B U X 



rid.'j .la s-imha, t cfmhxh. Mattlufon, in his Life of Haiulel, 

 uiU us, dial " he anJ Handel travelled together to Lubec, 

 upon there being a vacancy in an orgaiiill's place, and in the 

 aywM, compolcd feveral double fugues, da monte not da 

 p^mui. Buxtchude was then at Lubec, and an admirable 

 player on the organ; however, Handel's powers on that in- 

 ftrument ailoniHied even thofe who were accuftomed to hear 

 that great pcrfoinicr. 



Di'XTEHUDE, in Geography, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of Lower Saxony, and duchy of Bremen, feated on 

 the Efte, which tills the ditches. The fortifications have 

 been razed : 16 miles VV.S.W. of Hamburg. 



BUXTON, Jedediah, in i?/V;^ra/)/'r, a perfon deferving 

 to be recorded on account of his fingular memory and 

 powers of calculation, was the fon of a fchool-mafter at 

 Elmeton, a fmall village near Chefterfield, in Dcrbylhire, and 

 born, probably, in 1704 or 1705. His education, not- 

 withllanding the profcffion of his father, was fo much neg- 

 leclcJ that he was never taught to read or write. His 

 whole attention fecms to have been abforbed by the different 

 denominations and relative proportions of numbers to fuch 

 a degree that he took hardly any notice of external objeds, 

 except with refped to their numbers. When any interval 

 of time was mentioned to him, he immediately gave the 

 amount of it in minutes ; and he affigned alfo the number 

 of hair-breadths in any dillance that chanced to be fpoken 

 of, although no queftion was propofed to him. To fuch a 

 degree was he capable of abftraftion and of fixing his atten- 

 tion, that no noil'e difcompofed him, and that no incidental 

 queftion or occurrence could divert his thoughts, or occafion 

 any confufion, fo as to prevent his renewing and purfuing 

 his calculation, which he performed by mere memory, with- 

 out the aid of pen or paper. It would be endlefs to recite 

 particular inllances of his powers of computation, and of 

 the methods he ufed for folving the mod opcrofe and intri- 

 cate qucftions relating to numbers. By merely ftriding over 

 a piece of land he could tell the contents of it as accurately 

 as if he had meafured it by the chain. His conftant appli- 

 cation to figures prevented his making the fmalleft acqnifi- 

 tion in any other branch of knowledge ; nor did his ideas 

 feem to be extended beyond matters of mere calculation. 

 In 1754 he vifitcd London, and was introduced to the 

 Royal Society, before which he gave feveral fatisfaftory 

 evidences of his peculiar talents for computation. In this 

 vifit his curiofity was excited by a ftrong defire to fee the king 

 and royal family, but in this he was difappointed. At the 

 play-houfe he feemed to be altogether uninterefted by the 

 fplendour of the fcenery or the aftion of the performers ; 

 and during the dances his attention was engaged in reckon- 

 ing the number of fteps. After a fine piece of mufic, he 

 declared that the innumerable founds produced by the in- 

 ftruments perplexed him beyond meafure, but he counted 

 the words uttered by Mr. Garrick in the whole courfe of 

 the entertainment, and affirmed that in this he had perfeftly 

 fuccecded. He was married and had feveral children. He 

 fubfifted by labour, and remained contented in obfcurity ; 

 and prolonged his life to the age of about 70 years. Biog. 



Buxton, in Geography, a large handfome village of Der- 

 bylhire, in England, is celebrated for its mineral waters, 

 the fame of which occafions it to be much frequented by 

 valetudinarians, and many other perfons, who refort hither 

 for health, or pleafure. It is fituated in \\\o pariflies, but 

 the principal part forms a chapelry to Bakewcll. Buxton 

 lies in an extenfivc hollow, with bleak elevated tracts of 

 raoor land completely furrounding it. Several plantations 

 have, however, been made of late years on the adjacent 



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hills, and fome land cultivated. The late Dr. Gale, as ap- 

 pears from a manulcript of his quoted in Gough's Addi- 

 tions to the Britannia, placed tlie Aqnls of Ravennas at 

 Buxton ; though he had previoufly conjefturcd it to be at 

 Aidon, in Northumberland. . That its warm fprings wei-e 

 known to the Rom.ans, is evident from various concurring 

 circunillance?. Several ancient roads conccntiate at tliia 

 fpot, particularly one called the Ijath-way, or Bathom- I 



gate, wliich commences at Brough, a Roman ilation, near H 

 Hope, and was traced by the late Mr. Pegge ; and anotlier, I 

 that came from Manehetter, and ia known in different parts 

 of its coiirfe by the appellations of High-flrtet, Street- 

 fields, Street-lane, Old-gate, &c. Specimens of Roman 

 workmanfliip have alfo been difcovered here at different 

 times. Bifhop Gibfon mentions a Roman wall " cemented 

 with red Roman plaiftcr, clofe by St. Anne's well, where 

 are the ruins of the ancient laih." This wall was taken 

 down in the year 1709, when Sir Thomas Delves of 

 Chefhire, in memory of a cure he had received from the 

 waters, trefted a flone alcove over the well. Some capa- 

 cious leaden ciflerns, and different article?, apparently- 

 Roman, were found in digging the foundation. Tlie fhape 

 and dimenfions of the ancient bath, which was about fix 

 yards from the prefcnt bath-room, were clearly difcovered 

 when the building of the Cvefcent commenced in the year 

 ijSi. Its form appeared to be an oblong fquare ; it mea- 

 fured from eafl to weft thirty feet, and fifteen in a contrary 

 diretlion. The fpring was iituated at the weft end ; and at 

 the eaft might be perceived a flood-gate, by which the 

 water was let out. The wall was built with limeftone, 

 covered on the outfide with a ftrong cement j the floor con- 

 filled of lime mixed with coarfe fand, faturated with blood. I 



Near one end a cavity was formed in the floor refembling 

 the figure of a boat, extending circularly in length almoft 

 from one fide wall to the other ; its breadth was about 

 two yards ; and its depth below the level of the floor, at 

 the deepeft part of the curvature, about eighteen inches ; 

 the water was conveyed into this room by a leaden pipe. 

 Though the very early ufe of the Buxton waters is apparent 

 from the above circumftances, we have no record of their 

 being in ufe in the middle ages, or of their having obtained 

 any high reputation till the fixteenth century, when Dr. 

 Jones gave them celebrity by a treatife on their beneficial 

 qualities. About this time the earl of Shrewfbury erefted 

 a houfe for the reception of vifitants, on the fite of the 

 building now called The Hall, part of which belonged to the 

 old fabric. This hall becoming infufficient to accommodate 

 the increafing number of vifitors, moft part of it w"as taken 

 down in 1670, when a new enlarged edifice was erefted on 

 the fpot by William, third earl of Devonfliire. This building, 

 which has been frequently improved, is ftill the principal 

 hotel for the reception of company. Within it are the 

 baths, adjoining, but in diftinfl apartments, five in number ; 

 the gentlemen's, the ladies', the poor's, and two private. 

 The fprings have been calculated to throw up about fixty 

 gallons of water every minute. The time requifite to fill 

 the baths is two hours and fifty minutes. The water is 

 ufiially drank at St. Anne's well, a modern, but elegant I 



little building in the antique ftyle, where it is conveyed into > 



a white marble bafon, from the original fpring, through a 

 narrow grit-ftone channel. This well is regarded as one of 

 the feven wonders of the Peak ; chiefly from the circum- 

 ftance that both hot and cold fpring water may be obtained 

 within twelve inches of each other, from a double pump, 

 fituated on the oppofiie fide of the building to that which 

 contains the bafon. The principal ornament of Buxton is 

 its Crcfcent, a magnificent range of building, which was 



erefted 



