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344 BROWN BROWNE BROWN, William Lanrenff, a Scottish theolo- gian, born at Utrecht, Holland, where his fa- ther was pastor, Jan. 7, 1755, died May 11, 1830. His father returned to Scotland in 1757, and he was sent to the grammar school and univer- sity of St. Andrews, but afterward removed to the university of Utrecht, where he combined with the study of divinity that of civil law. In 1778 he became pastor of the English church in that city. Between 1783 and 1793 he took several prizes offered for public competition by different learned bodies in Holland, producing among others a disputation in Latin on the "Origin of Evil," and one on the "Natural Equality of Man," which was printed in Edin- burgh in 1793. He was also made professor and then regent of the university of Utrecht. In 1795, upon the approach of the French ar- mies, he fled to England, where ho was warmly received, and was made principal of Marischal college, Aberdeen, Scotland. At the first competition for the Burnet prize, his essay on the " Existence of a Supreme Creator" obtain- ed the first place (Aberdeen, 1816). He after- ward wrote " A Comparative View of Chris- tianity and of the other Forms of Religion which have existed and still exist in the World, particularly with regard to their Moral Ten- dency" (Edinburgh, 1826). BROWN COAL, one of the three great families into which coals are divided by mineralogists, and which are again subdivided into many sub- ordinate varieties. In England it is also called Bovey coal, from Bovey, near Exeter, where it is principally found. The German deposits of brown coal are mainly in Prussian Hesse, Thuringia, the valley of the Rhine, the Wester- wald (a hill chain in northern Nassau), and in Saxony. The mineral is also found in Al- sace. Vegetable matters are met with in various stages of their conversion into mine- ral coal. In the formations of the present period they are found in great collections of peat, which are sometimes seen in beds alter- nating with others of sand and of clay. In the tertiary strata these vegetable collections occur in beds interstratified with others of limestone and the various rocks of this period. In some instances the plants are little altered, so that the species are easily recognized by the struc- ture of the leaves and fruit. The stems are flattened and cross each other in all directions. The woody fibre has become more or less im- pregnated with bitumen, so that it burns with the peculiar smoke and flame of that substance. This material is called lignite, and sometimes brown coal. Beds of it are worked for fuel in upper Hesse. Another variety of brown coal is more altered in structure, so that its vegeta- ble character is more indistinct, the beds pre- senting stratified bodies of dark, nearly black substance, with an earthy fracture. The lignite is sometimes seen mixed in the same specimen. This variety of brown coal is worked in the vicinity of Cassel. These varieties make but a poor quality of fuel, often containing from 30 to 48 per cent, of water. A large proportion of this, however, may be expelled by drying, though even then 8 per cent, or more may be reabsorbed. The amount of ash varies in the different qualities from less than 1 to more than 50 per cent. Sulphates of lime, potash, and iron often occur as impurities, and nitrogen is sometimes met with to the extent of 15 per cent. In 21 different analyses of brown coal by different chemists, the proportion of carbon is found to vary from 50 to 70 per cent. Brown coal has been found on both sides of the Andes in South America, and in numerous deposits on the eastern and western slopes of the Rocky mountains. Jet is a black variety of brown coal, compact in texture, and taking a good polish, whence its use in jewelry. The oil ex- tracted from brown coal, oleum ligni fossilis, is used for medicinal purposes. (See COAL.) BROWNE, Charles Farrar, an American humor- ist, born at Waterford, Me., April 26, 1834, died at Southampton, England, March 6, 1867. He became a printer, and worked at his trade in Maine, in Boston, and finally in Cincinnati, where he became reporter for a weekly news- paper. In 1858 he wrote for the paper a letter purporting to come from a travelling showman, signing it with the nom de plume of Artemus Ward, which he afterward made so well known. In 1860 he went to New York, and became editor of " Vanity Fair," a humorous publica- tion ; after the failure of which he turned his attention to lecturing, his first lecture being delivered Dec. 23, 1861. His lectures were humorous in form, and their effect was enhanc- ed by his quaint manner of delivery. In 1862 he published his first book, " Artemns Ward : His Book," which was followed by three other volumes, in 1865, '66, '67. In 1866 he went to England, where he lectured with success, and became a contributor to "Punch." He died there of consumption. BROWNE, Edward Harold, D. I)., an English bishop, born in 1811. He was educated at Cambridge, where he became fellow and tutor in 1835 ; was incumbent of St. James's, Exeter, in 1841 ; vice principal and professor of He- brew at St. David's college, Lampeter, from 1843 to 1849 ; vicar of Kenwyn and preben- dary of Exeter in 1853 ; Norrisian professor of divinity at Cambridge in 1854; and canon residentiary of Exeter cathedral in 1857. In 1864 he was consecrated bishop of Ely. He is the author of " An Exposition of the Thirty- Nine Articles" (1850; 9th ed., 1871), repub- lished and edited by Bishop Williams of Con- necticut. He has also published volumes of sermons, and was one of the contributors to "Aids to Faith," Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible," " The Speaker's Commentary," &c. BROWNE, Frances, an Irish poetess, born at Stranorlar, county Donegal, June 16, 1818. At the age of 18 months she lost her sight from smallpox, and as she grew up her brothers and sisters read to her such books as they could procure. From the age of 7 to 15 she was