 1816) ; "A Digest of the Law of Landlord and 

 Tenant, with Precedents " (London, 8vo, 1820) ; 

 ' ; A System of Shorthand on the Principle of 

 the Association of Ideas " (London, 8vo, 1821) ; 

 and " Reports in the Common Pleas from Eas- 

 ter Term, 1819, to Michaelmas Term, 1840" 

 (London, 19 vols. 8vo, 1821-1840). Of these 

 the first three were compiled jointly with "W. 

 J. Broderip, Esq., the remainder by Mr. Bing- 

 ham alone. 



BIRXEY, DAMEL BELL, a major-general of 

 volunteers in the service of the United States, 

 and at the time of his death commander of the 

 10th army corps, born in Huntsville, Ala., in 

 1825, died in Philadelphia, Oct. 18th, 1864. 

 Gen. Birney was a son of the late Hon. J. G. 

 Birney, an Alabama planter and statesman, 

 who emancipated all of his slaves, and coming 

 first to Cincinnati, and afterwards to Michigan, 

 to advocate the cause of emancipation, was, in 

 1844, the candidate of the liberty party for the 

 presidency. His son received his academical 

 education in Cincinnati, and also studied law 

 there, but after his admission to the bar was 

 for two or three years engaged in mercantile 

 pursuits. In 1848 he removed to Philadelphia 

 and opened a law office, and soon acquired a 

 large practice. He early connected himself 

 with one of the volunteer militia companies of 

 that city, and at the commencement of the 

 war was active in raising a Philadelphia regi- 

 ment under the three months' call, of which 

 he was appointed lieutenant-colonel. At the 

 expiration of their time of service, the men re- 

 enlisted under him as colonel, and the regiment- 

 joined the Army of the Potomac. In Febru- 

 ary, 1862, he was appointed brigadier-general, 

 and served in all the battles of the Peninsula, 

 as well as those before "Washington. In the 

 battle of Fredericksburg he distinguished him- 

 self, and in the battle of Chancellorsville his 

 brigade, in Berry's division, rendered efficient 

 service in checking the advance of Jackson's 

 troops after the panic in the llth corps. After 

 the death of Gen. Berry, he took command of 

 the division, being promoted to a major-gen- 

 eralship, May 23d, 1863, and led it in the battle 

 of Gettysburg, commanding the corps after 

 Gen. Sickles was wounded. After the 2d corps 

 had been recruited to about 40,000 men, he 

 was assigned to the command of one of its 

 divisions, and in the campaign of 1864 his 

 bravery and skill had called forth the warm 

 commendations of .his superior officers. In 

 pushing Lee back from the wilderness, in the 

 movements toward the Xorth Anna, the cross- 

 ing of that river and the Pamunkey, in the ac- 

 tions of Hanover Court House and Bethesda 

 Church, in the battle of Cold Harbor, and in- 



