BURNET. 



h in fome diftrlfts termed Burn-ieat'wg ; nnd alfo DciiJJ.'i- 

 rin^, from Devonfhire, a county in wliivjli it has bctii long 

 praftifc-d. Sec Par ING and Burn INC. 

 Burn, /jtnit. See Cardialgia. 



BURNET, Gilbert, \\\ Bio^rnphy, an eminent F.nglilh 

 prelate and writer, was born at E(linhiirj;li in 164,5. His 

 father was the defccndant of an ancient family in the fhire 

 of Aberdeen, educated fur tlie bar, eftecmtd for ju<lgmcnt 

 and knowledge in his proleiTion, and diriiuerclled in the 

 exercifc of it. As to Ids rtIic;iou3 principles, lie was a mo- 

 derate eplfcopalian ; and in llie time of Cromwell lived in 

 retirement, but after the relloration was appointed one of 

 the lords of Scffion. His niotl'.er w^^s exemplary for virtue 

 and piety, and zealou/ly attached to the Prediyterian dif- 

 cipline. Having received the firll rudiments ot education 

 from his father, he profecuted his (Indies in the col!ep;e of 

 Aberdeen, and made fuch proficiency, that when lie was 

 fcarcely 14 years of age, he took his degree of Mailer of 

 Arts, and became a (ludent of civil law. But foon chang- 

 ing his purpofe, he devoted himlelfto divinity ; and at th.c 

 age of 1 3, he was put upon his trial as a pn^b^tiontr, or 

 expeftant preacher, declining, on account of his youtli, 

 to accept a good living which was offered him, he fmiflied his 

 education by means of the counfel and converfation of fome 

 eminent Scots divines, and, in 1663, vifited the two Englilh 

 Univerfities, where he had an cpporlunity of inlercourfe 

 vvith the moif learned perfons of that period. Having again 

 refufed tcclefiaftical preferment in Scotland, he travelled 

 into Holland in the following year, and after rcliding for 

 fome time at Amiferdam, he pafled through the Nether- 

 lands into France, and made fome ftay at Paris. On his 

 return to Scotland by way of I^ondon, he became a member 

 of the Royal Society ; and, in 1665, he received priell's 

 orders, and was prcfentcd to the living of Saltown. Here 

 he difcharged the duties of liis office with exemplary affi- 

 duity, and gained the elleem of the prcfhyterians, though 

 he was the only clergyman in Scotland that ufed the liturgy 

 of the church of England. At this time he incurred the re- 

 fentment of the epifcopal order, by drawing up a memorial 

 of the abnfcs of the Scots bifhops, copies of which he circu- 

 lated among all the prelates of his acquaintance ; but this 

 conduft, on the part of a young man at the age of 23 

 years, gave fuch offence, that Sharp, Archbifliop of St. 

 Andrew's, prcpofed to deprive and excommunicate him. 

 Againft this attack Burnet made a fpirited defence, and 

 Sharp proceeded no farther. In 1669 he accepted the of- 

 fice of theological profefTor in the Univerfity of Glafgow,, 

 and continued for four years and a lialf to perform the duties 

 of it with fir.gular diligence ; expofing himfelf at the fame 

 time, by his moderation, to the ill-will of the zealots of 

 both the epifcopalian and prelbyterian parties. His pam- 

 phlet, publiflied this year, and entitled, " A modell and 

 free Conference between a Conformift and Non-conformill," 

 was well received by all candid perfons, though it did not 

 cfcape thecenfure ol bigots. Notwitliflanding the time and 

 attention which he devoted to his public Itfturcs, he was 

 employed in arranging the papers of the Hamilton family, 

 and compiling from them his " Memoirs of the Diikcs of 

 Hamilton ;" and he was thus led to ncgociate and conclude a 

 reconciliation between the earl of Lauderdale and the duke of 

 Hamilton. During his ftay in London on this occafion,!ie was 

 offered a Scots bilhopric, which he refufed. On his return to 

 Glafgow, he married lady Margaret Kennedy, the daugh- 

 ter of the earl of CalTilis ; who was diftinguifticd by her 

 piety and knowledge, and though inclined to the party of 

 the prefbyterians, was far from being a zealot, and had 

 given evidtuce of her loyalty, even at the riik of her life, 



during the iifurpation of Cromwell. In iG'z, Burnet, 

 publill'.ed " A Vindicatirju of the Authority, Conllitution, 

 and Laws, of the Church and State of Scotland ;" in 

 which he defended the royal prerogatives of the crown of 

 Scotland, ai.d the lilablidimeul of epifcopacy in that king- 

 dom, againll the principles of Buchanan and his followers. 

 Th'S publication drew upon him the cenfures ol Dr. 

 Hiekes, whofe calumnies he cor.futtd, and occafioncd 

 fume fevere r^. fledions of Dr. Swift, Ijy whom he is charged 

 with having altered his L-ntimiuts concerning tie doiRriuts 

 of paCive obedience. Whereas the illegality of refillance, 

 merely on account of religion, probably in oppolition to the 

 v:uhnt Scotch covenanters, is the point for which he contends. 

 It feems, indeed, always to have been his opinion, that re- 

 fillance could not be jullified by fingle a£\s of opprelFion, 

 and that it was not lawful till attempts were made to over- 

 turn the very balls of the conllitution. In recompencc for 

 this acceptable fervice to the court, he was again offered 

 a bifliopric, with the promife of the firll archbilhopric 

 that fliould become vacant ; but he declined accepting this 

 dignity. In the following year he vifited London with 

 the olltnfiblc defign of obtaining a licence for the publica- 

 tion of his " Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton," and, as 

 it is faid, with a fecret purpofe of withdrawing himftli from 

 Hate concerns, under a perfuafion that popery was the pre- 

 vailing intcrell at court. At this time, however, he was a 

 favourite with his Majclly and the dnke of York, and was 

 nominated one of the king's chaplains in ordinary. In an 

 interview with the king, to whom he was introduced by the 

 duke of Lauderdale, he ufed all the freedom which, as he 

 thought, became his pro.'eflion. But fufpcfting the dc- 

 figns of tlie court party, he inclined to the oppofition in 

 tl'.e Scots parliament, and thus incurred the enmity of the 

 duke of LauJcrdale, who preferred accufations againft him, 

 which deprived him of the royal favovir. As a meafure of 

 ])crf/nal feciritv, he refigned his profcfforftiip at Glafgow 

 and determined to fettle in Lonclon,i; but upon his arrival 

 there he was coldly received by the king, and ftruck out cf 

 the lift of his chaplains. He was now confidered as a fuf- 

 ferer for his principles, and, in 1675, having refufed the 

 living of St. Giles's, Cripplegate, which was ofl'ered him, 

 he was appointed, by the recommendation of lord Holies, 

 preacher at the Rolls, and he was foon after choftn lec- 

 turer of St. Clement's, where he acquired the reputation of 

 a verv popular preacher. In the courfe of this year he 

 was repeatedly examined at the bar of the Houie of Com- 

 mons with relpeCt to the defigns of Lauderdale, and obliged 

 to coiTiTunicate lome particulars that had paffed be- 

 tween himfelf and the duke in private converlation. The 

 alarm that agitated the country at this time, occafioned by 

 the progrcfs of popery, induced Dr. Burnet to write " The 

 Hiltory of the Reformation of the Church of England ;" 

 the firit volume of which appeared, in folio, in i6jg, when 

 the popiih plot occupied the public attention : the pub- 

 lication of this work was highly acceptable, and the author 

 received the thanks of both houles of parliament, which 

 was an honour that had no precedent, and he was rei]uel!ed 

 to complete it. Accordingly, in lOKl, he publillied the 

 fecond volume. The third volume, being a" Supplement" 

 to the two former, appeared in I714- This work, though 

 it was attacked by many cenforious critics, has been gene- 

 rally cfteemed the moll valuable of the author's perform- 

 ances, and contains a correft and ample account of the 

 tranfatSions to which it relates. It was well received 

 abroad as well as at hom.e, and very much contributed to 

 advance the reputation of the author. Dr. Birch, in his 

 Life of Archbilhop Tillotfon (p. jp) obfcrvss, that this is 



on& 



