BIRMINGHAM BIRON. 



515 



black procured from the soot of sesnmum oil mixed 

 with the gall of the mirga fish. The objects thus 

 depicted are animals, and cabalistical letters and 

 figures intended as charms against wounds. This 

 absurd process is not supposed to conduce to the 

 beauty of the individual, but is submitted to, because 

 not to be tattooed is regarded as a mark of effemi- 

 nacy. Few of the nations beyond the Burrampooter, 

 except the Birmese and Talains, have preserved this 

 ancient custom. The practice of chewing betel is 

 universal, and the size and fabric of the paun-box, 

 denote the rank of the owner. See Voyage du Capit. 

 Hiram Cox, dans I' Empire des Birmans. The French 

 edition, by Chalons d'Ange, Paris, 1824, 2 vols., is 

 better than the original English, London, 1821. See 

 also, Narrative of the Birmese /Par, by major Snod- 

 grass, London, 1827 ; and Mrs Ann H. Judson's Re- 

 lation of the American Baptist Mission to the Birman 

 Empire, Washington, 1823. 



BIRMINGHAM ; a large manufacturing town in War- 

 wickshire, situated on a declivity, on the river Rea, 

 which joins the Tame ; 62 miles N. W. Oxford, 87 

 N. Bristol, 109 N. N. W. London. It has long been 

 distinguished for the variety, extent, and excellence 

 of its manufactures, particularly in hardware. Among 

 the principal manufactures are buttons, in immense 

 variety, buckles, and snuff-boxes ; toys, trinkets, and 

 jcwelery ; polished steel watch-chains, cork-screws, 

 &c. ; plated goods for the dining and tea-table ; ja- 

 panned and enameled articles ; brass work of every 

 description ; swords and fire-arms ; medals and coins 

 of various kinds; copying machines and pneumatic 

 apparatus ; the more ponderous productions of the 

 casting-furnace and rolling-mill ; and, indeed, every 

 hardware commodity that can be considered as curi- 

 ous, useful, or ornamental. The manufactories are 

 established upon the largest scale, and with the most 

 astonishing ingenuity. A coining-mill was erected 

 in 1788, which is now capable of striking between 30 

 and 40,000 pieces of money in an hour. Before the 

 close of the last war, no less than 14,500 stand of 

 arms were delivered per week to the ordnance office. 

 At the pin-works, it is said, 12,000 pins am be cut 

 and pointed, and 50,000 pin-heads can be made from 

 the wire in an hour. The celebrated Soho works of 

 Messrs Boulton and Watt, which, although in the 

 county of Stafford, are only a mile and a half from 

 the town, have added greatly to the fame of Birming- 

 ham. These consist of four squares with connecting 

 ranges of shops; and besides the manufacture of 

 steam engines, which has rendered the name of the 

 firm known throughout the world, a very great va- 

 riety of Birmingham articles are made here. 



Birmingham is about two miles in length. The 

 lower part of the town consists chiefly of old build- 

 ings, is crowded with workshops and warehouses, and 

 is inhabited principally by manufacturers; but the 

 upper part has a superior appearance, consisting of 

 new and regular streets, and containing a number of 

 elegant buildings. The immediate vicinity of the 

 town is much occupied by garden-ground, in the 

 Cultivation of which, in small detached portions, many 

 of the artisans and other inhabitants take a very ra- 

 tional pleasure. Extensive and important as it has 

 become, it is governed simply by two constables, a 

 high and low bailiff, with inferior officers, chosen 

 annually at the court leet of the lord of the manor. 

 So decidedly, however, has this great town prospered 

 by the absence of corporate or chartered privileges, 

 it has uniformly declined them. 



Birmingham is distinguished for its charitable in- 

 stitutions, and has various schools, and several libra- 

 ries, one of which contains 10,000 volumes. The 

 town has the benefit of several canals, which enable 

 :t to carry on an easy intercourse with foreign coun- 



tries. It has three weekly markets, and two annual 

 fairs. The soil about the town is dry, and the cli- 

 mate is considered remarkably healthy. The average 

 mortality of B., for six years, ending 1801. was only 

 1 to 59 ; of Manchester, 1 to 37 ; and of London, 1 

 to 31. 



The name Birmingham is often pronounced Brum- 

 magem, and in old writings it is sometimes spelled so 

 as to justify that appellation. It was a place of some 

 consideration at the time of the conquest ; and gave 

 name to the ancient family of Birmingham, who then 

 and long after possessed the lordship, and obtained 

 a market from Henry II., and two fairs from Henry 

 III. Its first considerable increase in size and popu- 

 lation took place in the reign of Charles II., which 

 is said to have been caused by the operation of the 

 five-mile act, which drove the non-conformist minis- 

 ters from the corporate towns, several of whom settled 

 at Birmingham, and were followed by their congre- 

 gations. It sided warmly with the parliament against 

 Charles I., but exhibited a very contrary spirit in 

 1791, when a furious riot occurred in consequence of 

 a festive commemoration of the breaking out of the 

 French revolution. During this disturbance, which 

 lasted some days, the mob burned down the houses 

 of many wealthy dissenters and others, in the town 

 and vicinity, whom they deemed favourable to the 

 revolutionary cause ; and among the rest, the abode 

 of the celebrated Dr Priestley. The damage, on 

 this disgraceful occasion, was estimated at ,60,000, 

 which was made up to the sufferers by act of parlia- 

 ment, and two of the ringleaders were executed. Of 

 late years, Birmingham has distinguished itself by 

 the position it has taken in political questions, parti- 

 cularly by the striking attitude which it assumed 

 during the progress of the Reform bill. 



The population of B. has been at different periods 

 as follows: in 1801, 73,670; in 1811, 85,753; in 

 1821, 106,722; in 1831, 146,986. 



BIRON, Charles cle Gontaut, duke of; son of mar- 

 shal Armand de Gontaut, baron Biron, born about 

 1562. Educated as a Calvanist, he had twice chang 

 ed his religion before he reached the sixteenth year 

 of his age. In his fourteenth year, lie was made 

 colonel of the Swiss regiment, and served Henry IV. 

 with much zeal and courage. By the king's favour, 

 he was, in 1592, raised to the rank of admiral of 

 France. Though distinguished at court as well as in 

 the field, always feared and praised, he was violent, 

 obstinate, and presumptuous. At the retaking of 

 Amiens, in 1598, he served under Henry IV., and, 

 in the same year, was made a peer and duke. He 

 thought himself, however, not sufficiently rewarded. 

 The Spanish party, which, after the peace of Ver- 

 vins, could injure Henry only by secret intrigues, 

 took advantage of the duke's discontent. Henry 

 appointed him his ambassador at the court of Brus- 

 sels, to receive the oath of the archduke to the peace 

 of Vervins. The Spanish court seized this oppor- 

 tunity to dazzle him with festivals, spectacles, and 

 honours ; the female arts of seduction were put in 

 practice, and he promised to join the Catholics, when- 

 ever they should rise again. In 1599, he concluded 

 an agreement with the duke of Savoy and the count 

 of Fuentes, by which he pledged himself to take up 

 arms against his benefactor. Meanwhile, war being 

 declared against the duke of Savoy (1600), B. saw 

 himself reduced to the necessity of attacking him. 

 For fear that his understanding with the duke should 

 become visible, he possessed himself of almost all 

 the towns in the duchy, which was the easier, be- 

 cause Emanuel had expected some forbearance on 

 his part. Fuentes and the duke ventured to propose 

 to B., that he should deliver the person of the king 

 into their hands ; but he refused. Their suggestions, 



