Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BURNET, GILBERT (1643-1715)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 853 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

BURNET, See also:GILBERT (1643-1715) , See also:English See also:bishop and historian, was See also:born in See also:Edinburgh on the 18th of See also:September 1643, of an See also:ancient and distinguished Scottish See also:house. He was the youngest son of See also:Robert Burnet (1J92-1661), who at the Restoration became a See also:lord of session with the See also:title of Lord Crimond. Robert Burnet had refused to sign the Scottish See also:Covenant, although the document was See also:drawn up by his See also:brother-in-See also:law, See also:Archibald See also:Johnstone, Lord Warristoun. He therefore found it necessary to retire from his profession, and twice went into See also:exile. He disapproved of the rising of the Scots, but was none the less a severe critic of the See also:government of See also:Charles I. and of the See also:action of the Scottish bishops. This moderate attitude he impressed on his son Gilbert, whose See also:early See also:education he directed. The boy entered Marischal See also:College at the See also:age of nine, and five years later graduated M.A. He then spent a See also:year in the study of feudal and See also:civil law before he resolved to devote himself to See also:theology. He became a probationer for the Scottish See also:ministry in 1661 just before episcopal government was re-established in See also:Scotland. His decision to accept episcopal orders led to difficulties with his See also:family, especially with his See also:mother, who held rigid Presbyterian views. From this See also:time See also:dates his friendship with Robert See also:Leighton (1611-1684), who greatly influenced his religious opinions. Leighton had, during a stay in the See also:Spanish Nether-lands, assimilated something of the ascetic and pietistic spirit of See also:Jansenism, and was devoted to the interests of See also:peace in the See also:church.

Burnet wisely refused to accept a See also:

benefice in the disturbed See also:state of church affairs, but he wrote an audacious See also:letter to See also:Archbishop See also:Sharp asking him to take See also:measures to restore peace. Sharp sent for Burnet, and dismissed his See also:advice without apparent resentment. He had already made valuable acquaintances in Edinburgh, and he now visited See also:London, See also:Oxford and See also:Cambridge, and, after a See also:short visit to Edinburgh in 1663, when he sought to secure a See also:reprieve for his See also:uncle Warristoun, he proceeded to travel in See also:France and See also:Holland. At Cambridge he was strongly influenced by the philosophical views of See also:Ralph See also:Cudworth and See also:Henry More, who proposed an unusual degree of See also:toleration within the boundaries of the church and the limitations imposed by its See also:liturgy and episcopal government; and his inter-course in Holland with See also:foreign divines of different See also:Protestant sects further encouraged his tendency to latitudinarianism. When he returned to See also:England in 1664 he established intimate relations with See also:Sir Robert See also:Moray and with See also:John See also:Maitland, See also:earl and afterwards first See also:duke of See also:Lauderdale, both of whom at that time advocated a tolerant policy towards the Scottish See also:covenanters. Burnet became a member of the Royal Society, of which Moray was the first See also:president. On his See also:father's See also:death he had been offereda living by a relative, Sir See also:Alexander Burnet, and in 1663 the living of Saltoun, See also:East See also:Lothian, had been kept open for him by one of his father's See also:friends. He was not formally inducted at Saltoun until See also:June 1665, although he had served there since See also:October 1664. For the next five years he devoted himself to his See also:parish, where he won the respect of all parties. In 1666 he alienated the Scottish bishops by a bold memorial (printed in vol. ii. of the Miscellanies of the Scottish See also:Historical Society), in which he pointed out that they were departing from the See also:custom of the See also:primitive church by their excessive pretensions, and yet his attitude was far too moderate to please the Presbyterians. In 1669 he resigned his parish to become See also:professor of divinity in the university of See also:Glasgow, and in the same year he published an exposition of his ecclesiastical views in his Modest and See also:Free See also:Conference between a Conformist and a See also:Nonconformist (by " a See also:lover of peace "). He was Leighton's right See also:hand in the efforts at a See also:compromise between the episcopal and the presbyterian principle.

Meanwhile he had begun to differ from Lauderdale, whose policy after the failure of the See also:

scheme of " See also:Accommodation " moved in the direction of See also:absolutism and repression, and during Lauderdale's visit to Scotland in 1672 the divergence rapidly See also:developed into opposition. He warily refused the offer of a Scottish bishopric, and published in 1673 his four " conferences," entitled Vindication of the Authority, Constitution and See also:Laws of the Church and State of Scotland, in which he insisted on the See also:duty of passive obedience. It was partly through the See also:influence of See also:Anne (d. 1716), duchess of See also:Hamilton in her own right, that he had been appointed at Glasgow, and he made See also:common cause with the Hamiltons, against Lauderdale. The duchess had made over to him the papers of her father and uncle, from which he compiled the See also:Memoirs of the Lives and Actions of See also:James and See also:William, See also:dukes of Hamilton and Castleherald. In which an See also:Account is given of the Rise and Progress of the Civil See also:Wars of Scotland . . . together with many letters . . . written by See also:King Charles I. (London, 1677; Univ. See also:Press, Oxford, 1852), a See also:book which was published as the second See also:volume of a See also:History of the Church of Scotland„ See also:Spottiswoode's History forming the first. This See also:work established his reputation as an historian. Meanwhile he had clandestinely married in 1671 a See also:cousin of Lauderdale, See also:Lady See also:Margaret See also:Kennedy, daughter of John Kennedy, 6th earl of See also:Cassius, a lady who had already taken an active See also:part in affairs in Scotland, and was eighteen years older than Burnet.

The See also:

marriage was kept See also:secret for three years, and Burnet renounced all claim to his wife's See also:fortune. Lauderdale's ascendancy in Scotland and the failure of the attempts at compromise in Scottish church affairs eventually led Burnet to See also:settle in England. He was favourably received by Charles II. in 1673, when he went up to London to arrange for the publication of the Hamilton Memoirs, and he was treated with confidence by the duke of See also:York. On his return to Scotland Lauderdale refused to receive him, and denounced him to Charles II. as one of the See also:chief centres of Scottish discontent. Burnet found it wiser to retire to England on the plea of fulfilling his duties as royal See also:chaplain Once in London he resigned his professorship (September 1674) at Glasgow; but, although James remained his friend, Charles struck him off the See also:roll of See also:court chaplains in 1674, and it was in opposition to court influence that he was made chaplain to the Rolls See also:Chapel by the See also:master, Sir Harbottle Grimston, and appointed lecturer at St See also:Clement's. He was summoned in See also:April 1675 before a See also:committee of the House of See also:Commons to give See also:evidence against Lauderdale, and disclosed, without reluctance according to his enemies, confidences which had passed between him and the See also:minister. He himself confesses in his autobiography that " it was a See also:great See also:error in me to appear in this See also:matter," and his conduct cost him the patronage of the duke of York. In ecclesiastical matters he threw in his See also:lot with See also:Thomas See also:Tillotson and John See also:Tenison, and at the time of the Revolution had written some eighteen polemics against encroachments of the See also:Roman See also:Catholic Church. At the See also:suggestion of Sir William See also:Jones, the See also:attorney-See also:general, he began his History of the See also:Reformation in England, based on See also:original documents. In the necessary See also:research he received some pecuniary help from Robert See also:Boyle, but he was hindered in the preparation of the first part (1679) through being refused See also:access to the See also:Cotton library, possibly by the influence of Lauderdale. For this volume he received the thanks of See also:parliament, and the second and third volumes appeared in 1681 and 1715. In this work he undertook to refute the statements of See also:Nicholas See also:Sanders,, whose De Origine et progressu schismatis Anglicani libri tres (See also:Cologne, 1585) was still, in the See also:French See also:translation of Maucroix, the commonly accepted account of the English reformation.

Burnet's contradictions of Sanders must not, however, be accepted without See also:

independent investigation. At the time of the Popish See also:Plot in 1678 he displayed some moderation, refusing to believe the charges made against the duke of York, though he See also:chose this time to publish some See also:anti-Roman See also:pamphlets. He tried, at some See also:risk to himself, to See also:save the See also:life of one of the victims, William Staly, and visited William See also:Howard, See also:Viscount See also:Stafford, in the See also:Tower. To the Exclusion See also:Bill he opposed a suggestion of compromise, and it is said that Charles offered him the bishopric of See also:Chichester, " if he would come entirely into his interests." Burnet's reconciliation with the court was short-lived. In See also:January 168o he addressed to the king a See also:long letter on the subject of his sins; he was known to have received the dangerous confidence of See also:Wilmot, earl of See also:Rochester, in his last illness; and he was even suspected, unjustly, in 1683, of having composed the See also:paper drawn up on the See also:eve of death by William See also:Russell, Lord Russell, whom he attended to the See also:scaffold. On the 5th of See also:November 1684 he preached, at the See also:express wish of his See also:patron Grimston, and against his own See also:desire, the usual anti-Catholic See also:sermon. He was consequently deprived of his appointments by See also:order of the court, and on the See also:accession of James II. retired to See also:Paris. He had already begun the See also:writing of his memoirs, which were to develop into the History of His Own Time. Burnet now travelled in See also:Italy, See also:Germany and See also:Switzerland, finally settling in Holland`at the See also:Hague, where he won from the princess of See also:Orange a confidence which proved enduring. He rendered a See also:signal service to William by inducing the princess to offer to leave the whole See also:political See also:power in her See also:husband's hands in the event of their See also:succession to the English See also:crown. A See also:prosecution against him for high See also:treason was now set on See also:foot both in England and in Scotland, and he took the precaution of naturalizing himself as a Dutch subject. Lady Margaret Burnet was dying when he See also:left England, and in Holland he married a Dutch heiress of Scottish descent, See also:Mary See also:Scott.

He returned to England with William and Mary, and See also:

drew up the English See also:text of their See also:declaration. His earlier views on the See also:doctrine of non-resistance had been sensibly modified by what he saw in France after the revocation of the See also:edict of See also:Nantes and by the course of affairs at See also:home, and in 1688 he published an Inquiry into the Measures of Submission to the Supreme Authority in See also:defence of the revolution. He was consecrated to the see of See also:Salisbury on the 31st of See also:March 1689 by a See also:commission of bishops to whom Archbishop See also:Sancroft had delegated his authority, declining personally to perform the See also:office. In his See also:pastoral letter to his See also:clergy urging them to take the See also:oath of See also:allegiance, Burnet grounded the claim of William and Mary on the right of See also:conquest, a view which gave such offence that the pamphlet was burnt by the common hangman three years later. As bishop he proved an excellent See also:administrator, and gave the closest See also:attention to his pastoral duties. He discouraged See also:plurality of livings, and consequent non-See also:residence, established a school of divinity at Salisbury, and spent much time himself in preparing candidates for See also:confirmation, and in the examination of those who wished to enter the priesthood. Four discourses delivered to the clergy of his See also:diocese were printed in 1694. During See also:Queen Mary's lifetime ecclesiastical patronage passed through her hands, but after her death William III. appointed an ecclesiastical commission, on which Burnet was a prominent member, for the disposal of vacant benefices. In 1696 and 1697 he presented memorials to the king suggesting that the firs t-fruits and tenths raised by the clergy should be devoted to theaugmentation of the poorer livings, and though his suggestions were not immediately accepted, they were carried into effect under Queen Anne by the See also:provision known as Queen Anne's See also:Bounty. His second wife died of smallpox in 1698, and in 1700 Burnet married again, his third wife being See also:Elizabeth (1661-1709), widow of Robert See also:Berkeley and daughter of Sir See also:Richard See also:Blake, a See also:rich and charitable woman, known by her Method of Devotion, posthumously published in 1710. In 1699 he was appointed See also:tutor to the royal duke of See also:Gloucester, son of the Princess Anne, an See also:appointment which he accepted somewhat against his will. His influence at court had declined after the death of Queen Mary; William resented his often officious advice, placed little confidence in his discretion, and soon after his accession is even said to have described him as ein rechter Tartuje.

Burnet made a weighty speech against the bill (1702-1703) directed against the practice of occasional conformity, and was a consistent exponent of Broad Church principles. He devoted five years' labour to his Exposition of the See also:

Thirty-nine Articles (1699; ed. J. R. See also:Page, 1837), which was severely criticized by the High Church clergy. But his hopes for a comprehensive scheme which might include nonconformists in the English Church were necessarily destroyed on the accession of Queen Anne. He died on the 17th of March 1715, and was buried in the parish of St James's, See also:Clerkenwell. Burnet directed in his will that his most important work, the History of His Own Time, should appear six years after his death. It was published (2 vols., 1724-1734) by his sons, Gilbert and Thomas, and then not without omissions. It was attacked in 1724 by John See also:Cockburn in A Specimen of some free and impartial Remarks. Burnet's book naturally aroused much opposition, and there were persistent rumours that the MS. had been unduly tampered with. He has been freely charged with See also:gross misrepresentation, an See also:accusation to which he laid himself open, for instance, in the account of the See also:birth of James, the Old Pretender.

His later intimacy with the Marlboroughs made him very lenient where the duke was concerned. The greatest value of his work naturally lies in his account of transactions of which he had See also:

personal knowledge, notably in his relation of the church history of Scotland, of the Popish Plot, of the proceedings at the Hague previous to the expedition of William and Mary, and of the personal relations between the See also:joint sovereigns. Of his See also:children by his second wife, William (d. 1729) became a colonial See also:governor in See also:America; Gilbert (d. 1726) became See also:prebendary of Salisbury in 1715, and chaplain to See also:George I. in 1718; and Sir Thomas (1694-1753), his See also:literary executor and biographer, became in 1741 See also:judge in the court of common pleas. History of the Reformation of the Church of England was edited (See also:Clarendon Press, Oxford, 7 vols., 1865) by N. See also:Pocock. Besides the See also:works mentioned above may be noticed: Some Passages of the Life and Death of John, Earl of Rochester (See also:Land., 168o; facsimile reprint, with introduction by Lord Ronald See also:Gower, 1875) ; The Life and Death of Sir See also:Matthew See also:Hale, Kt., sometime Lord Chief-See also:Justice-of his Majesties Court of See also:Kings See also:Bench (Lond., 1682), which is included in C. See also:Wordsworth's Ecclesiastical See also:Biography (vol. vi., 1818) ; The History of the Rights of Princes in disposing of Ecclesiastical Benefices and Church Lands (Lond., 1682, 8vo) ; The Life of William See also:Bedell, D.D., Bishop of Kilmore in See also:Ireland (1685), containing the See also:correspondence between Bedell and James Waddesdon of the See also:Holy See also:Inquisition on the subject of the Roman obedience; Reflections on Mr Varillas's " History of the Revolutions that have happened in See also:Europe in matters of See also:Religion," and more particularly on his Ninth Book, that relates to England (Amst., 1686), appended to the account of his travels entitled Some Letters, which was origin-ally published at See also:Rotterdam (1686); A Discourse of the Pastoral Care (1692, 14th ed., 1821); An See also:Essay on the Memory of the See also:late Queen (1695); A Collection of various Tracts and Discourses written in the Years 1677 to 1704 (3 vols., 1704) ; and A Collection of Speeches, Prefaces, Letters, with a Description of See also:Geneva and 'Holland (1713). Of his shorter religious and polemical works a See also:catalogue is given in vol. vi. of the Clarendon Press edition of his History, and in See also:Lowndes's Bibliographer's See also:Manual. The following See also:translations deserve to be mentioned: See also:Utopia, written in Latin by Sir Thomas More, See also:Chancellor of England: translated into English (1685); A Relation of the Death of the Primitive Persecutors, written originally in Latin, by L. C.

F. Lactantius: Englished by Gilbert Burnet, D.D., to which he hath made a large See also:

preface concerning Persecution (Amst., 1687). See also A Life of Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury (1907), by T. E. S. See also:Clarke and H. C. Foxcroft, with an introduction by C. H. See also:Firth, which contains a See also:chronological See also:list of Burnet's published works. Of Burnet's personal See also:character there are well-known descriptions in See also:chapter vii. of See also:Macaulay's History of England, and in W. E.

H. See also:

Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth See also:Century, vol. i. pp. 8o seq.

End of Article: BURNET, GILBERT (1643-1715)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BURNET 		[next]
BURNET, THOMAS (1635-1715)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries