Burritt

Burritt, Elihu, the son of a village schoolmaster, was born at New Britain, Connecticut, U.S.A., in 1811. Apprenticed to a blacksmith, he worked at the trade for several years, teaching himself Latin and French in his leisure moments. After a brief period of school he pushed his studies further till he had learnt nearly all the modern languages with Hebrew, Syriac, and Greek, while still pursuing his craft. In 1842 he published some translations from Icelandic and Eastern tongues in the American Eclectic Review, and added Persian, Turkish and Ethiopic to his repertory. He now started a journal and plunged into literary work of various kinds, lecturing all over the world on temperance, advocating an ocean penny postage, and trying to establish a "League of Universal Brotherhood." His two most popular books were entitled Sparks front the Anvil and Thoughts on Things at Home and Abroad. He lived for many years in England, acting for a time as American consul at Birmiugham. He died in 1879.