BURDETTE 



1002 



BURGESSES 



edible cactus free from thorns are well known; 

 the spineless cactus is fully described in these 

 volumes, under the heading CACTUS. 



Mr. Burbank personally placed the stamp of 

 accuracy upon the above article. 



BURDETTE, burdct', ROBERT JONES (1844- 

 1914), an American clergyman and humorist, 

 who became famous originally through his 

 paragraphs contributed to the Burlington 

 (Iowa) Hawkeyc. He was born in Greens- 

 boro, Pa., and attended public school at Peoria, 

 111. In 1862 he joined the Forty-seventh Illi- 

 nois Volunteers, serving through the War of 

 Secession. He wrote for several papers after 

 the war and finally became associate editor of 

 the Hawkeye, from which he was soon quoted 

 in other newspapers throughout the land. He 

 began to lecture in 1877 and ten years later 

 became a licensed preacher in the Baptist 

 Church. Among his books are the famous 

 Rise and Fall of the Mustache and Other 

 Hawkeyetems and Chimes from a Jester's Bells. 



BUR 'DOCK, a coarse, hairy weed with 

 hooked flowers which stick to the clothing of 

 passers-by or to the hair of animals. In this 

 latter respect it is particularly troublesome in 

 the United States and Canada, wherever cows 



BURDOCK 



Branch, leaves and flowers. At left is a 

 "basket" such as children make with the prickly, 

 hairy flowers. 



or sheep are pastured. The burdock is also 

 known as cockle button, beggars' button, burr- 

 bur and stick button. The plant grows from 

 one foot to three feet high, with large, thin, 

 roundish or heart-shaped leaves. To be de- 

 stroyed the roots should be grubbed up before 

 seed is ripe. There is a demand, however, 

 for burdock seed, leaves and root for medical 

 purposes. The root and seed are specially pre- 



pared and used for blood and skin diseases by 

 some people, though physicians now advise 

 against using anything of this kind for dis- 

 eases of the blood or skin. The leaves of the 

 burdock are used as a cooling poultice for 

 swellings, etc. About 50,000 pounds of burdock 

 root are imported into America each year. 

 The best is said to come from Belgium. 



BUREAU, bu'ro, a chest of drawers for 

 clothing. The modern bureau usually has a 

 mirror for toilet purposes, and is frequently 

 called a dresser. The name comes from a 

 French word meaning coarse woolen cloth, be- 

 cause in olden times writing desks and chests 

 of drawers were covered with sack cloth. 



Bureau also means a division in a depart- 

 ment of government, as the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry, in the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, and the Bureau of Education in 

 the Department of the Interior. 



Bureaucracy means governmental control ex- 

 ercised largely by bureau officials or other 

 really subordinate officers. The term is gener- 

 ally used as suggesting unwarranted official 

 control. 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN REPUBLICS. 

 See PAN-AMERICAN UNION. 



BURGESSES, bur 'yeses, HOUSE OF, the first 

 legislative body ever assembled in America. 

 It was in the colony of Virginia, in the year 

 1619, that the call was issued for this assembly, 

 and two burgesses, or citizens, from each plan- 

 tation met the governor and his council in 

 the church at Jamestown. In all, there were 

 twenty-seven men present. They enacted a 

 number of needed laws and shortly adjourned, 

 but the influence of the first session deter- 

 mined the colonists to continue its work, and 

 the assembling of the burgesses became an 

 annual affair. James I tried to suppress this 

 movement toward representative government 

 in the colonies, but Charles I sanctioned it in 

 order to gain trade concessions. Throughout 

 all the stirring times preceding the Revolu- 

 tionary War the house of burgesses, though 

 remaining loyal to England, stood firm for the 

 liberties of the colonies. It was in that assem- 

 bly in 'March, 1775, that Patrick Henry deliv- 

 ered his stirring speech which electrified the 

 colonies and strengthened their patriotic im- 

 pulses; this speech is best remembered for the 

 memorable words 



Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be pur- 

 chased at the price of chains and slavery? For- 

 bid it, Almighty God ! I know not what course 

 others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, 

 or give me death ! 



