Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/136

BIRON. 114 BIRTHS. confirm Anna's appointment, and in 1739 the investiture took place at Warsaw by authority of the Polisli Kinfx and Senate. The Eni])ress died in October, 1740, and Biron, under her will, assumed the regency in the name of the infant Emperor Ivan VI. Field-Marshal Munnich, who during the past reign had supported Biron, but vho saw that he was to receive slight recognition now, set on foot a conspiracy, the result of which •was the exile of Biron to Pelim, in Siberia. A second palace revolution occurred soon after, and the new Empress. Elizabeth Petrovna. ban- ished iliinnich and permitted Biron to take up his residence at Yaroslav. After Elizabeth's death, his duchy was restored to him by Cath- arine II. He died September 28, 1772. Consult: Euehl, Geschichte E. J. von Birons (1764) ; Kambaud, Russia, Vol. II.; Lavisse et Eambaud, Histoire gcnerale (Paris, 1893-1901) ; "Lettres d'Anna Ivanovna," in UArchirc Russe, Vols. II. and III. (Moscow, 1873-77) and Les aniiquitcs riisscs (Moscow. 1884); Halera, Le- beiisbeschfcihiniff (les russischen Geyjeral-Feld- marschalls Mihiiiich (Oldenburg, 1803). BIRR, Iier. See Paksoxstown. BIR'RELL, ArcrsTiXE (1850—). An Eng- lish chancery barrister, best known as an essay- ist, born at Wavertree (near Liverpool). He graduated in 1872 at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in 187.5 was admitted to the bar of the Inner Temple. In 1889. 1892, and 1895 he was re- turned to Parliament as a Liberal for West Fife, and in 1896 was appointed professor of law in University College. London. By his first volume. Obiter Dicta (1884), he achieved forthwith a unique place among modern English essayists. His power of analysis, his wit — often epigram- matic — his positive opinions, and his urbanity, combine to fonn a style whose easy art has evoked the word ■birrelling.' He is also known as an interesting occasional lecturer on literary subjects. His publications include, further: Obiter Dicta. Second Series (1887); a Life of Charlotte lirontc (1887 in Great Writers Se- ries); Men, Women, and Books (1894); Lec- tures on the Duties and Liabilities of Trustees (1890); an edition (1897) of Boswell's Life of Johnson: Sir Frank Loekirood (1898); and i<eren I,ectures on the Law and Uistory of Copy- rifjht in Books (1899), and Collected Essays (i900). BIRT, bOrt, TiiEOuoR (1852—). A German classical philologist. He was born in Hamburg, Alarch 22. 18,52, became professor at Marburg, and is author of numerous monogra])hs of a phi- ■ lological and historical character, among which is lias antike Buehu-csen in seinen Vc'rhaltnissen zur Litteratur (1882). BIRTH (-■^S. heorf. gcbyrd, from beran. to I)ear: cf. Gcr. dehnrt. birth)'. At law birtli dws not take ])lace until the comjilete separation of the child from its mother and the setting up of its independent system of circulaticm. The old no- tion that the child nuist be heard to cry in order to g:Mn the status of a living person was never a part of the common law. Even before hirth a child is for many purposes regarded as a living person, and may", accordingly, inherit real prop- erty or acquire a rested interest under a will or grant of lands. The latter result has been se- cured by statute in England, and generally in the United States. (See Posthumous Child.) At common law the killing of an unborn child was not nuirder, but it has been made so, gener- ally of the grade of manslaughter, by modem statutes. See Adortion. In England and many of our States there are elaborate provisions by statute for the compul- sory ])ublie registration of births. These pro- visions apply to all children born alive, whether legitimate or illegitimate, bit not to such as are stillborn. Concealment of BiiiTii is a statut(ny otlense, created in England by 21 Jac. 1. c. 27' (1024). That .statute provided that if any woman who was delivered of a child which would be a liastard if born alive endeavored to conceal the birth by burying, drowning, or the like, she -should suffer death, unless she could prove by at least one witness that the child was born dead. Even Blackstone was forced to admit that this law "savored pretty strongly of severity," and it has been modilied from time to time. At present the Knglish statute provides that any ])erson who endeavors to conceal the birth of a eliild by any secret disposition of its dead body, whether it died before, at, or after its birth, is guilty of a misdemeanor. While the statutes of our States on this subject differ in some respects, most of them are characterized by the milder spirit of the modern English acts. Consult the authori- ties referred to under Medical Jurisprudence; Criminal L-w. BIRTHMARK. See N.evus. BIRTHMARK, The. A story in Haw- thurnc's Mosses from an Old Manse. BIRTHRIGHT. A preference in inheritance accoKlcd by law to an heir according to the or- der of his" birth. Such pieference may be ex- clusive, as in the English rule of primogeniture (q.v.). which gives the entire real estate to the eldest male heir, and in the singular custom of borough English (q.v.), under which it goes to the youngest son; or it may be i)roi)ortional. only giving the eldest son, or the youngest, as the case may be. a larger share in the estate than is apjiropriated to the other heirs. It is in this latter sense that we mvist understand the term as employed in early Hebrew history; and this ha.s, perhaps, been its usual form. The riglit, in one or another of these forms, pre- va'iled in all stages of primitive society, though with advancing civilization it has gradually given place to the more eqiitablc princijilc of an equal division of the property among all the heirs of a given class. Its survival in lOngland is jirobablv die (|uite as much to the conservative temi)er"of the English people as to the existence of social conditions which tend to peri)etuale it. Almost everywhere else, on the Continent of Europe as well as in the Cnitcd States and the colonies of Great Britain, it has compWtely dis- apiii'.ucd. Se(» IlEllt; iNllElilTANCE. BIRTHS, Reoistuation of. The first nation to provide for the public registration of births was England. Church registers had long been kept, but in 1837 a registrar-general's ollice was established. The registration, however, was vol- untary until 1870. The Continental countries .sdiin adopted the system and made it complete and effective. In England the still-births are not included in the rctirns, but are recorded sepa- rately. On the Continent they are included. As