[Burnes, Sir Alexander], born at Montrose, his father a cousin of Robert Burns; was an officer in the Indian army; distinguished for the services he rendered to the Indian Government through his knowledge of the native languages; appointed Resident at Cabul; was murdered, along with his brother and others, by an Afghan mob during an Insurrection (1805-1841).
[Burnet, Gilbert], bishop of Salisbury, born at Edinburgh, of an old Aberdeen family; professor of Divinity in Glasgow; afterwards preacher at the Rolls Chapel, London; took an active part in supporting the claims of the Prince of Orange to the English throne; was rewarded with a bishopric, that of Salisbury; wrote the "History of the Reformation," an "Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles," the "History of His Own Times"; he was a Whig in politics, a broad Churchman in creed, and a man of strict moral principle as well as Christian charity; the most famous of his works is his "History of His Own Times," a work which Pope, Swift, and others made the butt of their satire (1643-1715).
[Burnet, John], engraver and author, born at Fisherrow; engraved Wilkie's works, and wrote on art (1784-1868).
[Burnet, Thomas], master of the Charterhouse, born in Yorkshire, author of the "Sacred Theory of the Earth," eloquent in descriptive parts, but written wholly in ignorance of the facts (1635-1715).
[Burnett, Frances Hodgson], novelist, born in Manchester, resident for a time in America; wrote "That Lass o' Lowrie's," and other stories of Lancashire manufacturing life, characterised by shrewd observation, pathos, and descriptive power; b. 1849.
[Burney, Charles], musical composer and organist, born at Shrewsbury; a friend of Johnson's; author of "The History of Music," and the father of Madame d'Arblay; settled in London as a teacher of music (1726-1814).
[Burney, Charles], son of preceding, a great classical scholar; left a fine library, purchased by the British Museum for £13,500 (1757-1817).
[Burney, James], brother of preceding, rear-admiral, accompanied Cook in his last two voyages; wrote "History of Voyages of Discovery" (1750-1821).
[Burnley] (87), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, 27 m. N. of Manchester; with cotton mills, foundries, breweries, &c.
[Burnouf, Eugene], an illustrious Orientalist, born in Paris; professor of Sanskrit in the College of France; an authority on Zend or Zoroastrian literature; edited the text of and translated the "Bhâgavata Purána," a book embodying Hindu mythology; made a special study of Buddhism; wrote an introduction to the history of the system (1801-1852).