BUR 
take care of the interment of the Chriftian dead ; fo that 
the general cuftom of burning expired with paganifm. and 
the prelept method of interment has obtained thrdugliout 
the ie-veral ages of Chriftianity ever (nice. But formally 
centuries no perfon was permitted to be buried in churches, 
there being a cemetery, xotfw%gtpii, dormitory, or facred 
place, let apart for the burial of the dead, contiguous to 
the churches.; and, from the bodies of martyrs or faints 
buried there, the Chriftians ehofe particularly to build 
churches to their name ; and hence Tilemont derives the 
cuftom, which (fill obtains in the Rornilh church, never 
to confecrate any altar without depofiting under it the re¬ 
lics of fume martyr. Folly and fuperftition got but too 
early into religion; and, as great virtue was fuppofed to 
be derived from being buried near thefe facred relics, and 
confequently near the altar where mall'es were performed, 
it greatly added to the emoluments of the Romifli clergy, 
who permitted no perfon to be buried in the church, with¬ 
out .paying a certain fum for fo great a favour; and from 
hence is derived the cuftom of paying fees for burial in 
cathedral and parifh churches; and, if the body be buried 
above the fteps on either fide, or near the altar, the fees 
are double. Stat. 30 Cha. II. c.3. provides, That all 
perfons dying are to be buried in woollen, on pain of for¬ 
feiting 5I. And affidavit is to be made of fucli burying 
before a juftice. Sec. under the like penalty. A tax was 
laid on burials by William III. in 1695 ; a duke paid 50I. 
and a common perfon 4s. on their interment. For an ac¬ 
count of the foiemnities attending the burial and burning 
of the dead in different countries, fee Funeral and Fu¬ 
neral Pile. 
BURIA'NA, a town of Italy, in the territory of Sienna, 
near the lake of Caftiglione : fixteen miles S. of Montieri. 
BU’RICH, a town of Germany, in the circle of Suabia, 
and margraviate of Baden-Durlach ; five miles from Phi- 
liptburg. 
BU'RICK, a town of Germany, in the circle ofWeft- 
phalia, and duchy of Cleves, fituated on the Rhine ; re¬ 
markable for a viftory which the troops of the emperor 
Othp the Great obtained over the Lorrainers. It was ta¬ 
ken by the French, in 1672, who deftroyed the fortifica¬ 
tions. Burick is fix leagues eaft of Cleves. 
BU'RIDAN (John), born at Bethune in Artois, a re¬ 
nowned philofopher of the 14th century. He difeharged 
a profelfor’s place in the univerfity of Paris with great re¬ 
putation, and wrote commentaries on Ariftotle’s Logic, 
Ethics, and Metaphyfics, which were much efteemed. 
Some fay, that he was reftor of the univerfity of Paris in 
*320. Aventinus relates that he was a difciple of Ockam; 
and that, being expelled Paris by the power of therealifts, 
which was fuperior to that of the nominalifts, he went 
into Germany, where he founded the univerfity of Vienna. 
* Buridan’s Ais,’ has been long a kind of proverb in the 
fchools ; though nobody has ever pretended to explain it, 
or to determine with certainty what it meant. He fup¬ 
pofed an afs, very hungry, (landing betwixt two bufhels 
-ef oats perfedtly equal; or an afs, equally hungry and 
thirfty, placed betwixt a bufhel of oats and a tub of wa¬ 
ter, both making an equal impreljjpn op his organs. Af¬ 
ter this fuppofition, he ufed to afk, What will this afs do? 
if it was aniwered, He will remain there as he (lands : 
Then, concluded he, he will die of hunger betwixt two 
bufhels of oats; he will die of hunger and third with 
plenty of food and drink before him. This feenied ab- 
furd, and the laugh was wholly on his fide : but, if it was 
aniwered, This afs will not be fo ftupid as to die of hun¬ 
ger and third with thefe provifions on each fide of it : 
Then/concluded he, this afs has free will, or of two 
weights in equilibre one may dir the other. Leibnitz, in 
this Theodic^a, confines this fable; he fuppofes the afs 
"to^be between two meadows, and equally inclining to 
both: concerning this he fays, it is a fiftion which, in 
the prefent courfe of nature, cannot fubfifl. Indeed, were 
the cafe pofiiBle, we mud fay, that the creature would 
fuffer itfelf to die of hunger. But the quedion turns on 
Vol. III. bio.,145. 
BUR ?2 J 
an impoffibilitvfor the univerfe cannot be fo divided, by 
a plane drawn through the middle of the afs, cut verti¬ 
cally in its length, fo rijat every thing on each fide fliall 
appear alike and fimilar ; for neither the parts of the uni¬ 
verfe, nor the animaPs vifeera, are limila)-, nor in an equal 
(ituaticyi on both (ides of this vertical plane. 1 herefore 
there will always be many things which, though imper¬ 
ceptible to us, will determine an animal to take to.one (ids 
more than to another. 
BU'RIER, f Me that buries; he that performs the 
aft of interment; 
Let one fpirit of the fird-born Cain 
Reign in all bofoms, that, each heart being fet 
On bloody eburfes, the rude fcene may end, 
And darknels be the burier of the dead. Shakefyeare. 
BURIGNY' (I.evefque de), born at Rlieims, and mem¬ 
ber of the Academy of Belles-Lettres at Paris. He died 
in that city October 8, 1783, at the age of ninety-four. 
His great tranquillity of mind, and tire gentlenefs of hi? 
difpofition, procured him the enjoyment of a long and 
rleafant old age. At ninety-two his health was robuft, 
ris memory extenfive, and he.compofed and wrote with 
facility. His works are, 1. A Treatife on the Authority 
of the Popes, 1720, 4V0IS. 121110. 2. Hiftory of the Pa¬ 
gan Pliilolophy, 1724, 121110. a learned performance, pub- 
liihed in 1754, under the title of Theologie Paienne. 3. 
General Hidory of Sicily, 1745, 2 vols. 4to. 4. Porphyry 
on Abftinence from Meats, 1747, 121110. 5. Hidory of 
the Revolutions of Conftantinopl'e, 3 vols. 121110. 1750. 
6 . Life of Grotius, 1754, 2 vols. 121110. 7. Life of Eraf- 
11111s, 1757, 2 vols. 12ino. 8. Life of Bofluet, 1761, 1.21110. 
9. Life of Cardinal du Perron, 1768, izmo. The hifto- 
rical works of M. de Burigny are efteemed for the accu¬ 
racy and abundance of the facts they contain. 
BU'RINE, f. [Fr.] A graving-tool; a graver.—Wit is 
like the graver’s burine upon copper, or the corrodings of 
aquafortis, which engrave and indent the characters, that 
they can never be defaced. Government of the Tongue. 
BURKE (Edmund), the celebrated fenator and poli¬ 
tician, was born in the city of Dublin, January 1, 1730. 
His father was of the Proteftant perfuafion, and by pro- 
feftion an attorney ; faid to have defeended from the fame 
root as Bourke, the prefent earl of Mayo. Young Ed¬ 
mund received the firft part of his claftical education un¬ 
der Mr. Abraham Shackleton, a qualcer, who kept an aca¬ 
demy at BJillytore, near Carlow. Under the tuition of 
this matter, he devoted himfelf with great ardour to his 
ftudies, and laid the foundation of a claftical erudition. 
Leaving this fchool, he was fent to Trinity-college, Dub¬ 
lin, where he continued till he took his degree of mafter 
of arts. Here he was cdtemporary with Goldfinith, who, 
in converfation, often alferted, that Burke did not render 
himfelf very eminent in the performance of his academi¬ 
cal exerciies. This aflertion has been never contradifted,; 
but, when we conlider the immenfe extent and variety of 
his knowledge, we may fairly infer, that even in his youth 
he mu ft have laid in great ftores, though without difplay. 
It has been often (aid that he was bred a -Catholic, and 
ftudied at St. Omer’s ; and to this fuppofed education ma¬ 
ny of his political meafures have been aCcvibed- But the 
faft is, that he never ftudied at St. Omer’s, nor at any fo¬ 
reign feminary. He was bred a Proteftant, and always 
continued a member of the epi(copal church, although he 
entertained a very high opinion of the Dilienters, and a 
particular efteem for the Catholics. 
Mr. Burke, after completing his academical ftudies, be¬ 
came a candidate for the profe(lorft)ip of logic in the uni¬ 
verfity of Glafgow. Not fuccecding in this, lie determi¬ 
ned to try his fortune in London, where genius, if vigo- 
roully exerted, feldotn fails of ultimate Cut efts. On his 
firft arrival, he entered himfelf of the Temple. Various 
accounts are given of his finances at the outlet of life. It 
•has of late been alferted that he began the world with a 
handlopie competency ; but this is a vague and indefinite 
6 R term. 
