Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 07.djvu/205

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of general effect. His latter days were, like those of his fellow-draughtsman Hollar, embittered by distress, which was, however, met by liberal subscriptions collected on his behalf; but he died a few months after, at the ripe age of 83, on 17 Aug. 1779, and was buried in the churchyard of St. Clement Danes, London.

[Gent. Mag. xlix. (1779), pp. 68, 424; Redgrave's Dict. of Artists of English School (1878), p. 60; London Evening Post, 20–23 March 1742.]

C. H. C.

BUCK, ZACHARIAH (1798–1879), organist, was born at Norwich on 10 Sept. 1798. He was a chorister of the cathedral under Dr. Beckwith, to whose son he was subsequently apprenticed. While still young, Buck was a remarkably able teacher of the pianoforte; he was assistant organist of St. Peter Mancroft from 1818 to 1821, and in 1819 succeeded the younger Beckwith as organist of the cathedral and master of the choristers, which appointments he held until his resignation in 1877. The degree of Mus.Doc. was conferred on him by the archbishop of Canterbury in 1847. Buck died on 5 Aug. 1879, at the house of his son, Dr. Henry Buck, Newport, Essex, where he was buried on the 14th of the same month. His compositions include services, anthems, and chants, none of which are remarkable. His chief claim to be remembered is his excellence as a teacher, and particularly his success in training choristers.

[History of Norfolk (1829), ii. 1281; Orchestra for September 1879; Appendix to Bemorse's Choir Chant Book; information from Mr. W. H. Husk.]

W. B. S.

BUCKE, CHARLES (1781–1846), dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was born at Worlington in Suffolk, 16 April 1781. For more than thirty years he prosecuted his literary labours in the midst of great poverty. Ultimately he found a liberal benefactor in Mr. Thomas Grenville, from whom, it is believed, he regularly received 5l. a month. He also obtained several grants from the Literary Fund. His death occurred at Pulteney Terrace, Islington, 31 July 1846.

His works are: 1. ‘Amusements in Retirement, or the influence of science, literature, and the liberal arts on the manners and happiness of private life,’ 1816. 2. ‘The Italians, or the Fatal Accusation: a tragedy [in five acts and in verse]. With a preface containing the correspondence of the author with the committee of Drury Lane Theatre, P. Moore, Esq., M.P., and Mr. Kean,’ 7th edition 1819, 8th edition 1820. This tragedy was printed previously to its representation at Drury Lane Theatre on 3 April 1819. It was accepted by the committee of Drury Lane for representation in 1817, and announced in the bills to be performed immediately, Edmund Kean to take the principal character, Albanio; but from several causes it was delayed until 15 Feb. 1819, when Miss Porter's tragedy ‘Switzerland’ was presented. In the latter play Kean acted so badly that Bucke withdrew ‘The Italians.’ The public exposure of Kean created such a sensation that ‘The Italians’ had a rapid sale and passed through eight editions. 3. ‘The Fall of the Leaf and other poems,’ 1819. 4. ‘On the Beauties, Harmonies, and Sublimities of Nature, with occasional remarks on the laws, customs, manners, and opinions of various nations,’ 4 vols., London, 1821, 8vo; 3 vols., 1837; New York, 1843. Originally published anonymously in 1813, under the title ‘The Philosophy of Nature.’ The author left this work improved and enlarged in twenty manuscript volumes. 5. ‘Classical Grammar of the English Language,’ 1829. 6. ‘Julio Romano, or the Force of the Passions. An Epic Drama in six books,’ 1830. 7. ‘On the Life, Writings, and Genius of Akenside, with some account of his friends,’ 1832. 8. ‘The Book of Human Character,’ 2 vols., 1837. 9. ‘A Letter intended (one day) as a supplement to Lockhart's “Life of Sir Walter Scott,”’ London, 1838, 8vo (privately printed). 10. ‘The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough,’ 1839. 11. ‘Ruins of Ancient Cities, with general and particular accounts of their rise, fall, and present condition,’ 1840.

[Gent. Mag. new. ser. xxvii. 558; Addit. MS. 19167, f. 277; Cat. of Printed Books in Brit. Mus.; Lowndes's Bibl. Man. ed. Bohn, 304; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. x. 307, 4th ser. i. 267, 419, 420, 520.]

T. C.

BUCKENHAM, ROBERT (fl. 1530), was prior of the Dominican or Black Friars at Cambridge, in which university he took the degrees of B.D. in 1524 and D.D. in 1531, when he became archdeacon of Lewes. When Latimer was preaching at Cambridge in 1529, in favour of an English bible and other religious innovations, Buckenham was one of his principal opponents, and, in answer to Latimer's sermon on the cards, preached on ‘Christmas dice,’ using the terms cinq and quater as suggestive of the four doctors of the church and five texts of scripture, but did not succeed in silencing him (see Demaus, Tyndale, 431). His adherence to the papal supremacy and the old form of religion rendered it expedient for him to leave England. In 1534 he went to Edinburgh, and stayed for some time in the Black Friars convent there. In March 1535 he crossed the sea to Louvain to