Broussais, Joseph Victor, a French materialist, founder of the "physiological school" of medicine; resolved life into excitation, and disease into too much or too little (1772-1838).
Broussel, a member of the Parlement of Paris, whose arrest, in 1648, was the cause of, or pretext for, the organisation of the Fronde.
Brousson, a French Huguenot who returned to France after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and was broken on the wheel, 1698.
Brouwer, a Dutch painter, mostly of low, vulgar life, which, as familiar with it, he depicted with great spirit (1605-1638).
Brown, Amy, the first wife of the Duc de Berri, born in England, died in France; the Pope, in 1816, annulled her marriage, but declared her two daughters legitimate (1783-1876).
Brown, Charles Brockden, an American novelist, born in Philadelphia, of Quaker connection; his best-known fictions are "Wieland," "Edgar Huntly," &c. (1771-1810).
Brown, Ford Madox, an English painter, born at Calais; his subjects nearly all of a historical character, one of which is "Chaucer reciting his Poetry at the Court of Edward III."; anticipated Pre-Raphaelitism (1821-1893).
Brown, Sir George, British general, born near Elgin, distinguished both in the Peninsular and in the Crimean war, was severely wounded at Inkerman, when in command of the Light Division (1790-1863).
Brown, Henry Kirke, an American sculptor, did a number of statues, a colossal one of Washington among them (1814-1886).
Brown, John, American slavery abolitionist; settled in Kansas, and resolutely opposed the project of making it a slave state; in the interest of emancipation, with six others, seized on the State armoury at Harper's Ferry in hope of a rising, entrenched himself armed in it, was surrounded, seized, tried, and hanged (1800-1859).
Brown, John, of Haddington, a self-educated Scotch divine, born at Carpow, near Abernethy, Perthshire, son of a poor weaver, left an orphan at 11, became a minister of a Dissenting church in Haddington; a man of considerable learning, and deep piety; author of "Dictionary of the Bible," and "Self-interpreting Bible" (1722-1787).
Brown, John, M.D., great-grandson of the preceding, born at Biggar, educated in Edinburgh High School and at Edinburgh University, was a pupil of James Syme, the eminent surgeon, and commenced quiet practice in Edinburgh; author of "Horæ Subsecivæ," "Rab and his Friends," "Pet Marjorie," "John Leech," and other works; was a fine and finely-cultured man, much beloved by all who knew him, and by none more than by John Ruskin, who says of him, he was "the best and truest friend of all my life.... Nothing can tell the loss to me in his death, nor the grief to how many greater souls than mine that had been possessed in patience through his love" (1810-1882).
Brown, John, M.D., founder of the Brunonian system of medicine, born at Bunkle, Berwickshire; reduced diseases into two classes, those resulting from redundancy of excitation, and those due to deficiency of excitation; author of "Elements of Medicine" and "Observations on the Old and New Systems of Physic" (1735-1788). See Broussais.
Brown, Jones, and Robinson, three middle-class Englishmen on their travels abroad, as figured in the pages of Punch, and drawn by Richard Doyle.
Brown, Mount (16,000 ft.), the highest of the Rocky Mts., in N. America.
Brown, Oliver Madox, son of Ford Madox, a youth of great promise both as an artist and poet; died of blood-poisoning (1855-1874).
Brown, Rawdon, historical scholar, spent his life at Venice in the study of Italian history, especially in its relation to English history, which he prosecuted with unwearied industry; his great work, work of 20 years' hard labour, "Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts relating to English Affairs existing in the Archives of Venice and Northern Italy," left unfinished at his death; died at Venice, where he spent a great part of his life, where Ruskin found him and conceived a warm friendship for him (1803-1883).
Brown, Robert, a distinguished botanist, born at Montrose, son of an Episcopal clergyman; accompanied an expedition to survey the coast of Australia in 1801, returned after four years' exploration, with 4000 plants mostly new to science, which he classified and described in his "Prodromus Floræ Novæ Hollandiæ"; became librarian to, and finally president of, the Linnean Society; styled by Humboldt botanicorum facile princeps; he was a man of most minute and accurate observation, and of a wide range of knowledge, much of which died along with him, out of the fear of committing himself to mistakes (1773-1858).
Brown, Samuel, M.D., chemist, born in Haddington, grandson of John Brown of Haddington, whose life was devoted, with the zeal of a mediæval alchemist, to a reconstruction of the science of atomics, which he did not live to see realised: a man of genius, a brilliant conversationist and an associate of the most intellectual men of his time, among the number De Quincey, Carlyle, and Emerson; wrote "Lay Sermons on the Theory of Christianity," "Lectures on the Atomic Theory," and two volumes of "Essays, Scientific and Literary" (1817-1856).
Brown, Thomas, Scottish psychologist, born in Kirkcudbrightshire, bred to medicine; professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, colleague and successor to Dugald Stewart; his lectures, all improvised on the spur of the moment, were published posthumously; "Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind" established a sixth sense, which he called the "muscular." He was a man of precocious talent, and a devoted student, to the injury of his health and the shortening of his life; he was obliged from ill-health to resign his professorship after 10 years (1778-1820).
Brown Willy, the highest peak (1368 ft.) in Cornwall.
Browne, Charles Farrar, a humorist and satirist, known by the pseudonym of "Artemus Ward," born in Maine, U.S.; his first literary effort was as "showman" to an imaginary travelling menagerie; travelled over America lecturing, carrying with him a whimsical panorama as affording texts for his numerous jokes, which he brought with him to London, and exhibited with the same accompaniment with unbounded success; he spent some time among the Mormons, and defined their religion as singular, but their wives plural (1834-1867).
Browne, Hablot Knight, artist, born in London; illustrated Dickens's works, "Pickwick" to begin with, under the pseudonym of "Phiz," as well as the works of Lever, Ainsworth, Fielding, and Smollett, and the Abbotsford edition of Scott; he was skilful as an etcher and an architectural draughtsman (1815-1882).
Browne, Robert, founder of the Brownists, born in Rutland; the first seceder from the Church of England, and the first to found a Church of his own on Congregational principles, which he did at Norwich, though his project of secession proved a failure, and he returned to the English Church; died in jail at Northampton, where he was imprisoned for assaulting a constable; he may be accounted the father of the Congregational body in England (1540-1630).
Browne, Sir Thomas, physician and religious thinker, born in London; resided at Norwich for nearly half a century, and died there; was knighted by Charles II.; "was," Professor Saintsbury says, "the greatest prose writer perhaps, when all things are taken together, in the whole range of English"; his principal works are "Religio Medici," "Inquiries into Vulgar Errors," and "Hydriotaphia, or Urn-Burial, a Discourse of the Sepulchral Urns found in Norfolk"; "all of the very first importance in English literature,..." adds the professor, "the 'Religio Medici' the greatest favourite, and a sort of key to the others;" "a man," says Coleridge, "rich in various knowledge, exuberant in conceptions and conceits, contemplative, imaginative, often truly great, and magnificent in his style and diction.... He is a quiet and sublime enthusiast, with a strong tinge of the fantastic. He meditated much on death and the hereafter, and on the former in its relation to, or leading on to, the latter" (1605-1682).
Browne William, English pastoral poet, born at Tavistock; author of "Britannia's Pastorals" and "The Shepherd's Pipe," a collection of eclogues and "The Inner Temple and Masque," on the story of Ulysses and Circe, with some opening exquisitely beautiful verses, "Steer hither, steer," among them; was an imitator of Spenser, and a parallel has been instituted between him and Keats (1590-1645).
Brownie, a good-natured household elf, believed in Scotland to render obliging services to good housewives, and his presence an evidence that the internal economies were approved of, as he favoured good husbandry, and was partial to houses where it was observed.
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, née Barrett, poetess, born at Carlton Hall, Durham; a woman of great natural abilities, which developed early; suffered from injury to her spine; went to Torquay for her health; witnessed the death by drowning of a brother, that gave her a shock the effect of which never left her; published in 1838 "The Seraphim," and in 1844 "The Cry of the Children"; fell in with and married Robert Browning in 1846, who immediately took her abroad, settling in Florence; wrote in 1850 "Sonnets from the Portuguese," in 1851 "Casa Guidi Windows," and in 1856 "Aurora Leigh," "a novel in verse," and in 1860 "Poems before Congress"; ranks high, if not highest, among the poetesses of England; she took an interest all through life in public affairs; her work is marked by musical diction, sensibility, knowledge, and imagination, which no poetess has rivalled (1806-1861).
Browning, Robert, poet, one of the two greatest in the Victorian era, born in Camberwell; early given to write verses; prepared himself for his literary career by reading through Johnson's Dictionary; his first poem "Pauline" (q. v.) published in 1833, which was followed by "Paracelsus" in 1835, "Sordello" in 1840; after a time, in which he was not idle, appeared, with some of his "Dramatic Romances and Lyrics," in 1855 his "Men and Women," and in 1868 "The Ring and the Book" (q. v.), his longest poem, and more analytic than poetic; this was succeeded by a succession of others, finishing up with "Asolando," which appeared the day he died at Venice; was a poet of great subtlety, deep insight, creative power, and strong faith, of a genius and learning which there are few able to compass the length and breadth of; lies buried in Westminster Abbey; of Browning it has been said by Professor Saintsbury, "Timor mortis non conturbabat, 'the fear of death did not trouble him.' In the browner shades of age as well as in the spring of youth he sang, not like most poets, Love and Death, but Love and Life.... 'James Lee,' 'Rabbi Ben Ezra,' and 'Prospice' are among the greatest poems of the century." His creed was an optimism of the brightest, and his restful faith "it is all right with the world" (1812-1889).
Brown-Séquard, physiologist, born in Mauritius, of American parentage; studied in Paris; practised in New York, and became a professor in the Collège de France; made a special study of the nervous system and nervous diseases, and published works on the subject; b. 1818.
Bruant, a French architect, born in Paris; architect of the Invalides and the Salpétrière; d. 1697.
Bruat, a French admiral, commanded the French fleet at the Crimea (1796-1885).
Bruce, a family illustrious in Scottish history, descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Bruis, who came over with the Conqueror, and who acquired lands first in Northumberland and then in Annandale.
Bruce, James, traveller, called the "Abyssinian," born at Kinnaird House, Stirlingshire, set out from Cairo in 1768 in quest of the source of the Nile: believed he had discovered it; stayed two years in Abyssinia, and returned home by way of France, elated with his success; felt hurt that no honor was conferred on him, and for relief from the chagrin wrote an account of his travels in five quarto vols., the general accuracy of which, as far as it goes, has been attested by subsequent explorers (1730-1794).
Bruce, Michael, a Scotch poet, born near Loch Leven, in poor circumstances, in the parish of Portmoak; studied for the Church; died of consumption; his poems singularly plaintive and pathetic; his title to the authorship of the "Ode to the Cuckoo" has been matter of contention (1746-1767).
Bruce, Robert, rival with John Baliol for the crown of Scotland on the death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, against whose claim Edward I. decided in favour of Baliol (1210-1295).
Bruce, Robert, son of the preceding, earl of Carrick, through Marjory his wife; served under Edward at the battle of Dunbar for one instance; sued for the Scottish crown in vain (1269-1304).
Bruce, Robert, king of Scotland, son of the preceding, did homage for a time to Edward, but joined the national party and became one of a regency of four, with Comyn for rival; stabbed Comyn in a quarrel at Dumfries, 1306, and was that same year crowned king at Scone; was defeated by an army sent against him, and obliged to flee to Rathlin, Ireland; returned and landed in Carrick; cleared the English out of all the fortresses except Stirling, and on 24th June 1314 defeated the English under Edward II. at Bannockburn, after which, in 1328, the independence of Scotland was acknowledged as well as Bruce's right to the crown; suffering from leprosy, spent his last two years at Cardross Castle, on the Clyde, where he died in the thirty-third year of his reign (1274-1329).
Brucin, an alkaloid, allied in action to strychnine, though much weaker, being only a twenty-fifth of the strength.
Brückenau, small town in Bavaria, 17 m. NW. of Kissingen, with mineral springs good for nervous and skin diseases.
Brucker, historian of philosophy, born at Augsburg, and a pastor there; author of "Historia Critica Philosophiæ" (1696-1770).
Brueys, David Augustin de, French dramatist, born at Aix, an abbé converted by Bossuet, and actively engaged in propagating the faith; managed to be joint editor with Palaprat in the production of plays (1650-1725).
Bruges (49), cap. of W. Flanders, in Belgium, intersected by canals crossed by some 50 bridges, whence its name "Bridges"; one of these canals, of considerable depth, connecting it with Ostend; though many of them are now, as well as some of the streets, little disturbed by traffic, in a decayed and a decaying place, having once had a population of 200,000; has a number of fine churches, one specially noteworthy, the church of Notre Dame; it has several manufactures, textile and chemical, as well as distilleries, sugar-refineries, and shipbuilding yards.
Brugsch, Heinrich Karl, a German Egyptologist, born at Berlin; was associated with Mariette in his excavations at Memphis; became director of the School of Egyptology at Cairo; his works on the subject are numerous, and of great value; b. 1827.
Brühl, Heinrich, Count von, minister of Augustus III., king of Poland, an unprincipled man, who encouraged his master, and indulged himself, in silly foppery and wasteful extravagance, so that when the Seven Years' War broke out he and his master had to flee from Dresden and seek refuge in Warsaw (1700-1763).
Bruin, the bear personified in the German epic of "Reynard the Fox."
Brumaire, the 18th (i. e. the 9th November 1799, the foggy month), the day when Napoleon, on his return from Egypt, overthrew the Directory and established himself in power.
Brummell, Beau, born in London, in his day the prince of dandies; patronised by the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV.; quarrelled with the prince; fled from his creditors to Calais, where, reduced to destitution, he lived some years in the same reckless fashion; settled at length in Caen, where he died insane (1778-1805).
Brunck, an able French Hellenist, classical scholar, and critic, born at Strassburg; edited several classical works, played a perilous part in the French Revolution; was imprisoned, and, on his release, had to sell his library in order to live (1729-1803).
Brune, G. Marie, French marshal, saw service in the Vendéan war and in Italy, distinguished himself under Napoleon in Italy and Holland; submitted to Bourbons in 1814; joined Napoleon on his return from Elba; was appointed to a post of command in the S. of France, but had to surrender after Waterloo, and was attacked by a mob of Royalists at Avignon as he was setting out for Paris, and brutally murdered and his body thrown into the Rhône (1763-1815).
Brunel, Sir Isambard, engineer, born in Rouen, entered the French navy, emigrated to the United States; was chief engineer of New York; settled in England, became block-maker to the Royal Navy; constructed the Thames tunnel, begun in 1825 and finished in 1843 (1759-1849).
Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, son of the preceding, assisted his father in his engineering operations, in particular the Thames tunnel; was engineer of the Great Western Railway; designed the Great Western steamship, the first to cross the Atlantic; was the first to apply the screw propeller to steam navigation; designed and constructed the Great Eastern; constructed bridges and naval docks (1806-1859).
Brunelleschi, Italian architect, born in Florence, bred a goldsmith, studied at Rome; returned to his native city, built the Duomo of the Cathedral, the Pitti Palace, and the churches of San Lorenzo and Spirito Santo (1377-1444).
Brunetière, French critic, connected with the Revue des Deux Mondes and now editor; a very sound and sensible critic; his chief work, begun in the form of lectures in 1890, entitled "L'Évolution des Genres de l'Histoire de la Littérature Française"; according to Prof. Saintsbury, promises to be one of the chief monuments that the really "higher" criticism has yet furnished; b. 1849.
Brunetto-Latini, an Italian writer, who played an important part among the Guelfs, and was obliged to flee to Paris, where he had Dante for a pupil (1220-1294).
Brunhilda, a masculine queen in the "Nibelungen Lied" who offered to marry the man that could beat her in feats of strength, was deceived by Siegfried into marrying Gunther, and meditated the death of Siegfried, who had married her rival Chriemhilda, which she accomplished by the hand of Hagen. Also a queen of Austrasia, who, about the 7th century, had a lifelong quarrel with Fredegunde, queen of Neustria, the other division of the Frankish world, which at her death she seized possession of for a time, but was overthrown by Clothaire II., Fredegunde's son, and dragged to death at the heels of an infuriated wild horse.
Bruni, Leonardo, Italian humanist, born at Arezzo, hence called Aretino; was papal secretary; settled in Florence, and wrote a history of it; did much by his translations of Greek authors to promote the study of Greek (1369-1444).
Brünn (95), Austrian city, capital of Moravia, beautifully situated, 93 m. N. of Vienna, with large manufactures; woollens the staple of the country; about one-half of the population Czechs.
Brunnow, Count von, a Russian diplomatist, born at Dresden; represented Russia in several conferences, and was twice ambassador at the English Court (1797-1875).
Bruno, Giordano, a bold and fervid original thinker, born at Nola, in Italy; a Dominican monk, quitted his monastery, in fact, was for heterodoxy obliged to flee from it; attached himself to Calvin for a time, went for more freedom to Paris, attacked the scholastic philosophy, had to leave France as well; spent two years in England in friendship with Sir Philip Sidney, propagated his views in Germany and Italy, was arrested by the Inquisition, and after seven years spent in prison was burned as a heretic; he was a pantheist, and regarded God as the living omnipresent soul of the universe, and Nature as the living garment of God, as the Earth-Spirit does in Goethe's "Faust"—a definition of Nature in relation to God which finds favour in the pages of "Sartor Resartus"; d. 1600.
Bruno, St., born at Cologne, retired to a lonely spot near Grenoble with six others, where each lived in cells apart, and they met only on Sundays; founder of the Carthusian Order of Monks, the first house of which was established in the desert of Chartreuse (1030-1101). Festival, Oct. 6.
Bruno the Great, third son of Henry the Fowler; archbishop of Cologne, chancellor of the Empire, a great lover of learning, and promoter of it among the clergy, who he thought should, before all, represent and encourage it (928-965).
Brunonian System, a system which regards and treats diseases as due to defective or excessive excitation, as sthenic or asthenic. See Brown, John.
Brunswick (404), a N. German duchy, made up of eight detached parts, mostly in the upper basin of the Weser; is mountainous, and contains part of the Harz Mts.; climate and crops are those of N. Germany generally. Brunswick (101), the capital, a busy commercial town, once a member of the Hanseatic League, and fell into comparative decay after the decay of the League, on the Oker, 140 m. SW. of Berlin; an irregularly built city, it has a cathedral, and manufactures textiles, leather, and sewing-machines.
Brunswick, Charles William, Duke of, Prussian general, commanded the Prussian and Austrian forces levied to put down the French Revolution; emitted a violent, blustering manifesto, but a Revolutionary army under Dumouriez and Kellermann met him at Valmy, and compelled him to retreat in 1792; was beaten by Davout at Auerstädt, and mortally wounded (1735-1806).
Brunswick, Frederick William, Duke of, brother of Queen Caroline; raised troops against France, which, being embarked for England, took part in the Peninsular war; fell fighting at Ligny, two days before the battle of Waterloo (1771-1815).
Brussels (477), on the Senne, 27 m. S. of Antwerp, is the capital of Belgium, in the heart of the country. The old town is narrow and crooked, but picturesque; the town-hall a magnificent building. The new town is well built, and one of the finest in Europe. There are many parks, boulevards, and squares; a cathedral, art-gallery, museum and library, university and art schools. It is Paris in miniature. The manufactures include linen, ribbons, and paper; a ship-canal and numerous railways foster commerce.
Brutus, Lucius Junius, the founder of Republican Rome, in the 6th century B.C.; affected idiocy (whence his name, meaning stupid); it saved his life when Tarquin the Proud put his brother to death; but when Tarquin's son committed an outrage on Lucretia, he threw off his disguise, headed a revolt, and expelled the tyrant; was elected one of the two first Consuls of Rome; sentenced his two sons to death for conspiring to restore the monarchy; fell repelling an attempt to restore the Tarquins in a hand-to-hand combat with Aruns, one of the sons of the banished king.
Brutus, Marcus Junius, a descendant of the preceding, and son of Cato Uticensis's sister; much beloved by Cæsar and Cæsar's friend, but persuaded by Cassius and others to believe that Cæsar aimed at the overthrow of the republic; joined the conspirators, and was recognised by Cæsar among the conspirators as party to his death; forced to flee from Rome after the event, was defeated at Philippi by Antony and Augustus, but escaped capture by falling on a sword held out to him by one of his friends, exclaiming as he did so, "O Virtue, thou art but a name!" (85-42 B.C.).
Bruyère, a French writer, author of "Charactères de Théophraste," a satire on various characters and manners of his time (1644-1696).
Bryan, William Jennings, American statesman, born in Salem, Illinois; bred to the bar and practised at it; entered Congress in 1890 as an extreme Free Silver man; lost his seat from his uncompromising views on that question; was twice nominated for the Presidency in opposition to Mr McKinley, but defeated; b. 1860.
Bryant, William Cullen, American poet; his poems were popular in America, the chief, "The Age," published in 1821; was 50 years editor of the New York Evening Post; wrote short poems all through his life, some of the later his best (1794-1878).
Bryce, James, historian and politician, born at Belfast; Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford; bred to the bar; for a time professor of Civil Law at Oxford; entered Parliament in 1880; was member of Mr. Gladstone's last cabinet; his chief literary work, "The Holy Roman Empire," a work of high literary merit; b. 1838.
Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton, English antiquary, born at Wootton House, in Kent; called to the bar, but devoted to literature; was M.P. for Maidstone for six years; lived afterwards and died at Geneva; wrote novels and poems, and edited old English writings of interest (1762-1837).
Bubastis, an Egyptian goddess, the Egyptian Diana, the wife of Ptah; and a city in Lower Egypt, on the eastern branch of the Nile.
Buccaneers, an association, chiefly English and French, of piratical adventurers in the 16th and 17th centuries, with their head-quarters in the Caribbean Sea, organised to plunder the ships of the Spaniards in resentment of the exclusive right they claimed to the wealth of the S. American continent, which they were carrying home across the sea.
Buccleuch, a glen 18 m. SW. of Selkirk, with a stronghold of the Scott family, giving the head the title of earl or duke.
Bucen`taur, the state galley, worked by oars and manned by 168 rowers, in which the Doge of Venice used to sail on the occasion of the annual ceremony of wedding anew the Adriatic Sea by sinking a ring in it.
Buceph`alus (i. e. ox-head), the horse which Alexander the Great, while yet a youth, broke in when no one else could, and on which he rode through all his campaigns; it died in India from a wound. The town, Bucephala, on the Hydaspes, was built near its grave.
Bucer Martin, a German Reformer, born at Strassburg; originally a Dominican, adopted the Reformed faith, ministered as pastor and professor in his native place, differed in certain matters from both Luther and Zwingli, while he tried to reconcile them; invited by Cranmer to England, he accepted the invitation, and became professor of Divinity at Cambridge, where he died, but his bones were exhumed and burned a few years later (1491-1551).
Buch, Leopold von, a German geologist, a pupil of Werner and fellow-student of Alexander von Humboldt, who esteemed him highly; adopted the volcanic theory of the earth; wrote no end of scientific memoirs (1774-1853).
Buchan, a district in the NE. of Aberdeenshire, between the rivers Deveron and Ythan; abounds in magnificent rock scenery. The Comyns were earls of it till they forfeited the title in 1309.
Buchanan, Claudius, born at Cambuslang, near Glasgow, chaplain in Barrackpur under the East India Company, vice-provost of the College at Fort William, Calcutta; one of the first to awaken an interest in India as a missionary field; wrote "Christian Researches in Asia" (1756-1815).
Buchanan, George, a most distinguished scholar and humanist, born at Killearn, Stirlingshire; educated at St. Andrews and Paris; professor for three years in the College at St. Barbe; returned to Scotland, became tutor to James V.'s illegitimate sons; imprisoned by Cardinal Beaton for satires against the monks, escaped to France; driven from one place to another, imprisoned in a monastery in Portugal at the instance of the Inquisition, where he commenced his celebrated Latin version of the Psalms; came back to Scotland, was appointed in 1562 tutor to Queen Mary, in 1566 principal of St. Leonard's College, in St. Andrews, in 1567 moderator of the General Assembly in 1570 tutor to James VI., and had several offices of State conferred on him; wrote a "History of Scotland," and his book "De Jure Regni," against the tyranny of peoples by kings; died in Edinburgh without enough to bury him; was buried at the public expense in Greyfriars' churchyard; when dying, it is said he asked his housekeeper to examine his money-box and see if there was enough to bury him, and when he found there was not, he ordered her to distribute what there was among his poor neighbours and left it to the city to bury him or not as they saw good (1506-1582).
Buchanan, James, statesman of the United States, was ambassador in London in 1853, made President in 1856, the fifteenth in order, at the time when the troubles between the North and South came to a head, favoured the South, retired after his Presidentship into private life (1791-1868).
Buchanan, Robert, a writer in prose and verse, born in Warwickshire, educated at Glasgow University; his first work, "Undertones," a volume of verse published by him in 1863, and he has since written a goodly number of poems, some of them of very high merit, the last "The Wandering Jew," which attacks the Christian religion; besides novels, has written magazine articles, and one in particular, which involved him in some trouble; b.1841.
Buchanites, a fanatical sect who appeared in the W. of Scotland in 1783, named after a Mrs. Buchan, who claimed to be the woman mentioned in Rev. xii.
Bucharest (220), capital of Roumania, picturesquely situated on the Dambovitza, a tributary of the Danube, in a fertile plain, 180 m. from the Black Sea; is a meanly built but well-fortified town, with the reputation of the most dissolute capital in Europe; there is a Catholic cathedral and a university; it is the emporium of trade between the Balkan and Austria; textiles, grain, hides, metal, and coal are the chief articles in its markets.
Buchez, Joseph, a French historian, politician, and Socialist; joined the St. Simonian Society, became a Christian Socialist, and a collaborateur in an important historical work, the "Parliamentary History of the French Revolution"; figured in political life after the Revolution of 1848, but retired to private life after the establishment of the Empire (1796-1865).
Büchner, Ludwig, physician and materialist, born at Darmstadt; lectured at Tübingen University; wrote a book entitled "Kraft und Stoff," i. e. Force and Matter, and had to retire into private practice as a physician on account of its materialistic philosophy, which he insisted on teaching (1824-1899).
Buchon, a learned Frenchman; wrote chronologies of French history (1791-1846).
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, favourite of James I. and Charles I., born in Leicestershire; rose under favour of the former to the highest offices and dignities of the State; provoked by his conduct wars with Spain and France; fell into disfavour with the people; was assassinated at Portsmouth by Lieutenant Felton, on the eve of his embarking for Rochelle (1592-1628).
Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, son of the preceding; served under Charles I. in the Civil War, was at the battle of Worcester; became minister of Charles II.; a profligate courtier and an unprincipled man (1627-1688).
Buckingham, James Silk, traveller and journalist, born in Falmouth; conducted a journal in Calcutta, and gave offence to the East India Company by his outspokenness; had to return to England, where his cause was warmly taken up; by his writings and speeches paved the way for the abolition of the Company's charter (1784-1855).
Buckinghamshire (185), English S. midland county, lying E. of Oxford, W. of Bedford and Hertford, is full of beautiful and varied scenery; hill, dale, wood, and water. The Thames forms the southern boundary, the Ouse flows through the N., and the Thame through the centre. The Chiltern Hills cross the county. Agriculture is the prevailing industry; dairy produce, cattle and poultry feeding, and sheep rearing the sources of wealth. The county town is Buckingham (3), on the Ouse, 60 m. NW. of London.
Buckland, Francis (Frank), naturalist, son of the succeeding, bred to medicine; devoted to the study of animal life; was inspector of salmon fisheries; wrote "Curiosities of Natural History," "Familiar History of British Fishes," &c.; contributed largely to the journals, such as the Field, and edited Land and Water, which he started in 1866 (1826-1880).
Buckland, William, a distinguished geologist, born at Tiverton; had a predilection from boyhood for natural science; awoke in Oxford University an interest in it by his lectures on mineralogy and geology; his pen was unceasingly occupied with geological subjects; exerted himself to reconcile the teachings of science with the accounts in Genesis; was made Dean of Westminster by Sir Robert Peel; his intellect gave way in 1850, and he remained in mental weakness till his death (1784-1856).
Buckle, George Earle, editor of the Times, born near Bath; studied at Oxford, where he distinguished himself; is a Fellow of All Souls' College; became editor in 1884, having previously belonged to the editorial staff; b. 1854.
Buckle, Henry Thomas, an advanced thinker, born in Lee, in Kent; in delicate health from his infancy, too ambitious for his powers, thought himself equal to write the "History of Civilisation in England," in connection with that of Europe, tried it, but failed; visited the East for his health, and died at Damascus; his theory as regards the development of civilisation is, that national character depends on material environment, and that progress depends upon the emancipation of rationality, an extremely imperfect reading and rendering of the elements at work, and indeed a total omission of nearly all the more vital ones; he was distinguished as a chess-player (1822-1862).
Buckstone, John Baldwin, an able comic actor and popular dramatist, born in London; for a long period the lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, London (1802-1870).
Buda-Pesth (506), a twin city, the capital of Hungary, on the Danube; Buda (Ger. Ofen) on the right bank and Pesth on the left, the two cities being connected by a suspension bridge, the former on a rocky elevation and the latter on level ground; a great commercial centre.
Budastis, an ancient town in Lower Egypt, where festivals in honour of Bacchus used to be held every year.
Buddha, Gautama, or Sakya-muni, the founder of Buddhism about the 5th century B.C., born a Hindu, of an intensely contemplative nature, the son of a king, who did everything in his power to tempt him from a religious life, from which, however, in his contemplation of the vanity of existence, nothing could detain him; retired into solitude at the age of 30, as Sakyamuni, i. e. solitary of the Sakyas, his tribe; consulted religious books, could get no good out of them, till, by-and-by, he abstracted himself more and more from everything external, when at the end of ten years, as he sat brooding under the Bo-tree alone with the universe, soul with soul, the light of truth rose full-orbed upon him, and he called himself henceforth and gave himself out as Buddha, i. e. the Enlightened; now he said to himself, "I know it all," as Mahomet in his way did after him, and became a preacher to others of what had proved salvation to himself, which he continued to do for 40 years, leaving behind him disciples, who went forth without sword, like Christ's, to preach what they, like Christ's, believed was a gospel to every creature.