BUCKLER -BUDA. 



747 



plotting against the government with the Dissenters, 

 and making himself the object of contempt to all 

 parties, he died, neglected and unregretted, at Kirkby 

 Moorhide, in Yorkshire, April 16, 1688. Pope 

 (Moral Essays, epistle 3d) has strikingly described 

 his death. His abilities were far superior to those of 

 his father ; and, among his literary compositions, the 

 comedy of the Rehearsal may be mentioned as a 

 work which displays no common powers, and which 

 greatly contributed to the correction of the public 

 taste, which had been corrupted by Dryden, and other 

 dramatists of the age. 



BUCKLER. See Sfiield. 



BUCKLED, John, under the name of Schinderhannes, 

 was the leader of a band of robbers, on the banks of 

 the Rhine, towards the end of the last century. Born 

 of indigent parents, he entered into the service of an 

 executioner. He stole some skins from his master, 

 and eloped, but was apprehended, and condemned to 

 be scourged. This punishment, publicly inflicted on 

 him, as he himself said, determined the character of 

 his future life. Without knowing what to undertake 

 at this juncture, he wandered about stealing sheep. 

 He was a second time brought to justice, escaped, 

 and connected himself, at Fink, with Rothbart, the 

 leader of a band of robbers. Being seized again, he 

 again escaped, and returned to his old acquaintance. 

 He was apprehended once more, and escaped anew. 

 He now resolved upon highway robbery, and collect- 

 ed a large band, which soon struck terror into all the 

 surrounding country. He was not entirely destitute 

 of good qualities. He often assisted the poor, and 

 relieved the distresses of those who were severely 

 treated by his band. Political commotions drove him 

 to the right bank of the Rhine, where he married one 

 Juliet Blasius. A song which he composed on her 

 was played at all the fairs and religious festivals 

 throughout the adjacent country. About this time, 

 his followers began to rob houses ; and carried on 

 their lawless trade so publicly, that the J ews, who 

 were most annoyed by them, sent to treat with B. 

 At length Schinderhannes was taken prisoner, and 

 brought to Frankfort. He confessed immediately his 

 true name, and a great part of his crimes. He was 

 then given up, with his comrades, to the tribunal at 

 Menu. Here he confessed many facts, thinking 

 that, as he had never committed murder, he would 

 not be condemned to death. After his condemnation, 

 he still continued to hope for pardon, and, till the last 

 moment of his life, showed the greatest presence of 

 mind. He was guillotined, Nov. 21, 1803. Mr 

 Leitch Ritchie has made Buckler the subject of a 

 stirring romance, entitled, ' Schinderhannes, the Rob- 

 ber of the Rhine.' 



BUCKMINSTER, Joseph Stevens, an American divine 

 of some celebrity, was born at Portsmouth, New 

 Hampshire, May 26, 1784. His father was eminent 

 among the clergy of that state, and he himself mani- 

 fested, in his boyhood, such talents and dispositions as 

 gave assurance of his success in the same career. In 

 1797, he entered Harvard college, Cambridge. In 

 the year 1800, he received the honours of the uni- 

 versity with the distinction due to his uncommon 

 proficiency in the studies of the institution, and to the 

 excellence of the oration which he delivered on the 

 literary character of different nations. After leaving 

 college, he devoted himself for more than four years 

 to theology and general literature. In Oct. , 1804, at 

 Boston, he preached for the first time, and, in the 

 following year, accepted an invitation from a religious 

 society in that place, to become their minister. In 

 1806, he embarked for England, remained for some 

 months there, went through Holland to Switzerland, 

 and thence proceeded to Paris, where he passed 

 nearly half a year. After revisiting England, he re- 



turned to his native land. His parishioners welcomed 

 him back with enthusiasm, and he requited their 

 esteem by an admirable discharge of all his duties. 

 His sermons placed him in the first rank of popular 

 preachers. He also contributed papers to the pe- 

 riodical publications of the day, besides preparing a 

 number of occasional addresses of distinguished merit. 

 In 1808, he superintended an American edition of 

 Griesbach's Greek Testament, and wrote much in 

 vindication and praise of this author's erudition, 

 fidelity, and accuracy. In 1810, he digested a plan 

 of publishing all the best modern versions of the pro- 

 phetical books of the Old Testament ; but the whole 

 design failed for want of public patronage. In 181 1 , 

 he was appointed the first lecturer on Biblical criti- 

 cism at the university of Cambridge, on the foundation 

 established by Samuel Dexter. While he was la- 

 boriously preparing for the execution of this office, 

 a violent fit of epilepsy at once destroyed his intellect, 

 and gave a shock to his frame, which he survived 

 only a few days. He died June 9, 1812, at the com- 

 pletion of his 28th year. In 1814, his sermons were 

 collected, and published in an octavo volume, to which 

 is prefixed a well- written memoir of his life and char- 

 acter. These remains have been extensively cir- 

 culated. A second volume appeared at Boston in 

 1829. 



BUCKWHEAT, or BRANK, is a black and triangular 

 grain, produced by a plant of the persicaria tribe 

 (polygonum fagopyneni) , with somewhat arrow-shaped 

 leaves, and purplish-white flowers. Buckwheat was 

 first brought to Europe from the northern parts of 

 Asia, and first cultivated in England about the year 

 1600. The flowers appear about July, and the seeds 

 ripen in October ; and so tender are the plants, that 

 a single night's sharp frost will destroy a whole crop. 

 As a grain, buckwheat has been principally cultivated 

 for oxen, swine, and poultry ; and, although some 

 farmers state, that a single bushel of it is equal in 

 quality to two bushels of oats, others assert, that it is 

 a very unprofitable food. Mixed with bran, chaff, or 

 grain, it is sometimes given to horses. The flower 

 of buckwheat is occasionally used for bread, but 

 more frequently for the thin cakes called crumpets, 

 In Germany, it serves as an ingredient in pottage, 

 puddings, and other food. In Pennsylvania, it is very 

 extensively used, throughout the winter, in cakes, 

 which are cooked upon a griddle. Beer may be 

 brewed from it; and by distillation it yields an ex- 

 cellent spirit The best mode of harvesting this 

 grain is said to be by pulling it out of the ground 

 like flax, stripping off the seeds with the hand, and 

 collecting these into aprons or cloths tied round the 

 waist. Buckwheat is much cultivated in the domains 

 of noblemen, possessed of landed property, as a food 

 for pheasants. With some farmers, it is the practice 

 to sow buckwheat for the purpose only of ploughing 

 it into the ground, as a manure for the land. Whilst 

 .green, it serves as food for sheep and oxen ; and, 

 mixed with other provender, it may also be given 

 with advantage to horses. The blossoms may be 

 used for dyeing a brown colour. It is frequently cul- 

 tivated in the Middle United States of America as food 

 for bees, who are very fond of it, and to whose honey 

 it imparts a flavour by no means unpleasant. The 

 principal adv antage of buckwheat is, that it is capable 

 of being cultivated upon -land which will produce 

 scarcely any thing else, and that its culture, corn- 

 pared with that of other grain, is attended with little 

 expense. 



BUDA. (in German, Oferi) is the Hungarian name of 

 the capital of Hungary, situated on the west bank of 

 the Danube, opposite Pest. It consists of the Upper 

 Town, which is fortified, and lies, with the castle, on 

 a hilJ; of the Lower Town, or Waterstadt, which 

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