BUR 



BUR 



Br RIAL nj an afs, afm't fepnhura, an fgnorr.inious kind cf 

 biirial out ot lioly ground, under tlie g;illr)«s, or in a iiigh- 

 way, where fevcrpl roads meet, and performed liy public 

 liangmen, or the \\Vq. Such is that of fuicides, excommu- 

 nicated perfons, &c. foinetimcs denominated canine burial, 

 or burial of a dog. 



In tlie middle age we alfo find mention of a peculiar kind 

 of burial, called imblocatios, pratlitld on the bodies of 

 pcrfons excommunicated. Du-Cange. 



V>vv.\KL of the cnic'ifix, Sepullurn cruafixi, denoted a re- 

 prcfentation of the burial of Chrifl, anciently performed 

 annually in churches on the day of the Parafccue. Du- 

 Cange. 



Burials, in computations of mortality, denote deaths, 

 and Hand oppofed to births. In this fenfe, we have cfti- 

 matcs of the burials in Brandenburg, in Frankfort, Bredaw, 

 &c. Phil. Tranf. N"' 261, 22c. and 176. 



By a ftatute under king CharKs II. a regiftcr is to be 

 kept in every parifli, of all perfons buried within the fan-e, 

 or at the comn'.on burial-places thereof. Stat. -^^ Car. II. 



c. 3. lScc Mortality. 



Burial is alfo ufcd for the inclofing of vegetable or ini- 

 Kcral bodies in the ground, for divers purpofes. Lord Ba- 

 con gives divers experiments of burying fruits, &c. for pre- 

 fervation and condcnfation, and to give nounflr.r.ent to their 

 refpeflive trees. Works, tcnn. iii. p. 80. 



Some commend burials in the eartli, others in wheat, to 

 feafon timber when firll; felled, and to make it of moie dur- 

 able ufe. Chemifts fomelimcs bury their cements. The 

 Chinefe are faid to bury their porcelain, to give it the greater 

 teauty. 



BURIANA, in Geography, a town of Italy, in the 

 territory of -Sienna, near the lake of Caftiglione ; 16 miles 

 S. of Montieri. 



BURIAS, or Burin, one of the Manillas or Philippine 

 Iflands, fouth of Luzon, about five miles in compafs, inha- 

 bited by a few tributary Indians, who are comprifed in the 

 parilh of Mafbate, which is another larger ifland fouth of it, 

 and not far diftant from Ticao. N. lat. 12° 30'. E. long. 

 122° o'. 



BURICH. SeeBuDERicH. 



BuRiCH, is alfo a town of Germany, in the circle of 

 Swabia, and margraviate of Baden-Durlach : five miles from 

 Philipfburg. 



BURIDAN, John, in Biography, a celebrated fchool- 

 man of the T4th century, was a native of Bethune, and be- 

 came profcfTor in the univeifity of Paris, and, as fonie fay, 

 regent in 1320./ Aventine relates, that be was a difeiplc of 

 Ocknm, and being attac'ricd to the feft of the Nominals, 

 was obliged by the prevalence of that of the Reaiills to quit 

 Paris, and to remove to Germany, where he founded the 

 univerfity of Vienna. He wrote " Commentaries on Arif- 

 totle's Logic, E'i-ics, and Metaphyfics ;'" but he has been 



principally rema 



e on account of the fophifm or argu- 

 ment, conTionI; ' d '' Buridan's Afs." This feems to 

 have been introd-.'iid For the purpofe of illudiating the doc- 

 trine of tliat necefiu) of yielding to impiclTions of the fenfes 

 under which b-^nils are placed, and in which they are fup- 

 pofcd to d'T-r from inrin, who poffefTes free-will, or an in- 

 ternal fclf-.'ctcrmining power. With this view, Buridan 

 feigned an ii;;ngry afs, placed between two meafures of oats, 

 in fuch a manner, that each made exaftly the fame impref- 

 iion on hit; fenfes ; in which cafe, for want of a power of 

 chufing one rather than another, he mull; die of hunger. The 

 term " B.:ridiin's Afs," has been fince proverbially iiftd to 

 denote c fTiculty and hefitation in determining between two 

 objefls. Gen. Dift. 

 Vol. V- 



BURIE, in Geography, a town cf France, in the Lower 

 Charente, and chief phire of a canton, in the dilliict of 

 Saintes; the place contains 1510, and the canton 10,288 

 inhabitants; the territory comprehends i;;^ kiliomclies, 

 and 1 1 communes. 



BURIGNY, N. Levesque de, in Bkgrnphy, an efli- 

 mable man of letters, was born at Rheims in 1691, and de- 

 voting himftif to literary purfuits, acquired iiniverfal refjieft 

 for the mildnefc; and fmiplicity of hii cl.are£\er. lie was a 

 member of the Parifian academy of belies lettrcs ; and pro- 

 longed his life, with the cxtrcife of his facuhics, to his 

 94tii year. His vrorks are " A Treatife on the Authority 

 of the Popes," 1720, 4 vols. i2mo. •' Hiftory of Pagan 

 Philofophy," 1724, I2mo., and 1754; '< General Hidory 

 of Sicily," 1745, 2 vols. 4»o. : "A Tranflation of Por- 

 phyiy on Abftinence from ritfli," ,1747, i2mo. ; " Iii (lory 

 of the Ptcvolutions of Conflartinopl'e," 1750, 3 vols. i:mo. ; 

 "TheLifeof Grotius," 1754. 2 vols. l2mo.; "of Erafmus," 

 1757_, 4 vols. i2mo. ; " of BcfTuet," 1761, umo. ; " of 

 Cardinal du Perron," 1768, umo. ; all in French. His 

 works, which in their general chnradler are correal, hut dif- 

 fufe and languid, arc efteemed as valuable colledions of au- 

 thentic .fafts. Nouv. Dia. Hift. 



BURIS, in Surgery, a name given by Avicenna, and 

 fome other old aiithors, to a fcirrhous hernia, caufed by a 

 hard ab/ctfs. 



BURKA, in Geography, lies in the idand of Angra, in 

 the gulf of Ballbra, and has a fpacious harbour, with plenty 

 of water. See ANGRA-/^a;;y. 



BURKE, Edmund, in BlogrnpI>y, was born in Dubhn, 

 on the firll of January, 1730. His lather was an attorney 

 of the Proteiiaiit perfuafion. The fon was placed, during 

 the early part of his education, under the care of Abraham 

 Shackleton, a Qiiaker fchoolmafter of conliderable merit, 

 for whom his illullrious pupil entertained fo large a fliate of 

 affeftion through life, as never to omit paying him an an- 

 nual vifit of gratitude and refpefl, during a period of forty 

 years. From Ballytore near Carlow, the refidence of Shac- 

 kleton, Mr. Burke was removed, at the age of fixtecn, to 

 Trinity College, Dublin. It is underftood that lie was 

 more attentive to the inflruflions of his country fchool-maf- 

 ter, from whom he early derived much of his multifarious 

 knowledge, than to the more rigular difcipline of tuition, 

 inllituted by the univerfity. He gained no prize ; but he 

 obtained hij fcholardilp, during the fecond year of his refi- 

 fidence, which proves him at leall not to have been deficient 

 in claffical attainments ; for of fuch are that h jnour and emo- 

 lument the reward. He was contemporary with Goldfmith ; 

 but it does not appear that any friendlhip commenced be- 

 tween thefe two great men, till after the poem of the " Tra- 

 veller" had ellablifhed Goldfmith's reputation. There is 

 no foundation whatever for the opinion, that Burke was 

 bred a Catholic ; and it feems, now generallv agreed, that 

 he did not fiiiilh his ftudiesat St. Omer's. He was a candi- 

 date for the profefroifiiip of logic at Glafgow, but was too 

 late ill his application. On this difappoiiitment, he repaired 

 to London in 1 749, after having ta-ien his bachelor's degree, 

 and entered himlelf a member of the Temple, with a view 

 of being called to the bar. I 



At this time, the narrownefs of his finances reduced him to 

 the necefhty of writing for the periudical papers ; to v/Hich, 

 he contributed effays on literary and political topics : but 

 though the fphere in which he moved was not that of plea- 

 lure and falhion, he procured an introduilion to the cele- 

 brated Mrs. WofHngton, the aftrefs, in whofe fociety he 

 pafTcd many of his Icifnrc hours. The feverity with which 

 he applied himfelf both to cor.ipofition and iludv, having 



4 A confi- 



