MUTE. 



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appear to have loved beef, and veal, and mutton, as 

 well as the modern Europeans and their American 

 descendants : cara omnia, is the complaint of the old 

 comic writer, agninam caram, caram bubulam, vituli- 

 nam, porcinam, omnia cara. In Paris, the butcher- 

 ies, formerly receptacles of filth, and injurious to 

 health, were removed by Napoleon, in 1809. to the 

 outskirts of the city. They are called abattoirs 

 (abattre, to fell), and consist of spacious buildings for 

 the reception of the cattle, preparing the tripe, tal- 

 low, &c., and reservoirs of water for the service of 

 the establishments. Of these there are five, in which 

 are slaughtered annually 75,000 black cattle, with a 

 proportionate number of sheep, &c. The larger ani- 

 mals are felled by a blow on the head, and the jugu- 

 lar vein is immediately separated with a knife. The 

 flesh is then blown (gonfle), by injecting air into the 

 vessels through a bellows, which gives it a plump ap- 

 pearance. Every part of the animal bones, horns, 

 hoofs, blood, intestines, hide, tallow is used for the 

 fabrication of glue, jelly, Prussian blue, sal-ammoniac, 

 &c. In London, the carcass butchers kill the meat, 

 and sell it out in great quantities ; the retail butchers 

 sell it out to the consumers. The average number 

 of oxen sold at Smithfield annually is 156,000 ; sheep 

 and lambs, 1,500,000 ; calves, 22,00,0 ; hogs, 20,000. 

 The Jews in London have their own butchers, who 

 are licensed by the rabbis. They cut the throats of 

 the animals, never knocking them down, according 

 to the usual practice. In some countries, the method 

 of slaughtering cattle by penetrating the spinal mar- 

 row is practised. 



BUTE ;. a small island of Scotland, lying at the mouth 

 of the Clyde, with an area of 29,000 acres, belong- 

 ing principally to the marquis of Bute. It is about 

 fifteen miles long, and the average breadth is three 

 miles and a halt. The climate is moist and mild. 

 The herring fishery is a profitable employment. The 

 only town is Rothesay, the ruins of the castle of 

 which, formerly inhabited by the Scottish monarchs, 

 still remain. It gave the title of duke of Rothesay to 

 the heir apparent of Scotland. The title is now 

 transferred to the prince of Wales. The islands 

 of Bute, Arran, Great Cumbray, Little Cumbray, 

 Inchmarnock, and Pladda, form the county of 

 Bute. The population of the county in 1831 was 

 14,151. 



BUTE (John Stuart) earl of; a British statesman, 

 born in the beginning of the 18th century, in Scot- 

 land. His ancestors had been elevated to the peer- 

 age in 1703, and were connected with the old kings 

 of Scotland. In his youth, B. seemed devoted to 

 pleasure, and little inclined to engage in politics ; 

 nevertheless, in 1737, after the death of a Scottish 

 peer, he was chosen to fill his seat in parliament. In 

 consequence of his opposition to the measures of 'the 

 ministry, he was left out when a new parliament was 

 convened,.in 1741. Offended by this neglect, B. re- 

 tired to his estates, and lived there, whoUy secluded, 

 till the landing of the pretender in Scotland, 1745, 

 induced him to go to London, and offer his services 

 to the government. Notwithstanding this manifesta- 

 tion of zeal, he would not have been brought forward 

 again, if he had not attracted the notice of the prince 

 of Wales, at an exhibition of private theatricals, in 

 consequence of which he was invited to the court. 

 Here he soon gained influence, and succeeded in 

 making himself indispensable to the prince. At his 

 death, in 1751, he was appointed, by the widowed 

 princess, chamberlain to her son, and was intrusted 

 by her with his location. B. never lost sight of his 

 pupil, and possessed so much more influence with the 

 princess of Wales than her son's particular tutors, the 

 earl of Harcourt and the bishop of Norwich, that they 

 resigned their offices. Lord Waldegrave and the 



bishop of Lincoln, who were chosen in their stead, 

 opposed him unsuccessfully. George II. died Oct, 

 25, 1760, and two days.after, B. was appointed mem. 

 ber of the privy council. In March. 1761, the par- 

 liament was dissolved. B. was made secretary of 

 state, in the place of lord Holderness, and appointed 

 Charles Jenkinson. afterwards lerd Hawkesbury and 

 earl of Liverpool, his under secretary. Legge, chan- 

 cellor of the exchequer, was removed. Pitt (the 

 great Chatham), who saw his influence in the new 

 council annihilated, gave in his resignation the same 

 year. This event made an unfavourable impression 

 on the nation ; but B., possessing the unbounded con- 

 fidence of his king, stood at the head of the state. 

 Soon after, he removed the old duke of Newcastle, 

 then first lord of the treasury, and the only one of the 

 former ministry remaining in office, and immediately 

 took this important post upon himself, receiving, 

 at the same time, the order of the garter. After 

 a severe contest in parliament, he concluded a peace 

 with France. The terms for England were per- 

 haps not disproportionate to the successes obtained 

 during the war ; but it was disgraceful that the king 

 of Prussia, in violation of former treaties, should have 

 been left to his fate. B. was obliged to bear the most 

 bitter reproaches ; yet he succeeded in winning the 

 popular favour, and every thing seemed to promise 

 the power of the minister a long continuance. He 

 had rendered the whigs objects of suspicion to the 

 king, and excluded them from the administration ; on 

 the contrary, he favoured the tones, even the former 

 Jacobites, and thus surrounded the king with persons 

 whose principles coincided with his own, especially 

 with his Scottish countrymen. The people murmured, 

 and numberless pamphlets attacked the minister wiih 

 bitterness, who was slowly gaining the confidence of 

 the public, when new causes of dissatisfaction pro- 

 duced a great irritation against him. To discharge 

 the debt contracted by the war, he was obliged to ne- 

 gotiate a loan, the interest of which was to be paid by 

 a tax on cider, perry, &c. In spite of the opposition, 

 the bill passed both houses. The city of London in 

 vain petitioned the king to refuse his consent. The 

 influence of B. seemed unbounded, when it was made 

 known, contrary to expectation, that he had resigned 

 his office as prime minister, and was, in future, to live 

 as a private man. George Grenville succeeded him 

 in the ministry. B. soon perceived the weakness of 

 the administration, and endeavoured to unite himself 

 with Pitt. The plan failed, and the exasperation of 

 the people was redoubled. B. was still considered as 

 the soul of the royal resolutions, and particularly as 

 the author of the stamp act, which kindled the first 

 flame of discord between Great Britain and the North 

 American colonies. Certain it is that his friends spoke 

 zealously against its repeal. Those ministers who did 

 not support B.'s views were removed. His adherents, 

 who called themselves friends of the king, formed a 

 powerful party. They were stigmatized with the old 

 name of cabal, and were denounced as the authors of 

 all the existing evils. In 1766 B. declared, in the 

 house of lords, that he had wholly withdrawn from 

 public business, and no longer saw the king; still it 

 was not doubted that his great influence continued. 

 On the death of the princess of Wales, 1772, he seems 

 first to have given up all participation in the affairs of 

 government. The public hatred towards him ceased, 

 and he was forgotten. He spent his last years on his 

 estate. A costly botanical garden, a library of 30,000 

 volumes, excellent astronomical, philosophical, and 

 mathematical instruments, afforded him occupation. 

 His favourite study was botany, with which he. was 

 intimately acquainted. For the queen of England he 

 wrote the Botanical Register, which contained all the 

 different kinds of plants in Great Britain (9 vols. 4to). 



