1795 he became professor of drawing in the Paris school of mines, and two years later was ordered to the Pyrenees to make sketches. During the fol- lowing years, he was employed on similar missions in the Alps and along the river Rhone, and also accompanied as geographer the expedition of 1800 to the Antarctic ocean. In 1815 he left Prance with Hyde de Neuville, the French consul-general at New York, and, receiving from the latter a mission to study the natural history of the United States, explored for nine years the eastern and southern parts of the country, living for eighteen months alone in a hut in the Alleghany and Rocky moun- tains, and studying their flora. He sent to the Paris museum of natural history specimens of every animal in North America, and discovered also many new plants, and corrected the erroneous ideas that were current in Europe about the flora of the United States. Many scientific societies of the United States elected him to membership. But he had to bear most of the expenses of his explo- rations, his allowance from the French consulate being small and insufficient, and he was compelled to aliandon his labors in 1825 and return to Paris, where he served again as professor of drawing in the School of mines almost till his death. ^ His principal works are " Voyage pittoresque a I'lle de France, au Cap de Bonne Esperance et a I'ile de Tenerife "' (2 vols., Paris, 1812); "Itineraire pittoresque du fleuve Hudson et des parties laterales de I'Amerique du Nord, d'apres des dessins originaux pris sur les lieux " 2 vols., 1828-'9) ; and " Memoires au mu- seum d'histoire naturelle sur I'histoire naturelle de I'Amerique du Nord" (7 vols., 1817-83).
MILBURN, William Henry, clergyman, b.
in Philadelphia, Pa., 26 Sept., 1823. When he was
five years of age a playfellow accidentally struck
him in the left eye with a piece of glass. For two
years he was confined to a dark room, subjected
to the heroic medical treatment of that time, and
when he came forth into the light again it was
found that one of his eyes was entirely blind, and
that but little sight was left in the other. With
this fraction of an eye he pursued his studies at
school and college for about twenty years, the sight
growing dimmer, until at last it went out, and he
has been totally blind for more than thirty years.
In the spring of 1838, with his father's family, he
removed to Jacksonville, 111., was a student at
Illinois college, and in 1843 became a travelling
preacher of the Methodist Episcopal church, hav-
ing Peter Cartwright for his presiding elder.
After an apprenticeship with this pioneer and other
men of his class, Milburn was thought fit to enter
" Brush college," or " Swamp university," as the
regular ministry in the west was called at that day,
and was sent to a circuit where it was his duty to
ride about 200 miles and preach between thirty
and forty times every four weeks, at a salary of
f 100 a year. In 1845, when a little over twenty-
two years of age, he was elected chaplain of the
29th congress. The suggestion of his selection is
said to have proceeded from some western con-
gressmen, fellow-passengers on an Ohio steamboat,
on which he was invited to deliver a Sunday dis-
course, which he closed with a rebuke to the legis-
lators for intemperance, profanity, and gambling
during the voyage. In 1848 he received an ap-
pointment as minister in charge of the church at
Montgomery, Ala. Two years later he was sent to
Mobile, and while there underwent a trial for
heretical teachings, after which he served two years
as minister of a free church that was largely at-
tended by all classes. In 1853 he returned to
Washington as chaplain of the 33d congress, and
he subsequently made his home in New York city,
and devoted himself chiefly to lecturing. He went
to England in 1857 on a lecturing tour, and has
since crossed the ocean three times, spending five
or six years abroad. After a visit to Great Britain
in 1859 he took orders in the Protestant Episcopal
church, but he returned to Methodism in 1871.
Mr. Milburn is widely known as the "blind preach-
er." His ministry and lecture-field have covered
all parts of the United' States and Canada and of
Great Britain and Ireland, and his travels amount
to 1,500,000 miles. In 1885 he served for the third
time as chaplain of congress, and in 1887 he was
for the fourth time elected to that office on the
meeting of the 50th congress. For many years it
was his habit to speak in public every dav. Mr.
Milburn has published "Rifle, Axe, and Saddle-
Bags, Symbols of Western Character and Civiliza-
tion" (New York, 1856); "Ten Years of Preacher-
Life ; Chapters from an Autobiography " (1858) ;
and " The Pioneers, Preachers, and People of the
Mississippi Valley," a course of lectures that were
given originally "at the Lowell institute, Boston,
in 1854 (1860). The two first were republished in
England, and were popular in both countries.
MILES, Dixon Stansbnry, soldier, b. in Mary-
land in 1804; d. in Harper's Ferry, Va., 16 Sept.,
1862. He was graduated at tlie U. S. military acad-
emy, and assigned to the infantry. After serving
as adjutant for five years, he was commissioned
as captain, 8 June, 1836, and held a staff appoint-
ment as quartermaster during the Florida war
and until the beginning of the war with Mexico.
He was brevetted major for gallantry in the de-
fence of Fort Brown, and lieutenant-colonel for
brave conduct at Monterey, was promoted major on
16 Feb., 1847, and was commandant at Vera Cruz
for four months. He was advanced to the grade
of lieutenant-colonel on 15 April, 1851, commanded
a column in the Gila expedition in 1857, and in the
following year conducted an expedition against
the Navajo Indians in New Mexico. He was made
colonel of the 28th infantry on 19 Jan., 1859, was
on duty at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., in 1861, and
after the beginning of the civil war ordered to the
east, taking part in the defence of Washington,
and commanding the reserve at the battle of Bull
Run. After several months' leave of absence, he
was given charge of a brigade guarding the Balti-
more and Ohio railroad in March, 1862. In Sep-
tember he was intrusted with the command of the
post of Harper's Ferry. He asked for re-enforce-
ments, but they were not sent. After Maryland
heights had been evacuated by the force that was
posted there, and when the enemy opened fire
from commanding positions in two quarters, he
offered no further resistance, but surrendered the
post with 11,500 troops and arms, ammunition,
and supplies. He was mortally wounded by the
bursting of a shell after the capitulation.
MILES, treor^'e Henry, author, b. in Balti-
more, Md., 31 July, 1824; d. in Thornbrook, near
Emmettsburg, Md., 23 July, 1871. He was gradu-
ated at Mount St. Mary's college in 1843, studied
law, and practised in Baltimore for several years.
His first literary work was " The Truce of God,"
a story. In 1849 he gained the $50 prize that was
offered by the Baltimore " Catholic Mirror " for the
best short story, by his " Loretto, or the Choice." In
1850 Mr.Miles's drama" Mohammed" won the|l,000
prize that was offered by Edwin Forrest for the best
play by an American author. In 1851 he was sent
by President Fillmore as bearer of despatches to
Madrid. In 1864 he again visited Europe, and upon
his return wrote a series of sketches, " Glimpses of
