Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/789

* BURNET. 703 BURNETT. for some time was at the head of the Cincinmiti branch of the United 8lates Bank. He published otes on the Early Settlement of the North- tcestern Territory (1847), a work which contains much interesting information, and has been of value to subsequent writers on the history of the Northwest, and especially of Ohio. BURNET, John (1784-1868). A Scottish painter, engraver, and author. He was born in Edinburgh, and was apprenticed to Robert Scott, the landscape engraver. He was lirst brought to the notice of the public through his engrav- ings of David Wilkie's works, which he executed in an admirable manner. Of his own paintings, the best-known engraving is that of "Greenwich J'ensioners Receiving News of the Battle of Tra- falgar." He wrote several works of art, illus- trated by drawings and engravings of his own, the most important of which is a Practical Trea- tise on Fainting ( 1827 ). He was also the author of Hcmbrandt and His ^yorlcs (184!)); and. in collaboration with Peter Cunningham, of Life and Works of J. II. ^Y. Turner (London, 1852). BURNET, John (1803—). A Scottish scholar, born in Edinburgh. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and at Balliol College, O.vford, and in 1888 became an instructor at Harrow School. In 1890 he was appointed a fellow of Merton College, Cambridge, and in 1892 professor of Greek in Saint Andrews University. He has published scholarly works on Early Greek Phi- losophy (1802), a most excellent treatise, follow- ing in general the lines of Zeller's Philosophie der (Iriechcn (187(i) ; Greek Rudiments (1897) ; and The yicomaehian Ethics of Aristotle (1899). He has also edited Plato in the Oxford Classical Texts series. BURNET, Thomas (c.1635-1715). An Eng- lish writer. He was bom in Yorkshire, was edu- cated at Cambridge, and in 1685 was elected Master of Charterhouse. Later he succeeded Archbishop Tillotson as chaplain in ordinary and clerk of the closet to William III. His Telluris Theoria Sacra, of which the first part appeared in Latin in 1681 and in English three years later, is an ingenious work, though its science was crude even for those times. In 1692 Burnet published his Arrhwoloijiw Philosojihirce, sive Doctrina Antiqua de Rerum Oripinibus' (also in English), which displayed great learn- ing; but as it treated the Mosaic account of the fall as an allegory, and in particular burlesqued the conversation between Eve and the serpent, it gave great offense. His style, in both Latin and English, is dignified and often eloquent; but his speculations, once solemnly praised for their pro- fundity, are now interesting only as a study in the history of philosophy, or for their colossal ab- surdities. BURNET, William (1688-1729). An Ameri- can Colonial Governor, born at The Hague, Hol- land, the son of Bishop Gilbert Burnet. He was appointed Governor of New York and New Jer- sey in 1720, and immediately began to take an active interest in the competition between France and England for the control of the Indian trade. In 1722 he established, at Oswego, the fir.st Brit- ish trading post on the Great Lakes, and five .■years later, in spite of the vigorous protests of the French Governor of Canada, Beauharnais, and the niggardly support of the New York .As- sembly, built here a fort, which served to divert much of the Indian trade from the French post at Niagara, and later played a prominent part in the French and Indian wars. In 1722, also, Bur- net summoned to .lbany, N. Y., the Governors or representatives of several other Colonies and persuaded them to unite with him in threaten- ing war against the Eastern Indians, in case they did not agree to a satisfactory treaty with the English. He soon aroused the opi)osition of the traders and many others in the Colony, however, by his rigid enforcement of an act prohibiting the sale to French traders of goods commonly used in the Indian trade. In 1728 he exchanged the Go'ernorship of New York and New .Jersey for that of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, but in this latter position almost immediately became embroiled with the Massachusetts Assem- bly over the old question of the payment, of a li.xed salary to the Governor, the Assembly stub- bornly insisting on its right to raise at its own discretion all money needed for the administra- tion of the Colony. In this matter Burnet merely acted under the explicit instructions of the home Government, the House of Commons having passed a resolution that the contention of Massa- chusetts tended 'to shake off the dependency of the said Colony upon their kingdom'; but the Assembly remained obdurate, and Bumet was never able to carry his point. Though obstinate and headstrong, and fre- quently without tact, Burnet was an honest and capable administrator, and sincerely desired to promote the welfare of the Colonies over which he presided. He deserves especial praise for his far-sighted Indian policy in New York, which did much to further the interests of England in the long and stubborn contest with France for commercial and territorial supremacy in the Northwest. BURNETT', Frances Eliza Hodgson- (1849 — ). A novelist who was born in England, but has been identified with American literature. She was born in Manchester, Noveml)er 24. 1849, came to the United States at the close of the Civil War, and lived in Tennessee until her mar- riage (1873) to Dr. S. il. Burnett. She has since lived in Washington and Europe. She first gained notice by "Surly Tim's Trouble," in Scrihn-er's Magazine (1872), and her reputation was firmly established by That Lass o' Lowrie's ( 1877 ) . The most noteworthy of her later novels are Ilaa-orlh's (1879) and A Ladi/ of Quality (1896), both dealing with English 'life ; .1 Fair liarbarinn (1881); Through One Administra- tion (1883) ; and [n Connection with the Dc ll'ii- loufihby Claim (1899). Her most successful book, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886). is an Anglo-American story, and has been dramatized by its author. She also wrote a I)lay. Esme- ralda (1881), with W. H. Gillette, founded on t,ne of her short stories: and. in collaboration with Stephen Townsend, dramatized A Lady of Quality. Divorced from Dr. Burnett in 1898, she afterwards married Stephen Townsend. She pub- lished in lilOl The Miikiny of a Marchioness. BUR'NETT, James, Lord Monboddo (1714- 99). A Scottish writer and judge. He was bom in Kincardineshire, and was educated at Aber- deen and Groningen. He early exjrascd himself to ridicule by asserting that man, is but a civil- ized species of monkey. This theory be elabo- rated in his Disscrl<itiun on Lanyiiaye (6 vols., 1773-92) and in Ancient .Metaphysics (6 vols..