RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Bur man n Bun-age
that the prizes should be of not less than £1,200 and £400 respectively, and should be offered at intervals of forty years; and that three appointees of the trustees of the testator's estate, the ministers of the Established Church of Aberdeen, and the principals and professors of King's and Marischal Colleges should act as judges. The first competition was in 1815, when fifty essays were submitted and the first prize was given to William Laurence Brown (b. 1755; professor at Utrecht, 1788-95; at Marischal College, 1795, principal from 1796; d. 1830) for a treatise On the Existence of a Supreme Creator (2 vols., Aberdeen, 1816), and the second to John Bird Sumner (q.v.), afterward archbishop of Canterbury, for an essay entitled Records of Creation (2 vols., London, 1818). In the second competition, 1855, out of 208 essays the judges selected Christian Theism (2 vols., London, 1855) by Robert Anchor Thompson (b. 1821; curate of Binbrook, Lincolnshire, 1854-58; from 1858 master of the Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin, Newcastleon-Tyne; d. 1894) for the first prize, and Theism (Edinburgh, 1855) by John Tulloch (q.v.) for the second prize. In 1881 the use of the fund was changed by being applied to the support of a lectureship at Aberdeen, the lecturer to be appointed at intervals of five years and hold office for three years, and the subject to be either that prescribed by Mr. Burnett or some topic of history, archeology, or physical or natural science, so treated as to illustrate the theme originally suggested. Lecturers and subjects have been as follows:
1883-86. George Gabriel Stokes, professor of mathematics at Cambridge, On Light (London, 1887).
1888-91. W. Piobertson Smith, professor of Arabic at Cambridge, On the Religion of the Semites (1st series only published, Fundamental Institutions, London, 1889; 3d ed., 1907).
1891-94. William L. Davidson, minister of Bourtie, Aberdeenshire, Theism as Grounded in Human Nature historically and critically Handled (London, 1893).
The funds are now devoted toward the endowment of a chair of history and archeology in the
university.
BURNS, WILLIAM CHALMERS: Missionary; b. at Dun (6 m. w. of Montrose), Forfarshire, Scotland, Apr. 1, 1815; d. at Niu-chwang, China, Apr. 4, 1868. He studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen; began the study of law, but decided to become a minister and reentered the university in 1832; studied theology at Glasgow and was licensed in 1839; preached first in Dundee, and then traveled through the British Islands and visited Canada (1844-46) as an evangelist, meeting with much success. On June 9, 1847, he sailed as first missionary to China of the English Presbyterian Missionary Society; he adopted the Chinese dress and life and lived in Hongkong, Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, Peking, and Niu-chwang, choosing not to stay long in one place. He was one of the most devoted missionaries of modern times and won the respect of both the natives of China and the foreign residents. He translated Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress into Chinese.
Bibliography: I. Burns, Memoir of W C. Burns, London, 1870 (by his brother); W G. Blaikie, in Leaders in Modern Philanthropy, New York, 1884.
BURNT OFFERING. See Sacrifice .
BURR, ENOCH FITCH: Congregationalist ; b. at Westport, Conn., Oct. 21, 1818; d. at Hamburg, Conn., May 8, 1907. He was educated at Yale College (B.A., 1839), and devoted several years of study in New Haven to science and theology. He then traveled extensively, and after his return to the United States was called in 1850 to the pastorate of the Congregational church at Lyme, Conn., which he held till his death. He lectured on the scientific evidences of religion at Amherst College, Williams College, the Sheffield Scientific School, and other institutions, and wrote: The Mathematical Theory of Neptune (New Haven, 1848); Spiritualism (New York, 1859); Ecce Cwlum (Boston, 1867); Pater Mundi (1869); Ad Fidem (1871); Evolution (1873); Sunday Afternoons for Little People (New York, 1874); Toward the Strait Gate (Boston, 1876); Work in the Vineyard (1876); Dio the Athenian (New York, 1880); Tempted to Unbelief (1882); Ecce Terra (Philadelphia, 1884); Celestial Empires (New York, 1885); Theism as a Canon of Science (London, 1886); Universal Beliefs (New York, 1887); Long Ago, as Interpreted by the Nineteenth Century (1888); Supreme Things (1889); Aleph the Chaldean (1891); Fabius the Roman (1897); and Autumn Leaves from the Mansewood (Andover, Mass., 1905).
BURR AGE, HENRY SWEETSER: Baptist; b. at Fitchburg, Mass., Jan. 7, 1837. He was educated at Brown University (B.A., 1861), and entered Newton Theological Institution, but left it in 1862 and served in the 36th Massachusetts Volunteers throughout the Civil War, rising from private to brevet major and acting assistant adjutant-general, first brigade, second division, ninth army corps. He was wounded at Cold Spring Harbor, June 3, 1864, and was a prisoner of war from Nov. 1, 1864, to Feb. 22, 1865. On the conclusion of the war, he resumed his studies at Newton Theological Institution (1867) and the University of Halle (1868-69), and was successively pastor of the Baptist church at Waterville, Me. (1870-74), and editor of Zion's Advocate, Portland, Me. (1874- 1905). Since 1905 he has been chaplain of the eastern branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Togus, Me. From 1875 to 1905 he was recording secretary of the Maine Baptist Missionary Convention, and since 1876 has held a similar office in the American Baptist Missionary Union. Since 1889 he has been recorder of the Maine Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and chaplain-in-chief of the entire organization since 1899, while he was secretary of the Maine Society of the Sons of the American Revolution from 1891 to 1905, when he was elected its president for 1906- 1907 He was secretary of the Maine Society of Colonial Wars in 1899-1905, and is the president of the Maine Baptist Historical Society. He is a trustee of Colby College and Newton Theological Institution, and was also a trustee of Brown University from 1889 to 1903, when he was chosen one of the board of fellows. In addition to numerous articles in magazines and reviews, he has written:
Burrell Burton