Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/459

Rh not but take the part of their countrymen at home, and the continuance of hostilities effected the severance of the bond of unity which had for three-quarters of a century kept the subjects of the two nations together in schemes of aggression upon a common foe. The peace of Ryswick in 1097 only left England and France free to pay court to Spain, whose king, weak in body and mind, was evidently hastening to the grave. The succession to the crown was believed to depend upon his will, and the two nations used all their influence, both in the Old World and in the New, to ingratiate themselves into the favour of the Spanish monarch. But that which really stopped the career of the Buccaneers so effectually as to prevent its being resumed was the fact, of so vast importance in the history of Spain and of Europe, that in 1700 Philip V., first of the Bourbon dynasty, ascended the Spanish throne. Spain, so little in herself, yet always great under great kings, now degraded and fallen, almost immediately rose before the eyes of astonished Europe as a gigantic power in the Old World and in the New. But the fall of the Buccaneers is no more accounted for fully by these circumstances than is their rise by the alienation and massacre of the islanders of St Domingo. There was that in the very nature of the community which, from its birth, marked it as liable to speedy decline. The principles which bound the Buccaneers together were, first, the desire for adventure and gain, and, in the second place, hatred of the Spaniard. The first, as that which could produce union among men of different nationalities, hardly deserves to be called a principle. There was perhaps much to gain, but it could be had nearly always by private venture under the colours of the separate European powers. Only one thing prevented this, and it is connected with their second and great principle of union, namely, that they warred not with one another, nor with every one, but with a single and a common foe. For while the Buccaneer forces included English, French, and Dutch sailors, and were complemented occasionally by not inconsiderable bands of native Indians, the instances during the time of their prosperity and growth are few in which we find them turning upon one another, and treating their fellows with the savagery which they exulted in displaying against the subjects of Spain. The exigencies, moreover, of their perilous career readily wasted their suddenly acquired gains. Settled labour, the warrant of real wealth, was beneath the dignity of those who lived by promoting its insecurity. Regular trade though rendered attractive by smuggling and pearl gathering and similar operations which were spiced with risk, were open in vain to them. For, as the licence of the debauchee was in almost every case substituted for the cares and pleasures of domestic life, so .a hand-to-mouth system of supply and demand rooted out gradually the prudence which accompanies any mode of settled existence. In everything permanency was what was not aimed at, because the whole policy of the Buccaneers, from the beginning to the end of their career, was one of pure destruction, and was therefore ultimately suicidal. It has already been seen how great was the influence of the Buccaneers upon the power and the colonial tactics of Spain. But it was more beneficial to the world and more ruinous to Spain, that they opened the eyes of the world, and specially of the nations from whom these Buccaneers had sprung, to the whole system of Spanish American government and commerce the former in its rottenness, and the latter in its possibilities in other hands. That effected, all was effected, since the extent of Spanish power was known. From this, then, along with other causes, dating primarily from the helplessness and pre sumption of Spain, there arose the West Indian possessions of Holland, England, and France.

1em  BUCCARI, a royal free town of the Hungarian crown, situated in the comitat of Fiume, on a small bay of the Adriatic, in 45 18 46&quot; N. lat. and 14 32 11&quot; E. long. Its harbour is of rather limited dimensions, but the road stead is excellent, though the approach is not unattended with danger. The staple industry is the weaving of linen ; shipbuilding is also carried on, and there is an active coasting trade in fish, wine, wood, and coal. The tunny- fishery is of some importance. In the neighbourhood of the town is the old castle of Buccaricza, and further south the flourishing little port of Porto R6 or Kraljevicza. The population of Buccari in 1869 was 2116.  BUCCINO, a town of Italy in the province of Principato Citeriore, and district of Campagna, situated on the River Botta, which is here crossed by an ancient Eoman bridge. Buccino is identified by means of inscriptions found on the spot, as the ancient Volceium or Volcentium, which was a considerable municipal town in Lucania. Population, 6049.  BUCER, (1491-1551), originally, an eminent German reformer, born at Schelestadt, a town of Alsace, near Strasburg. At the age of fifteen ho entered the order of St Dominic, and as he was a youth of great promise he was sent to prosecute his studies at Heidelberg. There he studied the works of Erasmus and Luther, and was present at a disputation of the latter with some of the Roman Catholic doctors. He became a convert to the Reformed Church, abandoned his order, and soon afterwards married a nun. He did not, however, remain strictly a Lutheran. On the great question of the sacrament of the Lord s Supper, his opinions were decidedly those of Zwingli rather than of Luther. Although differ ing from them in doctrine he was anxious to be in church unity with the Lutheran party, and constantly endeavoured to bring about a coalition. In 1548 he was sent for to Augsburg to sign the agreement, called the Interim, between the Papists and Protestants, His warm opposition to this project exposed him to many difficulties and hardships, which induced him to accept the invitation of -.Archbishop Cranmer to fix his residence in England. On his arrival, in 1549, he was appointed to teach theology in the univer sity of Cambridge. King Edward VI. had the greatest regard for Bucer. Having heard that he had suffered much from the cold, from want of a German stove, he sent him a hundred crowns to purchase one. Bucer died of a complication of disorders in 1551, and was buried at Cam bridge with great funereal pomp. Five years afterwards, in Mary s reign, his body was dug up and burnt, and his tomb demolished ; but it was subsequently re-constructed by order of Queen Elizabeth. Bucer s name is familiar in English literature from the use made of the reformer s doctrines by Milton in his divorce treatises.  BUCH, (1774-1853), an eminent German geologist and geographer, was born at Stolpc in Pomerania, April 25, 1774. In 1790 he studied at the mining school of Freiberg under the celebrated Werner, one of his 