In 1898 he took command of the troops at Aldershot, and when the Boer War broke out in 1899 he was selected to command the South African Field Force (seeTransvaal), and landedat Cape Town on the 31st of October. Owing to the Boer investment of Ladysmith and the consequent gravity of the military situation in Natal, he unexpectedly hurried thither in order to supervise personally the operations, but on the 15th of December his first attempt to cross the Tugela at Colenso (seeLadysmith) was repulsed. The government, alarmed at the situation and the pessimistic tone of Buller's messages, sent out Lord Roberts to supersede him in the chief command, Sir Redvers being left in subordinate command of the Natal force. His second attempt to relieve Ladysmith (January 10-27) proved another failure, the result of the operations at Spion Kop (January 24) causing consternation in England. A third attempt (Vaalkrantz, February 5-7) was unsuccessful, but the Natal army finally accomplished its task in the series of actions which culminated in the victory of Pieter's Hill and the relief of Ladysmith on the 27th of February. Sir Redvers Buller remained in command of the Natal army till October 1900, when he returned to England (being created G.C.M.G.), having in the meanwhile slowly done a great deal of hard work in driving the Boers from the Biggarsberg (May 15), forcing Lang's Nek (June 12), and occupying Lydenburg (September 6). But though these latter operations had done much to re-establish his reputation for dogged determination, and he had never lost the confidence of his own men, his capacity for an important command in delicate and difficult operations was now seriously questioned. The continuance, therefore, in 1901 of his appointment to the important Aldershot command met with a vigorous press criticism, in which the detailed objections taken to his conduct of the operations before Ladysmith (and particularly to a message to Sir George White in which he seriously contemplated and provided for the contingency of surrender) were given new prominence. On the 10th of October 1901, at a luncheon in London, Sir Redvers Buller made a speech in answer to these criticisms in terms which were held to be a breach of discipline, and he was placed on half-pay a few days later. For the remaining years of his life he played an active part as a country gentleman, accepting in dignified silence the prolonged attacks on his failures in South Africa; among the public generally, and particularly in his own county, he never lost his popularity. He died on the 2nd of June 1908. He had married in 1882 Lady Audrey, daughter of the 4th Marquess Townshend, who survived him with one daughter.
AMemoir, by Lewis Butler, was published in 1909.
BULLET(Fr.boulet, diminutive ofboule, ball). The original meaning (a "small ball") has, since the end of the 16th century, been narrowed down to the special case of the projectile used with small arms of all kinds, irrespective of its size or shape. (For details seeAmmunition;Gun;Rifle, &c.)
BULL-FIGHTING,the national Spanish sport. The Spanish name istauromaquia(Gr.ταῦρος, bull, andμαχή, combat). Combats with bulls were common in ancient Thessaly as well as in the amphitheatres of imperial Rome, but probably partook more of the nature of worrying than fighting, like the bull-baiting formerly common in England. The Moors of Africa also possessed a sport of this kind, and it is probable that they introduced it into Andalusia when they conquered that province. It is certain that they held bull-fights in the half-ruined Roman amphitheatres of Merida, Cordova, Tarragona, Toledo and other places, and that these constituted the favourite sport of the Moorish chieftains. Although patriotic tradition names the great Cid himself as the original Spanish bull-fighter, it is probable that the first Spaniard to kill a bull in the arena was Don Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, who about 1040, employing the lance, which remained for centuries the chief weapon used in the sport, proved himself superior to the flower of the Moorish knights. A spirited rivalry in the art between the Christian and Moorish warriors resulted, in which even the kings of Castile and other Spanish princes took an ardent interest. After the Moors were driven from Spain by Ferdinand II., bull-fighting continued to be the favourite sport of the aristocracy, the method of fighting being on horseback with the lance. At the time of the accession of the house of Austria it had become an indispensable accessory of every court function, and Charles V. ensured his popularity with the people by killing a bull with his own lance on the birthday of his son, Philip II. Philip IV. is also known to have taken a personal part in bull-fights. During this period the lance was discarded in favour of the short spear (rejoncillo), and the leg armour still worn by thepicadoreswas introduced. The accession of the house of Bourbon witnessed a radical transformation in the character of the bullfight, which the aristocracy began gradually to neglect, admitting to the combats professional subordinates who, by the end of the 17th century, had become the only active participants in the bull-ring. The first great professionalespada(i.e.swordsman, the chief bull-fighter, who actually kills the bull) was Francisco Romero, of Ronda in Andalusia (about 1700), who introduced theestoque, the sword still used to kill the bull, and themuleta, the red flag carried by theespada(see below), the spear falling into complete disuse.
For the past two centuries the art of bull-fighting has developed gradually into the spectacle of to-day. Imitations of the Spanish bull-fights have been repeatedly introduced into France and Italy, but the cruelty of the sport has prevented its taking firm root. In Portugal a kind of bull-baiting is practised, in which neither man nor beast is much hurt, the bulls having their horns truncated and padded and never being killed. In Spain many vain attempts have been made to abolish the sport, by Ferdinand II. himself, instigated by his wife Isabella, by Charles III., by Ferdinand VI., and by Charles IV.; and several popes placed its devotees under the ban of excommunication with no perceptible effect upon its popularity. Before the introduction of railways there were comparatively few bull-rings (plazas de toros) in Spain, but these have largely multiplied in recent years, in both Spain and Spanish America. At the present day nearly every larger town and city in Spain has itsplaza de toros(about 225 altogether), built in the form of the Roman circuses with an oval open arena covered with sand, surrounded by a stout fence about 6 ft. high. Between this and the seats of the spectators is a narrow passage-way, where those bull-fighters who are not at the moment engaged take their stations. Theplazas de torosare of all sizes, from that of Madrid, which holds more than 12,000 spectators, down to those seating only two or three thousand. Every bull-ring has its hospital for the wounded, and its chapel where thetoreros(bull-fighters) receive the Holy Eucharist.
The bulls used for fighting are invariably of well-known lineage and are reared in special establishments (vacádas), the most celebrated of which is now that of the duke of Veragua in Andalusia. When quite young they are branded with the emblems of their owners, and later are put to a test of their courage, only those that show a fighting spirit being trained further. When full grown, the health, colour, weight, character of horns, and action in attack are all objects of the keenest observation and study. The best bulls are worth from £40 to £60. About 1300 bulls are killed annually in Spain. Bull-fighters proper, most of whom are Andalusians, consist ofespadas(ormatadores),banderillerosandpicadores, in addition to whom there are numbers of assistants (chulos), drivers and other servants. For each bull-fight two or threeespadasare engaged, each providing his own quadrille (cuadrilla), composed of severalbanderillerosandpicadores. Six bulls are usually killed during onecorrida(bull-fight), theespadasengaged taking them in turn. Theespadamust have passed through a trying novitiate in the art at the royal school of bull-fighting, after which he is given hisalternativa, or licence.
The bull-fight begins with a grand entry of all the bull-fighters withalguaciles, municipal officers in ancient costume, at the head, followed, in three rows, by theespadas, banderilleros, picadores, chulosand the richly caparisoned triple mule-team used to drag from the arena the carcasses of the slain bulls and horses. The greatest possible brilliance of costume and accoutrements is aimed at, and the picture presented is one of dazzling colour. Theespadasandbanderilleroswear short jackets and small-clothes of satin richly embroidered in gold and silver, withlight silk stockings and heelless shoes; thepicadores(pikemen on horseback) usually wear yellow, and their legs are enclosed in steel armour covered with leather as a protection against the horns of the bull.
The fight is divided into three divisions (suertes). When the opening procession has passed round the arena the president of thecorrida, usually some person of rank, throws down to one of thealguacilesthe key to thetoril, or bull-cells. As soon as the supernumeraries have left the ring, and thepicadores, mounted upon blindfolded horses in wretched condition, have taken their places against the barrier, the door of thetorilis opened, and the bull, which has been goaded into fury by the affixing to his shoulder of an iron pin with streamers of the colours of his breeder attached, enters the ring. Then begins thesuerte de picar, or division of lancing. The bull at once attacks the mountedpicadores, ripping up and wounding the horses, often to the point of complete disembowelment. As the bull attacks the horse, thepicador, who is armed with a short-pointed, stout pike (garrocha), thrusts this into the bull's back with all his force, with the usual result that the bull turns its attention to anotherpicador. Not infrequently, however, the rush of the bull and the blow dealt to the horse is of such force as to overthrow both animal and rider, but the latter is usually rescued from danger by thechulosandbanderilleros, who, by means of their red cloaks (capas), divert the bull from the fallenpicador, who either escapes from the ring or mounts a fresh horse. The number of horses killed in this manner is one of the chief features of the fight, a bull's prowess being reckoned accordingly. About 6000 horses are killed every year in Spain. At the sound of a trumpet thepicadoresretire from the ring, the dead horses are dragged out, and the second division of the fight, thesuerte de banderillear, or planting the darts, begins. Thebanderillasare barbed darts about 18 in. long, ornamented with coloured paper, one being held in each hand of the bull-fighter, who, standing 20 or 30 yds. from the bull, draws its attention to him by means of violent gestures. As the bull charges, thebanderillerosteps towards him, dexterously plants both darts in the beast's neck, and draws aside in the nick of time to avoid its horns. Four pairs ofbanderillasare planted in this way, rendering the bull mad with rage and pain. Should the animal prove of a cowardly nature and refuse to attack repeatedly,banderillas de fuego(fire) are used. These are furnished with fulminating crackers, which explode with terrific noise as the bull careers about the ring. During this division numerous manœuvres are sometimes indulged in for the purpose of tiring the bull out, such as leaping between his horns, vaulting over his back with thegarrochaas he charges, and inviting his rushes by means of elaborate flauntings of the cloak (floréos, flourishes).
Another trumpet-call gives the signal for the final division of the fight, thesuerte de matár(killing). This is carried out by theespada, alone, his assistants being present only in the case of emergency or to get the bull back to the proper part of the ring, should he bolt to a distance. Theespada, taking his stand before the box of the president, holds aloft in his left hand sword andmuletaand in his right his hat, and in set phrases formally dedicates (brinde) the death of the bull to the president or some other personage of rank, finishing by tossing his hat behind his back and proceeding bareheaded to the work of killing the bull. This is a process accompanied by much formality. Theespada, armed with theestoque, a sword with a heavy flat blade, brings the bull into the proper position by means of passes with themuleta, a small red silk flag mounted on a short staff, and then essays to kill him with a single thrust, delivered through the back of the neck close to the head and downward into the heart. This stroke is a most difficult one, requiring long practice as well as great natural dexterity, and very frequently fails of its object, the killing of the bull often requiring repeated thrusts. The stroke (estocada) is usually givená volapié(half running), theespadadelivering the thrust while stepping forward, the bull usually standing still. Another method isrecibiéndo(receiving), theespadareceiving the onset of the bull upon the point of his sword. Should the bull need acoup de grâce, it is given by achulo, calledpuntilléro, with a dagger which pierces the spinal marrow. The dead beast is then dragged out of the ring by the triple mule-team, while theespadamakes a tour of honour, being acclaimed, in the case of a favourite, with the most extravagant enthusiasm. The ring is then raked over, a second bull is introduced, and the spectacle begins anew. Upon great occasions, such as a coronation, acorridain the ancient style is given by amateurs, who are clad in gala costumes without armour of any kind, and mounted upon steeds of good breed and condition. They are armed with sharp lances, with which they essay to kill the bull while protecting themselves and their steeds from his horns. As the bulls in these encounters have not been weakened by many wounds and tired out by much running, the performances of the gentlemen fighters are remarkable for pluck and dexterity.
See Moratin,Origen y Progeso de las Fiestas de Toros; Bedoya'sHistoria del Toreo; J.S. Lozano,Manual de Tauromaquia(Seville, 1882); A. Chapman and W.T. Buck,Wild Spain(London, 1893).
BULLFINCH(Pyrrhula vulgaris), the ancient English name given to a bird belonging to the familyFringillidae(seeFinch), of a bluish-grey and black colour above, and generally of a bright tile-red beneath, the female differing chiefly in having its under-parts chocolate-brown. It is a shy bird, not associating with other species, and frequents well-wooded districts, being very rarely seen on moors or other waste lands. It builds a shallow nest composed of twigs lined with fibrous roots, on low trees or thick underwood, only a few feet from the ground, and lays four or five eggs of a bluish-white colour speckled and streaked with purple. The young remain with their parents during autumn and winter, and pair in spring, not building their nests, however, till May. In spring and summer they feed on the buds of trees and bushes, choosing, it is said, such only as contain the incipient blossom, and thus doing immense injury to orchards and gardens. In autumn and winter they feed principally on wild fruits and on seeds. The note of the bullfinch, in the wild state, is soft and pleasant, but so low as scarcely to be audible; it possesses, however, great powers of imitation, and considerable memory, and can thus be taught to whistle a variety of tunes. Bullfinches are very abundant in the forests of Germany, and it is there that most of the piping bullfinches are trained. They are taught continuously for nine months, and the lesson is repeated throughout the first moulting, as during that change the young birds are apt to forget all that they have previously acquired. The bullfinch is a native of the northern countries of Europe, occurring in Italy and other southern parts only as a winter visitor. White and black varieties are occasionally met with; the latter are often produced by feeding the bullfinch exclusively on hempseed, when its plumage gradually changes to black. It rarely breeds in confinement, and hybrids between it and the canary have been produced on but few occasions.
BULLI,a town of Camden county, New South Wales, Australia, 59 m. by rail S. of Sydney. Pop. (1901) 2500. It is the headquarters of the Bulli Mining Company, whose coal-mine on the flank of the Illawarra Mountains is worked by a tunnel, 2 m. long, driven into the heart of the mountain. From this tunnel the coal is conveyed by rail for 1½ m. to a pier, whence it is shipped to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by a fleet of steam colliers. The beautiful Bulli Pass, 1000 ft. above the sea, over the Illawarra range, is one of the most attractive tourist resorts in Australia.
BULLINGER, HEINRICH(1504-1575), Swiss reformer, son of Dean Heinrich Bullinger by his wife Anna (Wiederkehr), was born at Bremgarten, Aargau, on the 18th of July 1504. He studied at Emmerich and Cologne, where the teaching of Peter Lombard led him, through Augustine and Chrysostom, to first-hand study of the Bible. Next the writings of Luther and Melanchthon appealed to him. Appointed teacher (1522) in the cloister school of Cappel, he lectured on Melanchthon'sLoci Communes(1521). He heard Zwingli at Zürich in 1527, and next year accompanied him to the disputation at Berne. He was made pastor of Bremgarten in 1529, and married Anna Adlischweiler, a nun, by whom he had eleven children. After the battleof Cappel (11th of October 1531), in which Zwingli fell, he left Bremgarten. On the 9th of December 1531 he was chosen to succeed Zwingli as chief pastor of Zürich. A strong writer and thinker, his spirit was essentially unifying and sympathetic, in an age when these qualities won little sympathy. His controversies on the Lord's Supper with Luther, and his correspondence with Lelio Sozini (seeSocinus), exhibit, in different connexions, his admirable mixture of dignity and tenderness. With Calvin he concluded (1549) theConsensus Tigurinuson the Lord's Supper. The (second) Helvetic Confession (1566) adopted in Switzerland, Hungary, Bohemia and elsewhere, was his work. The volumes of theZurich Letters, published by the Parker Society, testify to his influence on the English reformation in later stages. Many of his sermons were translated into English (reprinted, 4 vols., 1849). His works, mainly expository and polemical, have not been collected. He died at Zürich on the 17th of September 1575.
See Carl Pestalozzi,Leben(1858); Raget Christoffel,H. Bullinger(1875); Justus Heer, in Hauck'sRealencyklopadie(1897).
(A. Go.*)
BULLION,a term applied to the gold and silver of the mines brought to a standard of purity. The word appears in an English act of 1336 in the French form "puissent sauvement porter à les exchanges ou bullion ... argent en plate, vessel d'argent, &c."; and apparently it is connected withbouillon, the sense of "boiling" being transferred in English to the melting of metal, so thatbullionin the passage quoted meant "melting-house" or "mint." The first recorded instance of the use of the word for precious metal as such in the mass is in an act of 1451. From the use of gold and silver as a medium of exchange, it followed that they should approximate in all nations to a common degree of fineness; and though this is not uniform even in coins, yet the proportion of alloy in silver, and of carats alloy to carats fine in gold, has been reduced to infinitesimal differences in the bullion of commerce, and is a prime element of value even in gold and silver plate, jewelry, and other articles of manufacture. Bullion, whether in the form of coins, or of bars and ingots stamped, is subject, as a general rule of the London market, not only to weight but to assay, and receives a corresponding value.
BULLOCK, WILLIAM(c.1657-c.1740), English actor, "of great glee and much comic vivacity," was the original Clincher in Farquhar'sConstant Couple(1699), Boniface inThe Beaux' Stratagem(1707), and Sir Francis Courtall in Pavener'sArtful Wife(1717). He played at all the London theatres of his time, and in the summer at a booth at Bartholomew Fair. He had three sons, all actors, of whom the eldest was Christopher Bullock (c.1690-1724), who at Drury Lane, the Haymarket and Lincoln's Inn Fields displayed "a considerable versatility of talent." Christopher created a few original parts in comedies and farces of which he was the author or adapter:—A Woman's Revenge(1715);Slip;Adventures of Half an Hour(1716);The Cobbler of Preston;Woman's a Riddle;The Perjurer(1717); andThe Traitor(1718).
BULLROARER,the English name for an instrument made of a small flat slip of wood, through a hole in one end of which a string is passed; swung round rapidly it makes a booming, humming noise. Though treated as a toy by Europeans, the bullroarer has had the highest mystic significance and sanctity among primitive people. This is notably the case in Australia, where it figures in the initiation ceremonies and is regarded with the utmost awe by the "blackfellows." Their bullroarers, or sacred "tunduns," are of two types, the "grandfather" or "man tundun," distinguished by its deep tone, and the "woman tundun," which, being smaller, gives forth a weaker, shriller note. Women or girls, and boys before initiation, are never allowed to see the tundun. At the Bora, or initiation ceremonies, the bullroarer's hum is believed to be the voice of the "Great Spirit," and on hearing it the women hide in terror. A Maori bullroarer is preserved in the British Museum, and travellers in Africa state that it is known and held sacred there. Thus among the Egba tribe of the Yoruba race the supposed "Voice of Oro," their god of vengeance, is produced by a bullroarer, which is actually worshipped as the god himself. The sanctity of the bullroarer has been shown to be very widespread. There is no doubt that the rhombusῥόμβοςwhich was whirled at the Greek mysteries was one. Among North American Indians it was common. At certain Moqui ceremonies the procession of dancers was led by a priest who whirled a bullroarer. The instrument has been traced among the Tusayan, Apache and Navaho Indians (J.G. Bourke,Ninth Annual Report of Bureau of Amer. Ethnol., 1892), among the Koskimo of British Columbia (Fr. Boas, "Social Organization, &c., of the Kwakiutl Indians,"Report of the U.S. National Museum for 1895), and in Central Brazil. In New Guinea, in some of the islands of the Torres Straits (where it is swung as a fishing-charm), in Ceylon (where it is used as a toy and figures as a sacred instrument at Buddhist festivals), and in Sumatra (where it is used to induce the demons to carry off the soul of a woman, and so drive her mad), the bullroarer is also found. Sometimes, as among the Minangkabos of Sumatra, it is made of the frontal bone of a man renowned for his bravery.
See A. Lang,Custom and Myth(1884); J.D.E. Schmeltz,Das Schwirrholz(Hamburg, 1896); A.C. Haddon,The Study of Man, and in theJourn. Anthrop. Instit.xix., 1890; G.M.C. Theal,Kaffir Folk-Lore; A.B. Ellis,Yoruba-Speaking Peoples(1894); R.C. Codrington,The Melanesians(1891).
BULL RUN,a small stream of Virginia, U.S.A., which gave the name to two famous battles in the American Civil War.
(1) The first battle of Bull Run (called by the Confederates Manassas) was fought on the 21st of July 1861 between the Union forces under Brigadier-General Irvin McDowell and the Confederates under General Joseph E. Johnston. Both armies were newly raised and almost untrained. After a slight action on the 18th at Blackburn's Ford, the two armies prepared for a battle. The Confederates were posted along Bull Run, guarding all the passages from the Stone Bridge down to the railway bridge. McDowell's forces rendezvoused around Centreville, and both commanders, sensible of the temper of their troops, planned a battle for the 21st. On his part McDowell ordered one of his four divisions to attack the Stone Bridge, two to make a turning movement via Sudley Springs, the remaining division (partly composed of regular troops) was to be in reserve and to watch the lower fords. The local Confederate commander, Brigadier-General P.G.T. Beauregard, had also intended to advance, and General Johnston, who arrived by rail on the evening of the 20th with the greater part of a fresh army, and now assumed command of the whole force, approved an offensive movement against Centreville for the 21st; but orders miscarried, and the Federal attack opened before the movement had begun. Johnston and Beauregard then decided to fight a defensive battle, and hurried up troops to support the single brigade of Evans which held the Stone Bridge. Thus there was no serious fighting at the lower fords of Bull Run throughout the day.
Map of BULL RUN.
The Federal staff was equally inexperienced, and the divisionsengaged in the turning movement met with many unnecessary checks. At 6A.M., when the troops told off for the frontal attack appeared before the Stone Bridge, the turning movement was by no means well advanced. Evans had time to change position so as to command both the Stone Bridge and Sudley Springs, and he was promptly supported by the brigades of Bee, Bartow and T.J. Jackson. About 9.30 the leading Federal brigade from Sudley Springs came into action, and two hours later Evans, Bee and Bartow had been driven off the Matthews hill in considerable confusion. But on the Henry House hill Jackson's brigade stood, as General Bee said to his men, "like a stone wall," and the defenders rallied, though the Federals were continually reinforced. The fighting on the Henry House hill was very severe, but McDowell, who dared not halt to re-form his enthusiastic volunteers, continued to attack. About 1.30P.M.he brought up two regular batteries to the fighting line; but a Confederate regiment, being mistaken for friendly troops and allowed to approach, silenced the guns by close rifle fire, and from that time, though the hill was taken and retaken several times, the Federal attack made no further headway. At 2.45 more of Beauregard's troops had come up; Jackson's brigade charged with the bayonet, and at the same time the Federals were assailed in flank by the last brigades of Johnston's army, which arrived at the critical moment from the railway. They gave way at once, tired out, and conscious that the day was lost, and after one rally melted away slowly to the rear, the handful of regulars alone keeping their order. But when, at the defile of the Cub Run, they came under shell fire the retreat became a panic flight to the Potomac. The victors were too much exhausted to pursue, and the U.S. regulars of the reserve division formed a strong and steady rearguard. The losses were—Federals, 2896 men out of about 18,500 engaged; Confederates, 1982 men out of 18,000.
(2) The operations of the last days of August 1862, which include the second battle of Bull Run (second Manassas), are amongst the most complicated of the war. At the outset the Confederate general Lee's army (Longstreet's and Jackson's corps) lay on the Rappahannock, faced by the Federal Army of Virginia under Major-General John Pope, which was to be reinforced by troops from McClellan's army to a total strength of 150,000 men as against Lee's 60,000. Want of supplies soon forced Lee to move, though not to retreat, and his plan for attacking Pope was one of the most daring in all military history. Jackson with half the army was despatched on a wide turning movement which was to bring him via Salem and Thoroughfare Gap to Manassas Junction in Pope's rear; when Jackson's task was accomplished Lee and Longstreet were to follow him by the same route. Early on the 25th of August Jackson began his march round the right of Pope's army; on the 26th the column passed Thoroughfare Gap, and Bristoe Station, directly in Pope's rear, was reached on the same evening, while a detachment drove a Federal post from Manassas Junction. On the 27th the immense magazines at the Junction were destroyed. On his side Pope had soon discovered Jackson's departure, and had arranged for an immediate attack on Longstreet. When, however, the direction of Jackson's march on Thoroughfare Gap became clear, Pope fell back in order to engage him, at the same time ordering his army to concentrate on Warrenton, Greenwich and Gainesville. He was now largely reinforced. On the evening of the 27th one of his divisions, marching to its point of concentration, met a division of Jackson's corps, near Bristoe Station; after a sharp fight the Confederate general, Ewell, retired on Manassas. Pope now realized that he had Jackson's corps in front of him at the Junction, and at once took steps to attack Manassas with all his forces. He drew off even the corps at Gainesville for his intended battle of the 28th; McDowell, however, its commander, on his own responsibility, left Ricketts's division at Thoroughfare Gap. But Pope's blow was struck in the air. When he arrived at Manassas on the 28th he found nothing but the ruins of his magazines, and one of McDowell's divisions (King's) marching from Gainesville on Manassas Junction met Jackson's infantry near Groveton. The situation had again changed completely. Jackson had no intention of awaiting Pope at Manassas, and after several feints made with a view to misleading the Federal scouts he finally withdrew to a hidden position between Groveton and Sudley Springs, to await the arrival of Longstreet, who, taking the same route as Jackson had done, arrived on the 28th at Thoroughfare Gap and, engaging Ricketts's division, finally drove it back to Gainesville. On the evening of this day Jackson's corps held the line Sudley Springs-Groveton, his right wing near Groveton opposing King's division; and Longstreet held Thoroughfare Gap, facing Ricketts at Gainesville. On Ricketts's right was King near Groveton, and the line was continued thence by McDowell's remaining division and by Sigel's corps to the Stone Bridge. At Centreville, 7 m. away, was Pope with three divisions, a fourth was north-east of Manassas Junction, and Porter's corps at Bristoe Station. Thus, while Ricketts continued at Gainesville to mask Longstreet, Pope could concentrate a superior force against Jackson, whom he now believed to be meditating a retreat to the Gap. But a series of misunderstandings resulted in the withdrawal of Ricketts and King, so that nothing now intervened between Longstreet and Jackson; while Sigel and McDowell's other division alone remained to face Jackson until such time as Pope could bring up the rest of his scattered forces. Jackson now closed on his left and prepared for battle, and on the morning of the 29th the Confederates, posted behind a high railway embankment, repelled two sharp attacks made by Sigel. Pope arrived at noon with the divisions from Centreville, which, led by the general himself and by Reno and Hooker, two of the bravest officers in the Union army, made a third and most desperate attack on Jackson's line. The latter, repulsing it with difficulty, carried its counter-stroke too far and was in turn repulsed by Grover's brigade of Hooker's division. Grover then made a fourth assault, but was driven back with terrible loss. The last assault, gallantly delivered by two divisions under Kearny and Stevens, drove the Confederate left out of its position; but a Confederate counter-attack, led by the brave Jubal Early, dislodged the assailants with the bayonet.
In the meanwhile events had taken place near Groveton which were, for twenty years after the war, the subject of controversy and recrimination (seePorter,Fitz-John). When Porter's and part of McDowell's corps, acting on various orders sent by Pope, approached Gainesville from the south-east, Longstreet had already reached that place, and the Federals thus encountered a force of unknown strength at the moment when Sigel's guns to the northward showed him to be closely engaged with Jackson. The two generals consulted, and McDowell marched off to join Sigel, while Porter remained to hold the new enemy in check. In this he succeeded; Longstreet, though far superior in numbers, made no forward move, and his advanced guard alone came into action. On the night of the 29th Lee reunited the wings of his army on the field of battle. He had forced Pope back many miles from the Rappahannock, and expecting that the Federals would retire to the line of Bull Run before giving battle, he now decided to wait for the last divisions of Longstreet's corps, which were still distant. But Pope, still sanguine, ordered a "general pursuit" of Jackson for the 30th. There was some ground for his suppositions, for Jackson had retired a short distance and Longstreet's advanced guard had also fallen back. McDowell, however, who was in general charge of the Federal right on the 30th, soon saw that Jackson was not retreating and stopped the "pursuit," and the attack on Jackson's right, which Pope had ordered Porter to make, was repulsed by Longstreet's overwhelming forces. Then Lee's whole line, 4 m. long, made its grand counter-stroke (4P.M.). There was now no hesitation in Longstreet's attack; the Federal left was driven successively from every position it took up, and Longstreet finally captured Bald Hill. Jackson, though opposed by the greater part of Pope's forces, advanced to the Matthews hill, and his artillery threatened the Stone Bridge. The Federals, driven back to the banks of Bull Run, were only saved by the gallant defence of the Henry House hill by the Pennsylvanian division of Reynolds and the regularsunder Sykes. Pope withdrew under cover of night to Centreville. Here he received fresh reinforcements, but Jackson was already marching round his new right, and after the action of Chantilly (1st of September) the whole Federal army fell back to Washington. The Union forces present on the field on the 29th and 30th numbered about 63,000, the strength of Lee's army being on the same dates about 54,000. Besides their killed and wounded the Federals lost very heavily in prisoners.
BULLY(of uncertain origin, but possibly connected with a Teutonic word seen in many compounds, as the Low Ger.bullerjaan, meaning "noisy"; the word has also, with less probability, been derived from the Dutchboel, and Ger.Buhle, a lover), originally a fine, swaggering fellow, as in "Bully Bottom" inA Midsummer Night's Dream, later an overbearing ruffian, especially a coward who abuses his strength by ill-treating the weak; more technically asouteneur, a man who lives on the earnings of a prostitute. The term in its early use of "fine" or "splendid" survives in American slang.
BÜLOW, BERNHARD ERNST VON(1815-1879), Danish and German statesman, was the son of Adolf von Bülow, a Danish official, and was born at Cismar in Holstein on the 2nd of August 1815. He studied law at the universities of Berlin, Göttingen and Kiel, and began his political career in the service of Denmark, in the chancery of Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburg at Copenhagen, and afterwards in the foreign office. In 1842 he became councillor of legation, and in 1847 Danishchargé d'affairesin the Hanse towns, where his intercourse with the merchant princes led to his marriage in 1848 with a wealthy heiress, Louise Victorine Rücker. When the insurrection broke out in the Elbe duchies (1848) he left the Danish service, and offered his services to the provisional government of Kiel, an offer that was not accepted. In 1849, accordingly, he re-entered the service of Denmark, was appointed a royal chamberlain and in 1850 sent to represent the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein at the restored federal diet of Frankfort. Here he came into intimate touch with Bismarck, who admired his statesmanlike handling of the growing complications of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. With the radical "Eider-Dane" party he was utterly out of sympathy; and when, in 1862, this party gained the upper hand, he was recalled from Frankfort. He now entered the service of the grand-duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and remained at the head of the grand-ducal government until 1867, when he became plenipotentiary for the two Mecklenburg duchies in the council of the German Confederation (Bundesrat), where he distinguished himself by his successful defence of the medieval constitution of the duchies against Liberal attacks. In 1873 Bismarck, who was in thorough sympathy with his views, persuaded him to enter the service of Prussia as secretary of state for foreign affairs, and from this time till his death he was the chancellor's most faithful henchman. In 1875 he was appointed Prussian plenipotentiary in the Bundesrat; in 1877 he became Bismarck's lieutenant in the secretaryship for foreign affairs of the Empire; and in 1878 he was, with Bismarck and Hohenlohe, Prussian plenipotentiary at the congress of Berlin. He died at Frankfort on the 20th of October 1879, his end being hastened by his exertions in connexion with the political crisis of that year. Of his six sons the eldest, Bernhard Heinrich Karl (see below), became chancellor of the Empire.
See the biography of H. von Petersdorff inAllgemeine deutsche Biographie, Band 47, p. 350.
BÜLOW, BERNHARD HEINRICH KARL MARTIN,Prince von(1849- ), German statesman, was born on the 3rd of May 1849, at Klein-Flottbeck, in Holstein. The Bülow family is one very widely extended in north Germany, and many members have attained distinction in the civil and military service of Prussia, Denmark and Mecklenburg. Prince Bülow's great-uncle, Heinrich von Bülow, who was distinguished for his admiration of England and English institutions, was Prussian ambassador in England from 1827 to 1840, and married a daughter of Wilhelm von Humboldt (see the letters of Gabrielle von Bülow). His father, Bernhard Ernst von Bülow, is separately noticed above.
Prince Bülow must not be confused with his contemporary Otto v. Bülow (1827-1901), an official in the Prussian foreign office, who in 1882 was appointed German envoy at Bern, from 1892 to 1898 was Prussian envoy to the Vatican, and died at Rome on the 22nd of November 1901.
Bernhard von Bülow, after serving in the Franco-Prussian War, entered the Prussian civil service, and was then transferred to the diplomatic service. In 1876 he was appointed attaché to the German embassy in Paris, and after returning for a while to the foreign office at Berlin, became second secretary to the embassy in Paris in 1880. From 1884 he was first secretary to the embassy at St Petersburg, and acted aschargé d'affaires; in 1888 he was appointed envoy at Bucharest, and in 1893 to the post of German ambassador at Rome. In 1897, on the retirement of Baron Marshall von Bieberstein, he was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs (the same office which his father had held) under Prince Hohenlohe, with a seat in the Prussian ministry. The appointment caused much surprise at the time, as Bülow was little known outside diplomatic circles. The explanations suggested were that he had made himself very popular at Rome and that his appointment was therefore calculated to strengthen the loosening bonds of the Triple Alliance, and also that his early close association with Bismarck would ensure the maintenance of the Bismarckian tradition. As foreign secretary Herr von Bülow was chiefly responsible for carrying out the policy of colonial expansion with which the emperor had identified himself, and in 1899, on bringing to a successful conclusion the negotiations by which the Caroline Islands were acquired by Germany, he was raised to the rank of count. On the resignation of Hohenlohe in 1900 he was chosen to succeed him as chancellor of the empire and president of the Prussian ministry.
TheBerliner Neueste Nachrichten, commenting on this appointment, very aptly characterized the relations of the new chancellor to the emperor, in contrast to the position occupied by Bismarck. "The Germany of William II.," it said, "does not admit a Titan in the position of the highest official of the Empire. A cautious and versatile diplomatist like Bernhard von Bülow appears to be best adapted to the personal and political necessities of the present situation." Count Bülow, indeed, though, like Bismarck, a "realist," utilitarian and opportunist in his policy, made no effort to emulate the masterful independence of the great chancellor. He was accused, indeed, of being little more than the complacent executor of the emperor's will, and defended himself in the Reichstag against the charge. The substance of the relations between the emperor and himself, he declared, rested on mutual good-will, and added: "I must lay it down most emphatically that the prerogative of the emperor's personal initiative must not be curtailed, and will not be curtailed, by any chancellor.... As regards the chancellor, however, I say that no imperial chancellor worthy of the name ... would take up any position which in his conscience he did not regard as justifiable." It is clear that the position of a chancellor holding these views in relation to a ruler so masterful and so impulsive as the emperor William II. could be no easy one; and Bülow's long continuance in office is the best proof of his genius. His first conspicuous act as chancellor was a masterly defence in the Reichstag of German action in China, a defence which was, indeed, rendered easier by the fact that Prince Hohenlohe had—to use his own words—"dug a canal" for the flood of imperial ambition of which warning had been given in the famous "mailed fist" speech. Such incidents as this, however, though they served to exhibit consummate tact and diplomatic skill, give little index to the fundamental character of his work as chancellor. Of this it may be said, in general, that it carried on the best traditions of the Prussian service in whole-hearted devotion to the interests of the state. The accusation that he was an "agrarian" he thought it necessary to rebut in a speech delivered on the 18th of February 1906 to the German Handelstag. He was an agrarian, he declared, in so far as he came of a land-owning family, and was interested in the prosperity of agriculture; but as chancellor, whose function it is to watch over the welfareof all classes, he was equally concerned with the interests of commerce and industry (Kölnische Zeitung, Feb. 20, 1906). Some credit for the immense material expansion of Germany under his chancellorship is certainly due to his zeal and self-devotion. This was generously recognized by the emperor in a letter publicly addressed to the chancellor on the 21st of May 1906, immediately after the passage of the Finance Bill. "I am fully conscious," it ran, "of the conspicuous share in the initiation and realization of this work of reform... which must be ascribed to the statesmanlike skill and self-sacrificing devotion with which you have conducted and promoted those arduous labours." Rumours had from time to time been rife of a "chancellor crisis" and Bülow's dismissal; in theBerliner Tageblattthis letter was compared to the "Never!" with which the emperor William I. had replied to Bismarck's proffered resignation.
On the 6th of June 1905 Count Bülow was raised to the rank of prince (Fürst), on the occasion of the marriage of the crown prince. The coincidence of this date with the fall of M. Delcassé, the French minister for foreign affairs—a triumph for Germany and a humiliation for France—was much commented on at the time (seeThe Times, June 7, 1905); and the elevation of Bismarck to the rank of prince in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles was recalled. Whatever element of truth there may have been in this, however, the significance of the incident was much exaggerated.
On the 5th of April 1906, while attending a debate in the Reichstag, Prince Bülow was seized with illness, the result of overwork and an attack of influenza, and was carried unconscious from the hall. At first it was thought that the attack would be fatal, and Lord Fitzmaurice in the House of Lords compared the incident with that of the death of Chatham, a compliment much appreciated in Germany. The illness, however, quickly took a favourable turn, and after a month's rest the chancellor was able to resume his duties. In 1907 Prince Bülow was made the subject of a disgraceful libel, which received more attention than it deserved because it coincided with the Harden-Moltke scandals; his character was, however, completely vindicated, and the libeller, a journalist named Brand, received a term of imprisonment.
The parliamentary skill of Prince Bülow in holding together the heterogeneous elements of which the government majority in the Reichstag was composed, no less than the diplomatic tact with which he from time to time "interpreted" the imperial indiscretions to the world, was put to a rude test by the famous "interview" with the German emperor, published in the LondonDaily Telegraphof the 28th of October 1908 (seeWilliam II., German emperor), which aroused universal reprobation in Germany. Prince Bülow assumed the official responsibility, and tendered his resignation to the emperor, which was not accepted; but the chancellor's explanation in the Reichstag on the 10th of November showed how keenly he felt his position. He declared his conviction that the disastrous results of the interview would "induce the emperor in future to observe that strict reserve, even in private conversations, which is equally indispensable in the interest of a uniform policy and for the authority of the crown," adding that, in the contrary case, neither he nor any successor of his could assume the responsibility (The Times, Nov. 11, 1908, p. 9). The attitude of the emperor showed that he had taken the lesson to heart. It was not the imperial indiscretions, but the effect of his budget proposals in breaking up the Liberal-Conservativebloc, on whose support he depended in the Reichstag, that eventually drove Prince Bülow from office (seeGermany:History). At the emperor's request he remained to pilot the mutilated budget through the House; but on the 14th of July 1909 the acceptance of his resignation was announced.
Prince Bülow married, on the 9th of January 1886, Maria Anna Zoe Rosalia Beccadelli di Bologna, Princess Camporeale, whose first marriage with Count Karl von Dönhoff had been dissolved and declared null by the Holy See in 1884. The princess, an accomplished pianist and pupil of Liszt, was a step-daughter of the Italian statesman Minghetti.
See J. Penzler,Graf Bülows Reden nebst urkundlichen Beiträgen zu seiner Politik(Leipzig, 1903).
BÜLOW, DIETRICH HEINRICH,Freiherr von(1757-1807), Prussian soldier and military writer, and brother of General Count F.W. Bülow, entered the Prussian army in 1773. Routine work proved distasteful to him, and he read with avidity the works of the chevalier Folard and other theoretical writers on war, and of Rousseau. After sixteen years' service he left Prussia, and endeavoured without success to obtain a commission in the Austrian army. He then returned to Prussia, and for some time managed a theatrical company. The failure of this undertaking involved Bülow in heavy losses, and soon afterwards he went to America, where he seems to have been converted to, and to have preached, Swedenborgianism. On his return to Europe he persuaded his brother to engage in a speculation for exporting glass to the United States, which proved a complete failure. After this for some years he made a precarious living in Berlin by literary work, but his debts accumulated, and it was under great disadvantages that he produced hisGeist des Neueren Kriegssystems(Hamburg, 1799) andDer Feldzug 1800(Berlin, 1801). His hopes of military employment were again disappointed, and his brother, the future field marshal, who had stood by him in all his troubles, finally left him. After wandering in France and the smaller German states, he reappeared at Berlin in 1804, where he wrote a revised edition of hisGeist des Neueren Kriegssystems(Hamburg, 1805),Lehrsätze des Neueren Kriegs(Berlin, 1805),Geschichte des Prinzen Heinrich von Preussen(Berlin, 1805),Neue Taktik der Neuern wie sie sein sollte(Leipzig, 1805), andDer Feldzug 1805(Leipzig, 1806). He also edited, with G.H. von Behrenhorst (1733-1814) and others,Annalen des Krieges(Berlin, 1806). These brilliant but unorthodox works, distinguished by an open contempt of the Prussian system, cosmopolitanism hardly to be distinguished from high treason, and the mordant sarcasm of a disappointed man, brought upon Bülow the enmity of the official classes and of the government. He was arrested as insane, but medical examination proved him sane and he was then lodged as a prisoner in Colberg, where he was harshly treated, though Gneisenau obtained some mitigation of his condition. Thence he passed into Russian hands and died in prison at Riga in 1807, probably as a result of ill-treatment.
In Bülow's writings there is evident a distinct contrast between the spirit of his strategical and that of his tactical ideas. As a strategist (he claimed to be the first of strategists) he reduces to mathematical rules the practice of the great generals of the 18th century, ignoring "friction," and manœuvring his armiesin vacuo. At the same time he professes that his system provides working rules for the armies of his own day, which in point of fact were "armed nations," infinitely more affected by "friction" than the small dynastic and professional armies of the preceding age. Bülow may therefore be considered as anything but a reformer in the domain of strategy. With more justice he has been styled the "father of modern tactics." He was the first to recognize that the conditions of swift and decisive war brought about by the French Revolution involved wholly new tactics, and much of his teaching had a profound influence on European warfare of the 19th century. His early training had shown him merely the pedanticminutiaeof Frederick's methods, and, in the absence of any troops capable of illustrating the real linear tactics, he became an enthusiastic supporter of the methods, which (more of necessity than from judgment) the French revolutionary generals had adopted, of fighting in small columns covered by skirmishers. Battles, he maintained, were won by skirmishers. "We must organize disorder," he said; indeed, every argument of writers of the modern "extended order" school is to be foundmutatis mutandisin Bülow, whose system acquired great prominence in view of the mechanical improvements in armament. But his tactics, like his strategy, were vitiated by the absence of "friction," and their dependence on the realization of an unattainable standard of bravery.
See von Voss,H. von Bülow(Köln, 1806); P. von Bülow,Familienbuch der v. Bülow(Berlin, 1859); Ed. von Bülow,Aus dem Leben Dietrichs v. Bülow, alsoVermischte Schriften aus dem Nachlass von Behrenhorst(1845); Ed. von Bülow and von Rüstow,Militärische und vermischte Schriften von Heinrich Dietrich v. Bülow(Leipzig, 1853); Memoirs by Freiherr v. Meerheimb inAllgemeine deutscheBiographie, vol. 3 (Leipzig, 1876), and "Behrenhorst und Bülow" (Historische Zeitschrift, 1861, vi.); Max Jähns,Geschichte der Kriegswissenschaften, vol. iii. pp. 2133-2145 (Munich, 1891); General von Cämmerer (transl. von Donat),Development of Strategical Science(London, 1905), ch. i.
BÜLOW, FRIEDRICH WILHELM,Freiherr von, count of Dennewitz (1755-1816), Prussian general, was born on the 16th of February 1755, at Falkenberg in the Altmark; he was the elder brother of the foregoing. He received an excellent education, and entered the Prussian army in 1768, becoming ensign in 1772, and second lieutenant in 1775. He took part in the "Potato War" of 1778, and subsequently devoted himself to the study of his profession and of the sciences and arts. He was throughout his life devoted to music, his great musical ability bringing him to the notice of Frederick William II., and about 1790 he was conspicuous in the most fashionable circles of Berlin. He did not, however, neglect his military studies, and in 1792 he was made military instructor to the young prince Louis Ferdinand, becoming at the same time full captain. He took part in the campaigns of 1792-93-94 on the Rhine, and received for signal courage during the siege of Mainz the orderpour le mériteand promotion to the rank of major. After this he went to garrison duty at Soldau. In 1802 he married the daughter of Colonel v. Auer, and in the following year he became lieutenant-colonel, remaining at Soldau with his corps. The vagaries and misfortunes of his brother Dietrich affected his happiness as well as his fortune. The loss of two of his children was followed in 1806 by the death of his wife, and a further source of disappointment was the exclusion of his regiment from the field army sent against Napoleon in 1806. The disasters of the campaign aroused his energies. He did excellent service under Lestocq's command in the latter part of the war, was wounded in action, and finally designated for a brigade command in Blücher's force. In 1808 he married the sister of his first wife, a girl of eighteen. He was made a major-general in the same year, and henceforward he devoted himself wholly to the regeneration of Prussia. The intensity of his patriotism threw him into conflict even with Blücher and led to his temporary retirement; in 1811, however, he was again employed. In the critical days preceding the War of Liberation he kept his troops in hand without committing himself to any irrevocable step until the decision was made. On the 14th of March 1813 he was made a lieutenant-general. He fought against Oudinot in defence of Berlin (seeNapoleonic Campaigns), and in the summer came under the command of Bernadotte, crown prince of Sweden. At the head of an army corps Bülow distinguished himself very greatly in the battle of Gross Beeren, a victory which was attributed almost entirely to his leadership. A little later he won the great victory of Dennewitz, which for the third time checked Napoleon's advance on Berlin. This inspired the greatest enthusiasm in Prussia, as being won by purely Prussian forces, and rendered Bülow's popularity almost equal to that of Blücher. Bülow's corps played a conspicuous part in the final overthrow of Napoleon at Leipzig, and he was then entrusted with the task of evicting the French from Holland and Belgium. In an almost uniformly successful campaign he won a signal victory at Hoogstraaten, and in the campaign of 1814 he invaded France from the north-west, joined Blücher, and took part in the brilliant victory of Laon in March. He was now made general of infantry and received the title of Count Bülow von Dennewitz. In the short peace of 1814-1815 he was at Konigsberg as commander-in-chief in Prussia proper. He was soon called to the field again, and in the Waterloo campaign commanded the IV. corps of Blücher's army. He was not present at Ligny, but his corps headed the flank attack upon Napoleon at Waterloo, and bore the heaviest part in the fighting of the Prussian troops. He took part in the invasion of France, but died suddenly on the 25th of February 1816, a month after his return to the Königsberg command.
SeeGeneral Graf Bülow von Dennewitz, 1813-1814(Leipzig, 1843); Varnhagen von Ense,Leben des G. Grafen B. von D.(Berlin, 1854).
BÜLOW, HANS GUIDO VON(1830-1894), German pianist and conductor, was born at Dresden, on the 8th of January 1830. At the age of nine he began to study music under Friedrich Wieck as part of a genteel education. It was only after an illness while studying law at Leipzig University in 1848 that he determined upon music as a career. At this time he was a pupil of Moritz Hauptmann. In 1849 revolutionary politics took possession of him. In the BerlinAbendpost, a democratic journal, the young aristocrat poured forth his opinions, which were strongly coloured by Wagner'sArt and Revolution. Wagner's influence was musical no less than political, for a performance ofLohengrinunder Liszt at Weimar in 1850 completed von Bülow's determination to abandon a legal career. From Weimar he went to Zürich, where the exile Wagner instructed him in the elements of conducting. But he soon returned to Weimar and Liszt; and in 1853 he made his first concert tour, which extended from Vienna to Berlin. Next he became principal professor of the piano at the Stern Academy, and married in histwenty-eighthyear Liszt's daughter Cosima. For the following nine years von Bülow laboured incessantly in Berlin as pianist, conductor and writer of musical and political articles. Thence he removed to Munich, where, thanks to Wagner, he had been appointedHofkapellmeisterto Louis II., and chief of the Conservatorium. There, too, he organized model performances ofTristanandDie Meistersinger. In 1869 his marriage was dissolved, his wife subsequently marrying Wagner, an incident which, while preventing Bülow from revisiting Bayreuth, never dimmed his enthusiasm for Wagner's dramas. After a temporary stay in Florence, Bülow set out on tour again as a pianist, visiting most European countries as well as the United States of America, before taking up the post of conductor at Hanover, and, later, at Meiningen, where he raised the orchestra to a pitch of excellence till then unparalleled. In 1885 he resigned the Meiningen office, and conducted a number of concerts in Russia and Germany. At Frankfort he held classes for the higher development of piano-playing. He constantly visited England, for the last time in 1888, in which year he went to live in Hamburg. Nevertheless he continued to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Concerts. He died at Cairo, on the 13th of February 1894. Bülow was a pianist of the highest order of intellectual attainment, an artist of remarkably catholic tastes, and a great conductor. A passionate hater of humbug and affectation, he had a ready pen, and a biting, sometimes almost rude wit, yet of his kindness and generosity countless tales were told. His compositions are few and unimportant, but his annotated editions of the classical masters are of great value. Bülow's writings and letters (Briefe und Schriften), edited by his widow, have been published in 8 vols. (Leipzig, 1895-1908).
BULRUSH,a name now generally given toTypha latifolia, the reed-mace or club-rush, a plant growing in lakes, by edges of rivers and similar localities, with a creeping underground stem, narrow, nearly flat leaves, 3 to 6 ft. long, arranged in opposite rows, and a tall stem ending in a cylindrical spike, half to one foot long, of closely packed male (above) and female (below) flowers. The familiar brown spike is a dense mass of minute one-seeded fruits, each on a long hair-like stalk and covered with long downy hairs, which render the fruits very light and readily carried by the wind. The name bulrush is more correctly applied toScirpus lacustris, a member of a different family (Cyperaceae), a common plant in wet places, with tall spongy, usually leafless stems, bearing a tuft of many-flowered spikelets. The stems are used for matting, &c. The bulrush of Scripture, associated with the hiding of Moses, was thePapyrus(q.v.), also a member of the order Cyperaceae, which was abundant in the Nile.
BULSTRODE, SIR RICHARD(1610-1711), English author and soldier, was a son of Edward Bulstrode (1588-1659), and was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge; after studying law in London he joined the army of Charles I. on the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642. In 1673 he became a resident agent of Charles II. at Brussels; in 1675 he was knighted; then following James II. into exile he died at St Germain on the 3rd of October 1711. Bulstrode is chiefly known by hisMemoirs and Reflections upon the Reign and Government of King Charles I. and King Charles II., published after his death in 1721. He alsowroteLife of James II., andOriginal Letters written to the Earl of Arlington(1712). The latter consists principally of letters written from Brussels giving an account of the important events which took place in the Netherlands during 1674.
His second son,Whitelocke Bulstrode(1650-1724), remained in England after the flight of James II.; he held some official positions, and in 1717 wrote a pamphlet in support of George I. and the Hanoverian succession. He publishedA Discourse of Natural Philosophy, and was a prominent Protestant controversialist. He died in London on the 27th of November 1724.
BULWARK(a word probably of Scandinavian origin, frombolorbole, a tree-trunk, andwerk, work, in Ger.Bollwerk, which has also been derived from an old Germanbolen, to throw, and so a machine for throwing missiles), a barricade of beams, earth, &c., a work in 15th and 16th century fortifications designed to mount artillery (seeBoulevard). On board ship the term is used of the woodwork running round the ship above the level of the deck. Figuratively it means anything serving as a defence.
BUMBOAT,a small boat which carries vegetables, provisions, &c., to ships lying in port or off the shore. The word is probably connected with the Dutchbumboatorboomboot, a broad Dutch fishing-boat, the derivation of which is either fromboom, cf. Ger.baum, a tree, or frombon, a place in which fish is kept alive, andboot, a boat. It appears first in English in the Trinity House By-laws of 1685 regulating the scavenging boats attending ships lying in the Thames.
BUMBULUM,BombulumorBunibulum, a fabulous musical instrument described in an apocryphal letter of St Jerome to Dardanus,[1]and illustrated in a series of illuminated MSS. of the 9th to the 11th century, together with other instruments described in the same letter. These MSS. are thePsalter of Emmeran, 9th century, described by Martin Gerbert,[2]who gives a few illustrations from it; the Cotton MS.Tiberius C. VI.in the British Museum, 11th century; the famousBoulogne Psalter,A.D.1000; and thePsalter of Angers, 9th century.[3]In the Cotton MS. the instrument consists of an angular frame, from which depends by a chain a rectangular metal plate having twelve bent arms attached in two rows of three on each side, one above the other. The arms appear to terminate in small rectangular bells or plates, and it is supposed that the standard frame was intended to be shaken like a sistrum in order to set the bells jangling. Sebastian Virdung[4]gives illustrations of these instruments of Jerome, and among them of the one called bumbulum in the Cotton MS., which Virdung callsFistula Hieronimi. The general outline is the same, but instead of metal arms there is the same number of bent pipes with conical bore. Virdung explains, following the apocryphal letter, that the stand resembling the draughtsman's square represents the Holy Cross, the rectangular object dangling therefrom signifies Christ on the Cross, and the twelve pipes are the twelve apostles. Virdung's illustration, probably copied from an older work in manuscript, conforms more closely to the text of the letter than does the instrument in the Cotton MS. There is no evidence whatever of the actual existence of such an instrument during the middle ages, with the exception of this series of fanciful pictures drawn to illustrate an instrument known from description only. The wordbombulumwas probably derived from the same root as theβομβαύλιοςof Aristophanes (Acharnians, 866) (βόμβοςandαὐλός), a comic compound for a bag-pipe with a play onβομβυλιός, an insect that hums or buzzes (seeBag-Pipe). The original described in the letter, also from hearsay, was probably an early type of organ.
(K. S.)