BROUGHAM AND VAUX, HENRY, 1ST LORD (1778-1868).—S.of Henry B. of Brougham Hall, Westmoreland,b.in Edin., anded.at the High School and Univ. there, where he distinguished himself chiefly in mathematics. He chose a legal career, and was called to the Scottish Bar in 1800, and to the English Bar in 1808. His chief forensic display was his defence of Queen Caroline in 1822. In 1810 he entered Parliament, where his versatility and eloquence soon raised him to a foremost place. The questions on which he chiefly exerted himself were the slave trade, commercial, legal, and parliamentary reform, and education, and in all of these he rendered signal service. When, in 1830, the Whigs, with whom he had always acted, attained power, B. was made Lord Chancellor; but his arrogance, selfishness, and indiscretion rendered him a dangerous and unreliable colleague, and he was never again admitted to office. He turned fiercely against his former political associates, but continued his efforts on behalf of reform in various directions. He was one of the founders of London Univ. and of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. In literature he has a place as one of the original projectors of and most voluminous contributors toThe Edinburgh Review, and as the author of a prodigious number of treatises on science, philosophy, and history, includingDialogues on Instinct, Lives of Statesmen, Philosophers, and Men of Science ofthe Time of George III., Natural Theology, etc., his last work being an autobiography written in his 84th year, andpub.1871. His writings were far too numerous and far too diverse in subject to be of permanent value. His fame now rests chiefly on his services to political and specially to legal reform, and to the diffusion of useful literature, which are his lasting monuments.
BROUGHTON, JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE, 1ST LORD (1786-1869).—Eldests.of Sir Benjamin H.,b.at Redland near Bristol,ed.at Westminster School and at Camb., where he became intimate with Byron, and accompanied him in his journeys in the Peninsula, Greece, and Turkey, and acted as his "best man." In 1816 he was with him after his separation from his wife, and contributed notes to the fourth canto ofChilde Harold, which was dedicated to him. On his return he threw himself into politics with great energy as an advanced Radical, and wrote various pamphlets, for one of which he was in 1819 imprisoned in Newgate. In the following year he entered Parliament, sitting for Westminster. After the attainment of power by the Whigs he held various offices, including those of Sec. at War, Chief Sec. for Ireland, and Pres. of the Board of Control. Hepub.Journey through Albania(1813),Historical Illustrations of the Fourth Canto of Childe Harold(1818), andRecollections of a Long Life(1865), for private circulation, and he left in MS.Diaries, Correspondence, and Memoranda, etc., not to be opened till 1900, extracts from which werepub.by hisdau., Lady Dorchester, also under the title ofRecollections from a Long Life(1909).
BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-1810).—Novelist,b.in Philadelphia, belonged to a Quaker family, became a lawyer, but exchanged law for literature, and has the distinction of being the first American to adopt a purely literary career. He wrote several novels, includingWieland(1798),Ormond(1799),Arthur Mervyn(1800-1), and his last,Jane Talbot(1801). With a good deal of crudeness and sentimentality he has occasional power, but dwells too much on the horrible and repulsive, the result, perhaps, of the morbidity produced by the ill-health from which he all his life suffered.
BROWN, GEORGE DOUGLAS (1869-1902).—Novelist, wroteThe House with the Green Shutters, which gives a strongly outlined picture of the harder and less genial aspects of Scottish life and character. It may be regarded as a useful supplement and corrective to the more roseate presentations of the kail-yard school of J.M. Barrie and "Ian Maclaren." It made a considerable impression. The authord.almost immediately after its publication. There is an ed. with a memoir by Mr. Andrew Lang.
BROWN, DR. JOHN (1810-1882).—Physician and essayist,s.of John B., D.D., a distinguished dissenting minister in Edin.B.at Biggar, he wased.at the High School and Univ. of Edin., where practically the whole of his uneventful life was spent as a physician, and where he was revered and beloved in no common degree, and he was the cherished friend of many of his most distinguished contemporaries, including Thackeray. He wrote comparativelylittle; but all he did write is good, some of it perfect, of its kind. His essays, among which areRab and his Friends,Pet Marjorie,Our Dogs,Minchmoor, andThe Enterkine, were collected along with papers on art, and medical history and biography, inHoræ Subsecivæ(Leisure Hours), 3 vols. In the mingling of tenderness and delicate humour he has much in common with Lamb; in his insight into dog-nature he is unique. His later years were clouded with occasional fits of depression.
BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820).—Metaphysician,s.of the Rev. Samuel B., minister of Kirkinabreck, practised for some time as a physician in Edin., but his tastes and talents lying in the direction of literature and philosophy, he devoted himself to the cultivation of these, and succeeded Dugald Stewart as Professor of Moral Philosophy in the Univ. of Edin., in which position he had remarkable popularity as a lecturer. His main contribution to literature is hisLectures,pub.after his death. B. was a man of attractive character and considerable talents, but as a philosopher he is now largely superseded. He also wrote poetry, which, though graceful, lacked force, and is now forgotten.
BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897).—Poet,b.at Douglas, Isle of Man,s.of a clergyman, anded.there and at Oxf., entered the Church and held various scholastic appointments, including a mastership at Clifton. His later years were spent in his native island. He had a true lyrical gift, and much of his poetry was written in Manx dialect. His poems includeFo'c'sle Yarns(1881),The Doctor(1887),The Manx Witch(1889), andOld John(1893). He was also an admirable letter-writer, and 2 vols. of his letters have beenpub.
BROWN, TOM (1663-1704).—Satirist, wased.at Oxf., and there composed the famous epigram on Dr. Fell. He was for a few years schoolmaster at Kingston-on-Thames, but owing to his irregularities lost the appointment, and went to London, where he wrote satires, epigrams, and miscellaneous pieces, generally coarse and scurrilous.
BROWNE, CHARLES FARRAR (1834-1867).—Humorist (Artemus Ward),b.in Maine, U.S., worked as a compositor and reporter, and became a highly popular humorous writer, his books beingArtemus Ward his Book,A.W. His Panorama,A.W. among the Mormons, andA.W. in England.
BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS (1705-1760).—Is remembered as the author of some clever imitations of contemporary poets on the theme ofA Pipe of Tobacco, somewhat analogous to theRejected Addressesof a later day. He also wrote a Latin poem on the immortality of the soul. B., who was a country gentleman and barrister, had great conversational powers. He was a friend of Dr. Johnson.
BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605-1682).—Physician and miscellaneous and metaphysical writer,s.of a London merchant, wased.at Winchester and Oxf., after which he studied medicineat various Continental univs., including Leyden, where hegrad.He ultimately settled and practised at Norwich. His first and perhaps best known work,Religio Medici(the Religion of a Physician) waspub.in 1642. Other books arePseudodoxia Epidemica: Enquiries into Vulgar Errors(1646),Hydriotaphia, or Urn-burial(1658); andThe Garden of Cyrusin the same year. After his death werepub.hisLetter to a FriendandChristian Morals. B. is one of the most original writers in the English language. Though by no means free from credulity, and dealing largely with trivial subjects of inquiry, the freshness and ingenuity of his mind invest everything he touches with interest; while on more important subjects his style, if frequently rugged and pedantic, often rises to the highest pitch of grave and stately eloquence. In the Civil War he sided with the King's party, and was knighted in 1671 on the occasion of a Royal visit to Norwich. In character he was simple, cheerful, and retiring. He has had a profound if indirect influence on succeeding literature, mainly by impressing master-minds such as Lamb, Coleridge, and Carlyle.
There is an ed. of B.'s works by S. Wilkin (4 vols., 1835-6),Religio Mediciby Dr. Greenhill, 1881.Lifeby Gosse in Men of Letters Series, 1903.
BROWNE, WILLIAM (1590?-1645?).—Poet,b.at Tavistock,ed.at Oxf., after which he entered the Inner Temple. His poems, which are mainly descriptive, are rich and flowing, and true to the phenomena of nature, but deficient in interest. Influenced by Spenser, he in turn had an influence upon such poets as Milton and Keats. His chief works wereBritannia's Pastorals(1613), andThe Shepheard's Pipe(1614).
BROWNING, ELIZABETH BARRETT (1806-1861).—Poetess, was thedau.of Edward Barrett Moulton Barrett, who assumed the last name on succeeding to the estates of his grandfather in Jamaica. She wasb.at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, but spent her youth at Hope End, near Great Malvern. While still a child she showed her gift, and herf.pub.50 copies of a juvenile epic, on the Battle of Marathon. She wased.at home, but owed her profound knowledge of Greek and much mental stimulus to her early friendship with the blind scholar, Hugh Stuart Boyd, who was a neighbour. At the age of 15 she met with an injury to her spine which confined her to a recumbent position for several years, and from the effects of which she never fully recovered. In 1826 shepub.anonymouslyAn Essay on Mind and Other Poems. Shortly afterwards the abolition of slavery, of which he had been a disinterested supporter, considerably reduced Mr. B.'s means: he accordingly disposed of his estate and removed with his family first to Sidmouth and afterwards to London. At the former Miss B. wrotePrometheus Bound(1835). After her removal to London she fell into delicate health, her lungs being threatened. This did not, however, interfere with her literary labours, and she contributed to various periodicalsThe Romaunt of Margaret,The Romaunt of the Page,The Poet's Vow, and other pieces. In 1838 appearedThe Seraphim and Other Poems(including "Cowper's Grave.") Shortly thereafter the death, by drowning, of her favourite brother gave a serious shock to her already fragile health,and for a time she hovered between life and death. Eventually, however, she regained strength, and meanwhile her fame was growing. Thepub.about 1841 ofThe Cry of the Childrengave it a great impulse, and about the same time she contributed some critical papers in prose to R.H. Horne'sNew Spirit of the Age. In 1844 shepub.two vols. ofPoems, which comprised "The Drama of Exile," "Vision of Poets," and "Lady Geraldine's Courtship." In 1845 she met for the first time her future husband,Robert Browning(q.v.). Their courtship and marriage, owing to her delicate health and the extraordinary objections entertained by Mr. B. to the marriage of any of his children, were carried out under somewhat peculiar and romantic circumstances. After a private marriage and a secret departure from her home, she accompanied her husband to Italy, which became her home almost continuously until her death, and with the political aspirations of which she and her husband both thoroughly identified themselves. The union proved one of unalloyed happiness to both, though it was never forgiven by Mr. Barrett. In her new circumstances her strength greatly increased. Her husband and she settled in Florence, and there she wroteCasa Guidi Windows(1851)—by many considered her strongest work—under the inspiration of the Tuscan struggle for liberty.Aurora Leigh, her largest, and perhaps the most popular of her longer poems, appeared in 1856. In 1850The Sonnets from the Portuguese—the history of her own love-story, thinly disguised by its title—had appeared. In 1860 she issued acoll.ed. of her poems under the title,Poems before Congress. Soon thereafter her health underwent a change for the worse; she gradually lost strength, andd.on June 29, 1861. She is generally considered the greatest of English poetesses. Her works are full of tender and delicate, but also of strong and deep, thought. Her own sufferings, combined with her moral and intellectual strength, made her the champion of the suffering and oppressed wherever she found them. Her gift was essentially lyrical, though much of her work was not so in form. Her weak points are the lack of compression, an occasional somewhat obtrusive mannerism, and frequent failure both in metre and rhyme. Though not nearly the equal of her husband in force of intellect and the higher qualities of the poet, her works had, as might be expected on a comparison of their respective subjects and styles, a much earlier and wider acceptance with the general public. Mrs. B. was a woman of singular nobility and charm, and though not beautiful, was remarkably attractive.Miss Mitford(q.v.) thus describes her as a young woman: "A slight, delicate figure, with a shower of dark curls falling on each side of a most expressive face; large, tender eyes, richly fringed by dark eyelashes, and a smile like a sunbeam."
Lifeby J.H. Ingram (1889);Letters of R. Browning and E.B. Browning(1889).Coll.ed. of her works,seeabove.
BROWNING, ROBERT (1812-1889).—Poet, onlys.of Robert B., a man of fine intellect and equally fine character, who held a position in the Bank of England, wasb.in Camberwell. His mother, to whom he was ardently attached, was thedau.of a German shipowner who had settled in Dundee, and was alike intellectuallyand morally worthy of his affection. The only other member of the family was a younger sister, also highly gifted, who was the sympathetic companion of his later years. In his childhood he was distinguished by his love of poetry and natural history. At 12 he had written a book of poetry which he destroyed when he could not find a publisher. After being at one or two private schools, and showing an insuperable dislike to school life, he wased.by a tutor, and thereafter studied Greek at Univ. Coll., London. Through his mother he inherited some musical talent, and composed settings, for various songs. His firstpub.wasPauline, which appeared anonymously in 1833, but attracted little attention. In 1834 he paid his first visit to Italy, in which so much of his future life was to be passed. The publication ofParacelsusin 1835, though the poem had no general popularity, gained the notice of Carlyle, Wordsworth, and other men of letters, and gave him a reputation as a poet of distinguished promise. Two years later his drama ofStratfordwas performed by his friend Macready and Helen Faucit, and in 1840 the most difficult and obscure of his works,Sordello, appeared; but, except with a select few, did little to increase his reputation. It was followed byBells and Pomegranates(containingPippa Passes) (1841),A Blot in the 'Scutcheon(drama) (1843),LuriaandA Soul's Tragedy(1846). In this year he marriedMiss Elizabeth Barrett(q.v.), the poetess, a union of ideal happiness. Thereafter his home until his wife's death in 1861 was in Italy, chiefly at Florence. In 1850 he wroteChristmas Eve and Easter Day, and in 1855 appearedMen and Women. After the death of Mrs. Browning he returned to England, paying, however, frequent visits to Italy. Settling in London he published successivelyDramatis Personæ(1864),The Ring and the Book(1868-69), his greatest work,Balaustion's Adventure, andPrince Hohenstiel-Schwangau(1871),Fifine at the Fair(1872),Red Cotton Night-cap Country(1873),The Inn Album(1875),Pacchiarotto(1876), translation ofAgamemnon(1879),La Saisiaz, etc. (1878),Dramatic Idylls(1879 and 1880),Asolando(1889) appeared on the day of his death. To the great majority of readers, probably, B. is best known by some of his short poems, such as, to name a few, "Rabbi Ben Ezra," "How they brought the good News to Aix," "Evelyn Hope," "The Pied Piper of Hammelin," "A Grammarian's Funeral," "A Death in the Desert." It was long before England recognised that in B. she had received one of the greatest of her poets, and the causes of this lie on the surface. His subjects were often recondite and lay beyond the ken and sympathy of the great bulk of readers; and owing, partly to the subtle links connecting the ideas and partly to his often extremely condensed and rugged expression, the treatment of them was not seldom difficult and obscure. Consequently for long he appealed to a somewhat narrow circle. As time went on, however, and work after work was added, the circle widened, and the marvellous depth and variety of thought and intensity of feeling told with increasing force. Societies began to be formed for the study of the poet's work. Critics became more and more appreciative, and he at last reaped the harvest of admiration and honour which was his due. Many distinctions came to him. He was made LL.D. of Edin., a life Governor of London Univ., and had the offer of the Lord Rectorship of Glasgow. Hed.in the houseof his son at Venice, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. The keynote of his teaching is a wise and noble optimism. His poems were collected in 2 vols. in 1896. Some vols. of his correspondence with Mrs. B. were alsopub.
Uniform ed. of Works (17 vols. 1888-90); Furnivall'sBrowning Bibliography(1883),Livesby Mrs. Sutherland Orr (1891); Gosse (1890); Dowden (1904), G.K. Chesterton (English Men of Letters), etc.;Poetry of Robert Browningby Stopford Brooke, 1902, etc.
SUMMARY.—B.1812,pub.Paracelsus1835,Sordello1840,Bells and Pomegranates1841,m.to E.B.B. 1846, lives chiefly in Italy till herd., 1861, when he returned to England and continued to write until hisd.,pub.Dramatis Personæ,Ring and Book1868-9,Asolando1889,d.1889.
BRUCE, JAMES (1730-1794).—Traveller, wasb.at the family seat of Kinnaird, Perthshire, anded.at Harrow. After various travels in Europe he set out in 1768 on his expedition to Abyssinia, and in 1770 reached the source of the Blue Nile. He returned to England in 1774, and in 1790pub.hisTravelsin 5 quarto vols. His notorious vanity, the singular adventures he related, and the generally embellished character which he imparted to his narrative excited some degree of scepticism, and he was subjected to a good deal of satire, to which, though much annoyed, he did not reply. It is, however, generally allowed that he had shown great daring, perseverance, and zeal in his explorations, and that he made a real addition to the geographical knowledge of his day.
BRUCE, MICHAEL (1746-1767).—Poet,s.of a poor weaver at Kinnesswood, Kinross-shire, as a child herded cattle, but received a good education, including 4 sessions at the Univ. of Edin., and for a short time kept a school. His longest poem,Loch Leven, shows the influence of Thomson. His best is hisElegy. His promising career was cut short by consumption in 1767. The authorship of the beautifulOde to the Cuckoobeginning "Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove" is contested, some authorities claiming it for B. and others for theRev. John Logan(q.v.), who ed. B.'s works, adding some of his own, and who claimed theOdeas his.
BRUNTON, MARY (BALFOUR) (1778-1818).—Novelist,dau.of Col. Balfour of Elwick, andm.to the Rev. Dr. Brunton, Prof. of Oriental Languages in the Univ. of Edin., was the authoress of two novels,Self-Control(1811) andDiscipline(1814), which were popular in their day.
BRYANT, JACOB (1715-1804).—Scholar,ed.at Eton and Camb., wrote learnedly, but paradoxically, on mythological and Homeric subjects. His chief works wereA New System or Analysis of Ancient Mythology(1774-76),Observations on the Plain of Troy(1795), andDissertation concerning the Wars of Troy(1796). In the last two he endeavoured to show that the existence of Troy and the Greek expedition were fabulous. Though so sceptical on these points he was an implicit believer in the authenticity of the Rowley authorship of Chatterton's fabrications. He also wrote on theological subjects.
BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN (1794-1878).—Poet, wasb.at Cummington, Massachusetts, thes.of a doctor. His ancestors on both sides came over in theMayflower. His first poem wasThanatopsis(1817), which was greeted as the best poem produced in America up to that time. After being a lawyer for some time he was induced to exchange law for journalism, and acted as ed. of various periodicals. Among his best known poems areLines to a Water-fowl,The Rivulet,The West Wind,The Forest Hymn,The Fringed Gentian, etc. His muse is tender and graceful, pervaded by a contemplative melancholy, and a love of solitude and the silence of the woods. Though he was brought up to admire Pope, and in his early youth imitated him, he was one of the first American poets to throw off his influence. He had a high sense of duty, was a prominent and patriotic citizen, and enjoyed the esteem and even the reverence of his fellow-countrymen. B. also produced a blank-verse translation of theIliadand theOdyssey.
BRYDGES, SIR SAMUEL EGERTON (1762-1837).—Bibliographer and genealogist,ed.at Camb., was called to the Bar in 1787. He wrote some novels and poems, now forgotten, but rendered valuable service by his bibliographical publications,Censura Literaria, Titles and Opinions of Old English Books(10 vols. 1805-9), his editions of E. Phillips'sTheatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum(1800) Collin'sPeerage of England(1812), and of many rare Elizabethan authors. He was made a baronet in 1814. Hed.at Geneva.
BUCHANAN, GEORGE (1506-1582).—Historian and scholarb.at Killearn, Stirlingshire, of poor parents, was sent in 1519, with the help of an uncle, to the Univ. of Paris, where he first came in contact with the two great influences of the age, the Renaissance and the Reformation. His uncle having died, he had to leave Paris, and after seeing some military service, returned to Scotland, and in 1524 went to St. Andrews, where he studied underJohn Major(q.v.). Two years later he found means to return to Paris, where he graduated at the Scots Coll. in 1528, and taught grammar in the Coll. of St. Barbe. Returning to Scotland in 1536 with a great reputation for learning he was made by James V. tutor to one of his illegitimate sons, and incited by him to satirise the vices of the clergy, which he did in two Latin poems,SomniumandFranciscanus. This stirred the wrath of the ecclesiastical powers to such a heat that, the King withholding his protection, he was obliged in 1539 to save himself by flight first to England and then to France, where he remained until 1547 teaching Latin at Bordeaux and Paris. In the latter year he was invited to become a prof. at Coimbra, where he was imprisoned by the Inquisition as a heretic from 1549-51, and wrote the greater part of his magnificent translation of the Psalms into Latin verse, which has never been excelled by any modern. He returned to England in 1552, but soon re-crossed to France and taught in the Coll. of Boncourt. In 1561 he came back to his native country, where he remained for the rest of his life. Hitherto, though a supporter of the new learning and a merciless exposer of the vices of the clergy, he had remained in the ancient faith, but he now openly joined the ranks of the Reformers. He held the Principalshipof St. Leonard's Coll., St. Andrews, was a supporter of the party of the Regent Moray, produced in 1571 his famousDetectio Mariæ Reginæ, a scathing exposure of the Queen's relations to Darnley and the circumstances leading up to his death, was tutor, 1570-78, to James VI., whom he brought up with great strictness, and to whom he imparted the learning of which the King was afterwards so vain. His chief remaining works wereDe Jure Regni apud Scotos(1579), against absolutism, and hisHistory of Scotland, which waspub.immediately before his death. Though he had borne so great a part in the affairs of his country, and was the first scholar of his age, hed.so poor that he left no funds to meet the expenses of his interment. His literary masterpiece is hisHistory, which is remarkable for the power and richness of its style. Its matter, however, gave so much offence that a proclamation was issued calling in all copies of it, as well as of theDe Jure Regni, that they might be purged of the "offensive and extraordinary matters" which they contained. B. holds his great and unique place in literature not so much for his own writings as for his strong and lasting influence on subsequent writers.
BUCHANAN, ROBERT (1841-1901).—Poet and novelist,b.at Caverswall, Staffordshire, thes.of a Scottish schoolmaster and socialist, anded.at Glasgow, was the friend ofDavid Gray(q.v.), and with him went to London in search of fame, but had a long period of discouragement. His first work, a collection of poems,Undertones(1863), had, however, some success, and was followed byIdylls of Inverburn(1865),London Poems(1866), and others, which gave him a growing reputation, and raised high hopes of his future. Thereafter he took up prose fiction and the drama, not always with success, and got into trouble owing to some drastic criticism of his contemporaries, culminating in his famous article on theFleshly School of Poetry, which appeared in theContemporary Review(Oct. 1871), and evoked replies from Rossetti (The Stealthy School of Criticism), and Swinburne (Under the Microscope). Among his novels areA Child of Nature(1879),God and the Man(1881), and among his dramasA Nine Days' Queen,A Madcap Prince, andAlone in London. His latest poems,The OutcastandThe Wandering Jew, were directed against certain aspects of Christianity. B. was unfortunate in his latter years; a speculation turned out ruinously; he had to sell his copyrights, and he sustained a paralytic seizure, from the effects of which hed.in a few months. He ultimately admitted that his criticism of Rossetti was unjustifiable.
BUCKINGHAM, GEORGE VILLIERS, 2ND DUKE of (1628-1687).—Dramatist,s.of the 1st Duke, who was in 1628 assassinated by Felton. His life was full of adventure and change of fortune. The Restoration gave him back his already twice lost estates, which he again squandered by a life of wild extravagance and profligacy at Court. He was a member of the "Cabal" and intrigued against Clarendon. He wrote pamphlets, lampoons, and plays, but his chief contribution to literature wasThe Rehearsal, a comedy, in which he satirised the heroic drama of Dryden and others. It is believed that S. Butler had a hand in it. Dryden had his revenge in his picture of B. asZimriinAbsalom and Achitophel.
BUCKINGHAM AND NORMANBY, JOHN SHEFFIELD, 1ST DUKE of (1648-1721).—S.of the 2nd Earl of Mulgrave, served in his youth as a soldier under Prince Rupert and Turenne, and is also said to have made love to the Princess, afterwards Queen, Anne. He was a Privy Councillor under James II., William and Mary, and Anne, with the last of whom he remained a favourite. His magnificent mansion was purchased and pulled down to make way for Buckingham Palace. He wroteAn Account of the Revolution,An Essay on Satire, andAn Essay on Poetry. He also remodelled Shakespeare'sJulius Cæsar.
BUCKINGHAM, JAMES SILK (1786-1855).—Journalist and traveller, wrote many books of travel, both on the Old and New World. He established, and for a year or two ed.,The Athenæum, and produced many pamphlets on political and social subjects.
BUCKLAND, FRANCIS TREVELYAN (1826-80).—Naturalist,b.anded.at Oxf., where hisf.was Dean of Christchurch. He studied medicine and was assistant-surgeon in the Life Guards. An enthusiastic lover of natural history, he wrote largely upon it, among his works beingCuriosities of Natural History(4 vols. 1857-72),Log Book of a Fisherman and Zoologist(1876),Natural History of British Fishes(1881). He also founded and ed.Land and Water. He was for a time Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, and served on various commissions. Though observant, he was not always strictly scientific in his methods and modes of expression, and he was a strong opponent of Darwin.
BUCKLE, HENRY THOMAS (1821-1862).—Historical writer,s.of a wealthy shipowner in London, wasb.at Lee in Kent. Though never at a univ. and little at school, he received a high degree of education privately, and inheriting an ample fortune and a large library, he devoted himself to travel and study, with the view of preparing for a great work which he had projected,The History of Civilisation in England. As an introduction to this he entered upon the consideration of the state of civilisation in various other countries, but this he had scarcely completed when his death took place at Damascus in 1862. The first vol. waspub.in 1857, and the second in 1861. In these the results of a vast amount of reading are shown; but they are not free from one-sided views and generalisations resting on insufficient data. He has, however, the credit of having contributed a new idea of history and the method of writing it. The completed work was to have extended to 14 vols. B. was one of the greatest chess-players in Europe.
BUDGELL, EUSTACE (1686-1737).—Miscellaneous writer,ed.at Oxf., was a cousin of Addison, who took him to Ireland and got him appointed to a lucrative office, which, however, he was foolish enough to throw away by lampooning the Viceroy. He assisted A. in theSpectator, of which he wrote 37 numbers signed X. In these he imitates A.'s style with some success. B., who was vain and vindictive, fell on evil days, lost a fortune in the South Sea Bubble, was accused of forging a will, and committed suicide by throwing himself out of a boat at London Bridge.
BULL, GEORGE (1634-1710).—Theologian,b.at Wells,ed.at Tiverton and Oxf., took orders, was ordained by an ejected bishop in 1658, and received the living of Suddington near Bristol. He was a strong Royalist, and was privy to a scheme for bringing back the Royal family. After the Restoration he obtained further preferment, and became in 1704 Bishop of St. David's at an age when his strength had become unequal to any very active discharge of the duties of his see. He has a high place among Anglican theologians, and as a defender of the doctrine of the Trinity was held in high esteem even by Continental Romanist controversialists. Among his works areHarmonia Apostolica(1669-70) in which he endeavoured to reconcile alleged discrepancies between the teaching of St. Paul and St. James on the relation between faith and works, in which he assigned to the latter the higher authority,Defensio Fidei Nicænæ(1685) andCorruptions of the Church of Rome.
BULWER, E.L., (seeLYTTON.)
BUNYAN, JOHN (1628-1688).—B.at Elstow, near Bedford, thes.of a poor tinker, wased.at a free school, after which he worked at his father's trade. At 17 he was drafted as a soldier in the Civil War, and served for two years at Newport Pagnell. At 19 hem.a pious young woman, whose only dowry appears to have been two books, thePlain Man's Pathway to Heavenand thePractice of Piety, by which he was influenced towards a religious life. In his autobiographical book,Grace Abounding, B. describes himself as having led an abandoned life in his youth; but there appears to be no evidence that he was, outwardly at any rate, worse than the average of his neighbours: the only serious fault which he specifies is profanity, others being dancing and bell-ringing. The overwhelming power of his imagination led him to contemplate acts of impiety and profanity, and to a vivid realisation of the dangers these involved. In particular he was harassed by a curiosity in regard to the "unpardonable sin," and a prepossession that he had already committed it. He continually heard voices urging him to "sell Christ," and was tortured by fearful visions. After severe spiritual conflicts he escaped from this condition, and became an enthusiastic and assured believer. In 1657 he joined the Baptist Church, began to preach, and in 1660 was committed to Bedford Jail, at first for three months, but on his refusing to conform, or to desist from preaching, his confinement was extended with little interval for a period of nearly 12 years, not always, however, very rigorous. He supported his family (wife and four children, including a blind girl) by making tagged laces, and devoted all the time he could spare from this to studying his few books and writing. During this period he wrote among other things,The Holy CityandGrace Abounding. Under the Declaration of Indulgence he was released in 1672, and became a licensed preacher. In 1675 the Declaration was cancelled, and he was, under the Conventicle Act, again imprisoned for six months, during which he wrote the first part ofThe Pilgrim's Progress, which appeared in 1678, and to which considerable additions were made in subsequent editions. It was followed by theLife and Death of Mr. Badman(1680),The Holy War(1682),and the second part ofThe Pilgrim's Progress(1684). B. was now widely known as a popular preacher and author, and exercised a wide influence. In 1688 he set out on a journey to mediate between a father and son, in which he was successful. On the return journey he was drenched with rain, caught a chill andd.in London on August 31. He is buried in Bunhill Fields. B. has the distinction of having written, inThe Pilgrim's Progress, probably the most widely read book in the English language, and one which has been translated into more tongues than any book except the Bible. The charm of the work, which makes it the joy of old and young, learned and ignorant, and of readers of all possible schools of thought and theology, lies in the interest of a story in which the intense imagination of the writer makes characters, incidents, and scenes alike live in that of his readers as things actually known and remembered by themselves, in its touches of tenderness and quaint humour, its bursts of heart-moving eloquence, and its pure, nervous, idiomatic English, Macaulay has said, "Every reader knows the straight and narrow path as well as he knows a road on which he has been backwards and forwards a hundred times," and he adds that "In England during the latter half of the seventeenth century there were only two minds which possessed the imaginative faculty in a very eminent degree. One of these minds produced theParadise Lost, the otherThe Pilgrim's Progress." B. wrote about 60 books and tracts, of whichThe Holy Warranks next toThe Pilgrim's Progressin popularity, whileGrace Aboundingis one of the most interesting pieces of biography in existence.
There are numerous Lives, the most complete being that by Dr. John Brown of Bedford (1885 new 1888): others are Southey's (1830), on which Macaulay'sEssayis based, Offor (1862), Froude (1880). OnThe Pilgrim's Progress, The People of the Pilgrimage, by J. Kerr Bain, D.D.
BURCKHARDT, JOHN LEWIS (1784-1817).—Traveller,b.at Lausanne anded.in Germany, came to England in 1806 and wrote his books of travel in English. He travelled widely in Africa and in Syria, and the adjoining countries, became a great oriental scholar, and, disguising himself, made the pilgrimage to Mecca, and obtained access to places not open to Christians. He wrote accounts of his travels, and a book on Arabic proverbs. Hed.of dysentery at Cairo when about to start on a new journey into the interior of Africa.
BURKE, EDMUND (1729-1797).—Statesman, orator, and political philosopher, was thes.of an attorney in Dublin, where he wasb.Hisf.was a Protestant, but his mother, whose maiden name was Nagle, was a Roman Catholic. He received his earlyed.at a Quaker school at Ballitore, and in 1743 proceeded to Trinity Coll., Dublin, where he graduated in 1748. Hisf.wished him to study for the law, and with this object he, in 1750, went to London and entered the Middle Temple. He, however, disliked law and spent more time in literary pursuits than in legal study. In 1756 his firstpub.work appeared,A Vindication of Natural Society, a satire on the views of Bolingbroke, but so close was the imitation of that writer's style, and so grave the irony, that its point as a satire was largely missed.In the same year hepub.his famous treatiseOn the Sublime and Beautiful, which attracted universal attention, and three years later (1759) he projected with Dodsley the publisherThe Annual Register, for which he continued to write the yearly Survey of Events until 1788. About the same time he was introduced to W.G. Hamilton (known as Single-speech H.) then about to go to Ireland as Chief Sec., and accompanied him in the capacity of private sec., in which he remained for three years. In 1765 he became private sec. to the Marquis of Rockingham, the Whig statesman, then Prime Minister, who became his fast friend until his death. At the same time he entered Parliament as member for Wendover, and began his brilliant career as an orator and philosophic statesman. The first great subject in which he interested himself was the controversy with the American colonies, which soon developed into war and ultimate separation, and in 1769 hepub., in reply to G. Grenville, his pamphlet onThe Present State of the Nation. In the same year he purchased the small estate of Gregories near Beaconsfield. His speeches and writings had now made him famous, and among other effects had brought about the suggestion that he was the author of theLetters of Junius. It was also about this time that he became one of the circle which, including Goldsmith, Garrick, etc., had Johnson for its central luminary. In 1770 appearedThoughts on the Causes of the Present Discontent, directed against the growth of the Royal power on the one hand, and of faction on the other. In 1774 he was elected member for Bristol, and continued so until 1780, when differences with his constituency on the questions of Irish trade and Catholic emancipation led to his resignation, after which he sat for Malton until his final retirement from public life. Under the administration of Lord North (1770-1782) the American war went on from bad to worse, and it was in part owing to the splendid oratorical efforts of B. that it was at last brought to an end. To this period belong two of his most brilliant performances, his speech onConciliation with America(1775), and hisLetter to the Sheriffs of Bristol(1777). The fall of North led to Rockingham being recalled to power, which, however, he held for a few months only, dying in the end of 1782, during which period B. held the office of Paymaster of the Forces, and was made a Privy Councillor. Thereafter he committed the great error of his political life in supporting Fox in his coalition with North, one of the most flagitious, as it was to those concerned in it, one of the most fatal, political acts in our parliamentary history. Under this unhappy combination he continued to hold during its brief existence the office of Paymaster, and distinguished himself in connection with Fox's India Bill. The coalition fell in 1783, and was succeeded by the long administration of Pitt, which lasted until 1801. B. was accordingly for the remainder of his political life in opposition. In 1785 he made his great speech onThe Nabob of Arcot's Debts, and in the next year (1786) he moved for papers in regard to the Indian government of Warren Hastings, the consequence of which was the impeachment of that statesman, which, beginning in 1787, lasted until 1794, and of which B. was the leading promoter. Meanwhile, the events in France were in progress which led to the Revolution, and culminated in the death of the King and Queen. By these B.was profoundly moved, and hisReflections on the French Revolution(1790) electrified England, and even Europe. Its success was enormous. The same events and the differences which arose regarding them in the Whig party led to its break up, to the rupture of B's friendship with Fox, and to hisAppeal from the New to the Old Whigs. In 1794 a terrible blow fell upon him in the loss of his son Richard, to whom he was tenderly attached, and in whom he saw signs of promise, which were not patent to others, and which in fact appear to have been non-existent. In the same year the Hastings trial came to an end. B. felt that his work was done and indeed that he was worn out; and he took leave of Parliament. The King, whose favour he had gained by his attitude on the French Revolution, wished to make him Lord Beaconsfield, but the death of his son had deprived such an honour of all its attractions, and the only reward he would accept was a pension of £2500. Even this modest reward for services so transcendent was attacked by the Duke of Bedford, to whom B. made a crushing reply in theLetter to a Noble Lord(1796). His lastpub.was theLetter on a Regicide Peace(1796), called forth by negotiations for peace with France. When it appeared the author was dead.
B. was one of the greatest political thinkers whom England has produced, and all his writings, like his speeches, are characterised by the welding together of knowledge, thought, and feeling. Unlike most orators he is more successful as a writer than as a speaker. He rose too far above the heads of his audience, which the continued splendour of his declamation, his inordinate copiousness, and his excessive vehemence, often passing into fury, at length wearied, and even disgusted: but in his writings are found some of the grandest examples of a fervid and richly elaborated eloquence. Though he was never admitted to the Cabinet, he guided and influenced largely the policy of his party, while by his efforts in the direction of economy and order in administration at home, and on behalf of kindly and just government in India, as well as by his contributions to political philosophy, he laid his country and indeed the world under lasting obligations.
There areLivesby Prior (1824 and 1854); J. Morley (1867), and various ed. of his works have appeared.Select Worksby Payne (3 vols. 1874-78).
SUMMARY.—B.1729,ed.Trinity Coll., Dublin, enters Middle Temple 1750,pub.treatiseOn the Sublime and Beautiful1756, became friend of Rockingham 1765, enters Parliament and engages in American controversy,pub.speech onConciliation with America1775, Paymaster of Forces and P.C. 1782, joined coalition of Fox and North 1782, leads in prosecution of W. Hastings 1787-94,pub. Reflections on French Revolution1790 and breaks with Fox party,pub.Letter on a Regicide Peace1796,d.1797.