THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
A. Bunker, Soo Thah, . Making of the Karen Nation,
New York, 1902; Julius Smith, Ten Years in Burmah, Cincinnati, 1902; W. C. Griggs, Odds and Ends from Pagoda Land, Philadelphia, 1906.
BURMANN, FRANS: Dutch theologian; b. at Leyden 1628; d. at Utrecht Nov. 12, 1679. At twenty-three he took the pastoral charge of a new Dutch church at Hanau; in 1661 he became vicerector of the college at Leyden, and the next year professor of dogmatic theology at Utrecht, combining this position with a pastoral charge there, and teaching church history also from 1671. His principal work, Synopsis theologian (2 vols., Utrecht, 1671-72), shows him to have been the clearest systematic thinker of the school of Cocceius (q.v.). He also wrote Dutch commentaries on all the historical books of the Old Testament (collected edition Amsterdam, 1740), and several minor works.
(E. F. Karl Muller.)
BURN, RICHARD: Legal writer; b. at Winton (37 m. s.e. of Carlisle), Westmoreland, 1709; d. at Orton, Westmoreland (10 m. w. of Winton), Nov. 12, 17S5. He studied at Queen's College, Oxford (B.A., 1734); became vicar of Orton 1736, and was justice of the peace for Westmoreland and Cumberland; chancellor of Carlisle 1765. His works include two standard treatises, The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer, comprehending all the law to the present time (2 vols., London, 1755; 29th edition, enlarged, edited by Chitty and Bere, 6 vols., 1S45; 30th ed., 1869); and Ecclesiastical Law (2 vols., 1763; 9th edition, with additions, by Phillimore, 4 vols., 1842).
BURNET, GILBERT: Bishop of Salisbury; b. in Edinburgh Sept. 18, 1643; d. at Salisbury Mar. 17, 1715. He was educated at Aberdeen; became a probationer 1061; studied and traveled in England, Holland, and France till 1664; became minister at Saltoun 1G65; professor of divinity at Glasgow 1669; removed to London 1674 and was made chaplain at the Rolls Chapel, and lecturer at St. Clement's, 1G7.5. The popularity he enjoyed in Scotland did not forsake him in London, but his intimacy with Lord William Russell, whom he attended on the scaffold (July 21, 1683), cost him the court favor and he was dismissed from both these positions. On the accession of James II. he left England and, after visiting France and Italy, settled at The Hague and was active in promoting the accession of William and Mary. He returned to England with William in 1688 and by him was made in 1089 bishop of Salisbury, in which office he was a model. His family connections, wealth, and ambition, his scholarship, friendships, and positions, his employment in diplomacy and honorable politics, all qualified him to write his admirable History of his own Time (i., London, 1723; ii., 1734; best ed. by M. J. Routh, 6 vols., Oxford, 1833; Part I. The Reign of Charles the Second, edited by Osmund Airy, 2 vols., 1897-1900; a Supplement to the History was edited by Miss H. C. Foxcroft, 1902), a work of great accuracy and fairness. Other works worthy of mention are: History of the Reformation of the Church of England (i., 1679; ii., 1681; hi., 1714; ed. N. Pocock, 7 vols., 1865); his works against the Roman Catholic Church, The mystery
of iniquity unveiled (1673); Rome's glory, or a collection of divers miracles wrought by popish saints (1673); Infallibility of the Roman Church confuted (1680); also his life of William Bedell (1685)- Exposition of the XXXIX. Articles (1699), which was censured by the Lower House of Convocation.
Bibliography: The Life, by his son, Thomas B. Burnet, is prefixed to the Oxford edition of his works, in 6 vols., 1833, which contains also a list of the bishop's writings' A detailed account is given in DNB, vii. 394-405. Consult also S. A. Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature, i. 296-298, Philadelphia, 1891. Further sources are the History, and the Letters to Herbert in the Egerton MSS. in the British Museum.
BURNET, THOMAS: Church of England; b. at Croft (40 rh. n. of York), Yorkshire, about 1635; d. in London Sept. 27, 1715. He studied at Clare Hall and Christ's College, Cambridge (fellow of Christ's, 1657; M.A., 1658; LL.D., 1685?); became master of the Charterhouse 1685, and in 1686 incited the first stand made by any society in England against the royal dispensing power in the reign of James II., and thereby prevented the illegal admission of a pensioner at the king's demand. He wrote fine English and excellent Latin, and was the author of several books which created much commotion. The Telluris theoria sacra (part i., London, 1681; Eng. version, revised, The Sacred Theory of the Earth, 1684; part ii. and Eng. version of the entire work, 1689; 7th ed., with life by Ralph Heathcote, 1759) was a fanciful attempt to explain the structure of the earth, and of no scientific value. In the Archeologice philosophies sive doctrina antiqua de rerum originibus (1692; Eng. transl., 1692) he interpreted the account of the Fall as an allegory, and the work cost him his position as clerk of the closet to William III. and marred his hope of advancement. In later life he wrote De fide et offlciis Christianorum, in which " he regards the historical religions as based upon the religion of nature and rejects original sin and the ' magical ' theory of the sacraments "; and De statu mortuorum et resur gentium, in which he defended the doctrine of the middle state, the millennium, and the limited duration of future punishment; these works wrere first authoritatively printed in 1727 (Eng. translations, 1727-2S).
Bibliography: R. Heathcote, Life of Thomas Burnet, prefixed to the 7th ed. of The Sacred Theory, 1759; DXB, vii. 408-410.
BURNETT PRIZES AND LECTURES: A foundation by John Burnett, a merchant of Aberdeen, Scotland (b. 1729; d. 17S4), who bequeathed his entire estate for charitable and philanthropic purposes. One of the provisions of his will vested a portion of his property in trustees to provide prizes for the best and the next best essay intended to prove " that there is a Being, all-powerful, wise, and good, by whom everything exists; and particularly to obviate difficulties regarding the wisdom and goodness of the Deity; and this, in the first place, from considerations independent of written revelation, and, in the second place, from the revelation of the Lord Jesus; and, from the whole, to point out the inferences most necessary for, and useful to mankind." It was provided that the competition should be open to the whole world;