in 1783. He studied in the University of Coimbra, Portugal, where he was made doctor of laws, and obtained great distinction as a scholar. He after- ward entered the order of the Friars of St. Augus- tin, and at once became celebrated as a preacher. His opinions in favor of the Jesuits excited the enmity of the Marquis of Pombal, the minister of Joseph I., of Portugal, who had been his protector. When the Jesuits were expelled, Durao thought himself in danger, and fled to Andalusia in 1762. Hostilities, however, had begun the same year be- tween Portugal and Spain, and he was imprisoned as a Portuguese spy till the signing of the treaty of Paris, 10 Feb., 17(53, when he left Spain for Italy. He took up his residence in Rome, where he en- joyed the acquaintance of Alfieri, Cesarotti, and the noted literary men of the period. Here he be- gan to write the poem on which his fame princi- pally rests, " Caramuru, or the Discovery of Bahia," which was completed and published in 1781. In 1771 he returned to Lisbon, and from that time till his death was professor of theology in the University of Coimbra. In addition to his poem of " Oaramuru " he wrote many other works in prose and poetry, but the only one of them read to-day in Portugal and Brazil is the " Caramuru," and its popularity is constantly increasing. The herc^ is the Portuguese navigator Diogo Alvares, who was shipwrecked on the coast of Brazil in 1508 or 1509, and who was called by the natives " Caramuru," or " man of fire,"' from the guns of his followers. In his pictures of Indian manners and customs, and in his descriptions of the splendid scenery of Brazil, Durao is considered to have equalled Feni- more Cooper, the novelist. Durao was little known beyond Brazil and Portugal before 1823, when a French translation of the " Caramuru " was pub- lished by De Monglave.
DURBIN, Elisha J., missionary, b. in Madison
county, Ky., in 1800. At the age of sixteen he en-
tered the Roman Catholic seminary of St. Thomas,
Ky., and was ordained priest in 1822, afterward be-
coming professor in St. Joseph's college, Bards-
town, and assistant at the cathedral there. In 1824
he was intrusted with the pastoral care of the en-
tire Roman Catholic population of western and
southwestern Kentucky, with headquarters in Mor-
ganfield. Union co. After 1832 he was also obliged
to visit Nashville several times a year. During
fifty years of his missionary labors his horseback
journeys averaged 200 miles a week. Father Dur-
bin himself estimates that during sixty-two years
he has travelled over 500,000 miles. Within two
years after his nomination to the mission of south-
western Kentucky he built the Church of the
Sacred Heart, then the only Roman Catholic church
west of Breckinridge county and east of the Mis-
sissippi, and the Church of St. Ambrose in Union
county. He erected the Church of St. Gerome in
Graves county in 1836, that of the Sacred Heart,
Morganfield, in 1855, and St. Agnes's church. Union-
town, in 1860, of which he was appointed pastor.
In 1873 he was relieved of his pastoral duties in
Union county, but insisted on being allotted active
work, and was given charge of the Roman Catholics
living along the Blizabethtown and Paducah rail-
road. Here he remained till 1883, when he was
persuaded to spend the remainder of his life in St.
Joseph's seminary, Bardstown. In 1885 he peti-
tioned his bishop to be restored to active duty, and
was assigned to pastoral work.
DURBIN, John Price, clergyman, b. in Bourbon county, Ky., in 1800; d. in New York city, 17 Oct., 1876. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a cabinet-maker, and in 1819 entered the itinerant ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. He studied at Miami university while
preaching at Hamilton, Ohio, was graduated at
Cincinnati college in 1825, and soon aiterward was
appointed professor of languages in Augusta col-
lege, Kentucky. He was elected chaplain of the
U. S. senate in 1831, and in 1832 was chosen pro-
fessor of natural science in the Wesleyan university,
and became editor of the " Christian Advocate and
Journal," New York, in 1833. In 1834 he was
elected president of Dickinson college, Carlisle, Pa.,
and during his incumbency made an extensive
tour in Europe and the east. As member of the
general conference of 1844 he was a prominent
actor in the great contest on slavery which divided
the church. After retiring from his office in 1845
he was pastor of churches in Philadelphia, and was
also presiding elder of the Philadelphia district.
He was secretary of the missionary society from
1850 to 1872, when he retired in consequence of
physical infirmity. To his labors was largely due
the establishment of missions in India, Bulgaria,
western and northern Europe, and many parts of
the United States, and the reinvigoration of those
in China and elsewhere, while through his plans
the annual contributions were increased from
$100,000 to $600,000. In 1867 he visited Europe
in the interest of missions. He was distinguished
for his eloquence and administrative ability. Be-
side numerous contributions to periodical litera-
ture. Dr. Durbin published " Observations in
Europe, principally in France and Great Britain "
(2 vols., New York, 1844), and "Observations in
Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor " (2 vols.,
1845). and edited, with notes. Wood's " Mosaic
History of the Creation " (1831).
BUREAU DE LA MALLE, Jean Baptiste Joseph Rene, French scholar, b. in Santo Domingo, 21 Nov., 1742; d. in Landres, Prance, 19 Sept., 1807. He became an orphan in infancy, and
was sent to France when he was but five years old.
In 1749 he entered the college of Plessis, where he
distinguished himself for scholarship, and after-
ward he devoted himself exclusively to literary
pursuits. His thorough and critical knowledge of
the principal European languages and his fond-
ness for comparative philology led him to the
study of the classics later in life. His house in
Paris became the resort of the most distinguished
literary men in France, and he was intimate with
La Harpe, D'Alembert, Marmontel, and Delille.
Dureau was named a member of the corps legisla-
tive in 1803, and of the institute in 1804. He
published "Traite des Bienfaits," a translation
from Seneca (1776), and a translation of the works
of Tacitus, which was at once recognized as supe-
rior to all previous French translations of tli^t au-
thor (3 vols., 1790). After his death appeared his
translations of Sallust (1808), Livy (1810), and
Valerius Flaccus (1812).
DURELL, Edward Henry, jurist, b. in Portsmouth, N. H., 14 July, 1810 ; d. in Schoharie, N. Y., 29 March, 1887. Plis father was chief justice of the state, and U. S. district attorney during the first Jackson administration. After studying at Phillips Exeter academy, the son was graduated at Harvard in 1831, and studied law there and
with his father. He also became familiar with the French, Spanish, Italian, and German languages. In the autumn of 1834 he settled in Pittsburg, Miss., which he re-nained Grenada, and removed to New Orleans in 1836, where he resumed the practice of his profession. Mr. Durell drafted a statute in 1843 that made a change in the law of the descent of property in Louisiana, thereby removing the
