Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/686

* BUCKLE. 608 BUCKLET. clasp, consisting of a rim and tongiio, used for fastening straps or bands in dress and harness. Buckles for harness and men's clothing are usu- ally stamped or drop-forged from iron or brass; but in making buckles for women's girdles and other articles of dress, the precious metals, often ornamented with gems and of ornamental design, are also employed. The use of buckles instead of shoestrings was nitroduced into England during the reign of Charles II. They soon became very fashionable, attained an enormous size (the lai'g- est being called .rtois buckles, after the Comte d'Artois, brother of the King of France), and were usually made of silver, set with diamonds and other precious stones. In the latter half of the Eigliteenth Century the manufacture of buckles was carried on 7uost extensively in Bir- mingham, there being at (me time not less tlian 4000 people employed in that town and its vicin- ity, who turned out ■J..'iOO,000 pairs of buckles annually. Wlien the trade was at its hciglit, however, fashion changed, and in 1791 the buckle-makers petitioned the Prince of Wales for sympathy, on the ground that the introilue- tion of shoestrings had nearly ruined their trade. The Prince promised to assist them as far as he could, by wearing buckles himself and enjoining his household to do the same : but fashion was too strong even for him, and they became almost extinct, except as a part of the English Court dress. BUCKLE, Henry Thomas (1821-62). An Englisli liistorian, who became famous upon the publication of the first volume of the work en- titled Thr History of Civilhation. He was born at Lee, Kent, November 24, 1821, and came of a well-known London family of mercliants and ship-owners. He was a delicate child, and after a short session at a school in Kentish Town his further studies, at his request, were pursvied at home,, under the direction of his father and mother. In his thirty-first year he had a knowl- edge of nineteen modern languages. The death of his father in 1840 left him an independent fortune, which enaliled him to travel and devote himself to literature. From 1840 to 1844 he traveled in Europe, and it was during this period that he resolved to write a history of the Middle Ages. In 1851 he enlarged the scope of his work, and during the next six years was engaged in writing, rewriting, altering, and revising the first volume of his Hixtor// of CiviH::alioii, which appeared in 1857. It achieved immediate suc- cess througliout Europe and America. liuckle was elected a member of various exclusive clubs, and on March 1!), 1858, the first and only lecture that he ever delivered was given at the Koyal Institute. His topic was "The Infiuence of Women on the Progress of Knowledge." This lecture was publi.shed in Fra.ier's Magazine (London, .-pril, 1858). The second volume of his Ilislory of Ciiilization appeared in .January, 1801, and he then souglit recuperati<m in travel through the Orient. He contracted typhus fever at Nazareth, and died at Damascus, May 20, 1802, in his forty-first year. Buckle's fame has diminished rather than in- creased with age, and critical estimates of his work vary as to its value. His great work is in reality an unfinished introduction, which seeks to establish history as an exact science, by a novel method of study and deduction. Before tracing the particular history of English civili- zation, he enters into a general consideration of the progress of those countries — Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, and the United States — in which the elements of modern civilization originated. The two volumes are occupied with this preliminary examination, which they do not even comidete. His objects, however, are clear. By ingenious but non-conclusive evidence he maintains that climate, soil, food, and the mutabilities of nature form the character of a peojile : that skepticism is the true source of intellectual progress ; that the retarding force is credulity, and that the excessive protection exer- cised by governments, the nobility, the Church, and other agencies over the people, has dwarfed and retarded the spirit of freedom and civiliza- tion. His work is characterized by high ideals, vigor, and elegance of style ; but although his arguments are admitted to contain much sound truth, he is accused of being frequently one- sided, and of drawing sweeping deductions from an imperfect survey of facts. Consult: itiscel- laneons and Posiluimouf: ^Yorks of H. T. Buckle, edited by Miss Taylor (London, 1872; new edi- tion by Grant A'llen, 1885) ; Huth, Life of Huckle (London, 1880); Robertson, Buckle and His Critics (London, 1895). BUCKLER (Fr. bouclier, so named from the boss, bijucle, on it). In old armor, a kind of shield worn on the left ann. The name is some- times applied to the smaller ancient shields. In the iliddle .ges the buckler was round, oval, or square in shajje, and was frequently made of wickerwork or of hide, strengthened by metal plates. BUCK'LEY, .LMES Monroe (1836—). An American clergyman. He was born in Rahway, N. J., ^as educated at Pennington Seminary and Weslej'an University, and studied theology in E.xeter, N. H. He entered the ministry in 1858, joined the New Hampshire Conference of the -Methodist Episcopal Cluirch in 1859, and preached successively in Dover, Manchester. Con- cord. Detroit, New York, and Brooklyn, holding the last charge from 1807 to 1880. "Since 1872 he has always been prominent in the General Conferences of his Church, and is one of the most influential men in the denomination. He has been editor of the New York Christian Adim- rate since 1880. Among his publications are: Christians avd the Theatre (1870) ; Thr f.nnd of the C:ar and the ihilist (1880) : Failh Hcalin(j (1892); Trarel-s in Three Continents (1895)'; Ilislory of Methodism in the United States (1897) ; and Extemporaneous Oratory (1899). BUCKLEY, SA.Mrr,L Botsford (1809-84) . An .merican naturalist, born in Torrey, Yates Coun- ty. N. Y. He graduated at Wcslevan University in 18;i0, and in 1842 traveled through the South- ern States, where he discovered twenty-four new species of plants and the genus now known as Bueklrya distiehophilla. IJuring a sub.sequent ex|)edition through Florida, he discovered thir- teen new s|)ecies of shells. By barometrical measurements he determined in i858 the height of .several mountains in North Carolina and Ten- nessee; one of which. Mount Buckley, in North Carolina, was named after him. He afterwards .successively became assistant naturalist and geol- ogist in the State Survey of Texas 1)800 til). State Geologist of Te.vas (1866-07), and scientific