Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/788

* BURNET. ru2 BURNET. BUR'NET (OF. hniiiete; cf. Med. Lat. hur- netu, si)riugwort). The name of two allied and often united geneia of Rosacea' — Sanguisorba and Poteriuni. Sanguisorba has hermaphrodite flow- ers with four stamens: in Poterium the flowers are polygamous and the stamens indefluite in number." In both the calyx is four-i)arted and the corolla wanting. The great burnet (San- guisorba officinalis) is common in meadows in all parts of Europe, particularly where the soil is cakareous. It has a stem 1 to 2 feet high, pinnate leaves, with about four jiairs of ovate- serrated leaflets and an odd one; the flowers are crowded in dark-red spiUes. In Germany it is grown as a forage crop for cattle. The root is astring(!nt, and was formerh' used in medicine. The conmion or lesser burnet (I'otcrium snn- guisorba) grows on dry, calcareous soils in Eng- land and in Central and Southern Europe. It much resembles the great burnet, but the leaf- lets are smaller, and the reddish-gieen flowers are arranged in dense heads on long furrowed stalks. It is very resistant to drouth and cold, and its culture for forage has been recommended on dr}. calcareous soils. Although it forms a great part of the natural pasture of the South Downs and other sheep-raising districts of Eng- land, it is not generally regarded as a very val- uable forage plant. It is sometimes cultivated in gardens for its slightly astringent leaves, which are used for flavoring soups and salads. This plant has been introduced into North America, and grows wild in the northeastern part of the United States. Both this and the preceding are perennial plants. There are several other spe- cies, both of Sanguisorba and Poterium, some of the latter shrubby, natives chiefly of the warmer temperate parts of the world. Poterium Cana- dense is found in the northeastern United States. BURNET, Gilbert (1643-1715). A British prelate and historian. He was born in Edin- burgh, September 18, 1043, the youngest son of Lord Crimond. At the age of 10 he entered Marischal College, Aberdeen, being admitted JI.A. at the age of i4. He inclined to the study of civil and feudal law, but at his father's wish, applied himself to divinity, and at 18 was or- dained. In lti(i3, he made a six months' stay in Oxford and Cambridge, visited London, and next year journeyed through Holland and France, in Amsterdam perfecting himself, under a learned rabbi, in the Heltrew language. In KM!.') he be- came minister of Saltoun; in 1(509, professor of divinity in Glasgow University, but resigned in 1674, having incurred the enmity of his patron Lauderdale, by mixing in the polemics of the time. He removed to London, and was made preacher of the Rolls Chajiel and lecturer at Saint Clement's. In 1070 he published his Memoirs of the Dukes of Hainillon, and in 1070 the first volume of his History of tlic Refoniia- lion, for which he received a vote of thanks from Parliament. Next year appeared Some Passages in the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester, in which Burnet records the religious interviews which led to that profligate nobleman's conversion to Christianity. In 1081 he published the second volume of his nistonj of the Reformation, and in 1028 his Life of Sir Matthew Hale. Renewed ett'orts were made to induce him to' break with the Liberal Party and to attach himself to the King. He was otVered the Bishopric of Chichester, but refused it, and in 1083 narrowly escaped trouble in connection with the Rye House Plot. He conducted the defense, and attended the execution and vindi- cated the memory of his friend Lord William Russell. The King retaliated by depriving Bur- net of his Saint Clement's lectureship. On the succession of .James II. he went to the Continent, and traveled through France, Italy, Switzerland, and Geraiany. In 1084 he was introduced to the Prince of Oi-ange, and, when William went to England, accompanied him as royal chaplain, shortly after being appointed Bishop of Salis- bury. He entered on his duties with ardor, but his first pastoral letter, in which he based the right of William to the throne on conquest, gave offense to Parliament, and they ordered it to be burned by the common hangman. William, who Icnew the excellent qualities of the Bishop, was not impressed by this solemn performance, and continued to trust Burnet to the end of his life. In 10118 F.urnet was appointed preceptor of the Duke of Gloucester, and in lOD'J published his exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, which was condemned as heterodox by the House of Lords. In 1714 appeared the third volume of his History of the Reformation. He died of pleurisy in Lon- don, Mareli 17, 1715. Soon after his death ap- peared Bishop Burnet's History of His OwnTime, from the Restoration of King Charles II. to the < onclusion of the Treaty of Peace at Utrecht, in the Reign of Queen Anne. It was sarcastically but foolishly abused by Swift, Pope, Arbuthnot, and other Tory writers of the day. Burnet was a Broad Churchman, and was a man of almost puri- tanic virtue. He was distinguished by charity, geniality, and moderation. His style is neither elegant nor correct, and his judgment not always reliable; but honest simplicity and vigor, as well as fullness of detail, make his w'orks valuable to the student of history. The best editions are the Hi.ilory of His Otcn Time (0 vols., Oxford, 1833) ; History of the Reformation, edited by Pocoek (7 vols., Oxford, 1805). Consult "Bi- ography of Burnet, by His Son," in the Histmy of His (hrn Time. BURNET, Jacob (1770-1853). An Ameri- can jurist, prominent in the early history of Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born in Newark, N. .J., graduated at Princeton in 1791, studied law under .iHdge Boudinot. and was admitted to the New .lerscy bar in 1796. In the same year he removed to Cincinnati, then a straggling vil- lage, and from tluit time until his death was closely identified with public affairs in both city and State. He was a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Ohio from 1799 to 1802, was elected to the'State Assembly in 1812, was one of the supreme judges of Ohio from 1821 to 1828, and from 1828 to 1831 was a member of the United States Senate. It was largely through his influence that the people in the Middle West were relieved, in 1821, of part of their heavy debt to the national (iovcrnment for public lands, and in 1830 he took an active part in securing legislation which made possible the completion of the Miami Canal. For more than 50 years he was a leader in nearly all the public enterprises imdertaken in Cincinnati. He helped establish the Lancastrian Academy there; was one of the founders of Cincinnati College, of which he was also first president; was president for several years of the Oliio -Medical College, and of the Cincinnati Colonization Society; and