Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/673

BUXTON, Jedediah, a prodigy of skill in numbers, was born in 1704, at Elmton, near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. Although his father was schoolmaster of the parish, and his grandfather had been the vicar, his education had been so neglected that he could not write; and his knowledge, except of numbers, was extremely limited. How he came first to know the relative proportions of numbers, and their progressive denominations, he did not remember; but on such matters his attention was so constantly rivetted, that he frequently took no cognizance of external objects, and when he did, it was only with reference to their numbers. He worked out every question after his own method, without any external aid, and without understanding the common rules of arithmetic. He would stride over a piece of land or a field, and tell the contents of it almost as exactly as if it had been measured by the chain. In this manner he measured the whole lordship of Elmton, consisting of some thousand acres, and gave the contents not only in acres, roods, and perches, but even in square inches. After this, for his own amusement, he reduced thorn into square hairs-breadths, reckoning forty-eight to each side of the inch. His memory was so great, that in resolving a question he could leave off and resume the operation again at the same point after the lapse of a week, or even of several months. His perpetual application to figures prevented the smallest acquisition of any other knowledge. On his return from church it never appeared that he had brought away one sentence, his mind having been busied in his favourite occupation. His wonderful faculty was tested in 1754 by the Royal Society of London, who acknowledged their satisfaction by presenting him with a handsome gratuity, During his visit to the metropolis he was taken to see the tragedy of Richard III. performed at Drury Lane theatre, but his whole mind was given to the counting of the words uttered by Garrick. Similarly, he set himself to count the steps of the dancers; and he declared that the innumerable sounds produced by the musical instruments had perplexed him beyond measure. He lived till about the age of seventy, and died at the place of his birth.

BUXTON, Sir Thomas Fowell (1786-1845), a distinguished philanthropist, whose name is inseparably associated with that of Wilberforce in the abolition of slavery, was born in Essex, April 1, 1786. He was not educated at any of the public schools, and at about the age of eighteen he entered Trinity College, Dublin, with a very slender stock of acquirements. But lie was aware of his defects, and laboured so earnestly that he came out one of the first men of his time, and with an extraordinarily high reputation as a speaker. In 1809 he married Harriet Gurney, sister of the celebrated Mrs Fry. As his own means were not of themselves sufficient to support his family, he catered in 1808 the brewery establishment of Truman, Hanbury, and Co., of which his uncles, the Hanburys, were partners. He devoted himself to business with characteristic enthusiasm, became a partner in 1811, and soon had the whole concern in his hands. In 1816 he brought himself into notice by his speech in behalf of the Spitalfields weavers; and in 1818 he published his able Inquiry into Prison Discipline. The same year he was elected member for Weymouth, a borough for which he continued to sit till 1837. In the House of Commons he had a high reputation as an able and straightforward speaker, devoted to philanthropic schemes. Of these plans the most important was that for the abolition of slavery in the British colonies. Huxton devoted his life to this object, and through defeat and opposition, despite the attacks of enemies and the remonstrances of faint-hearted friends, he remained true to it. Not till 1833 was he successful, and even then only partially, for he was compelled to admit some clauses against which his better judgment had decided. In 1837 he ceased to sit in the House of Commons. He travelled on the Continent in 1839 to recruit his health, which had given way, and took the opportunity of inspecting Continental prisons. He was made a baronet in 1840, and then devoted himself to a plan for ameliorating the condition of the African negroes. The failure of the Niger expedition was a blow from which he never recovered. He died on the 19th February 1845. (See Memoir and Correspondence of Sir T. 1 Huxton, edited by his son, Charles Buxton, 1848.)

BUXTORF, or Buxtorff, John (1564-1629), the first of a line of distinguished scholars, whose Hebrew and rabbinical learning shed lustre upon the university of Basel during the 17th century, was born at Camen in Westphalia on the 25th December 1564. The original form of the name was Bockstrop, or Boxtrop, from which was derived the family crest or insignia, which bore the figure of a goat (Bock in German signifying " he goat"). His early education was received at the schools of Hnmm and Dortmund. After the death of his father, who was minister of Camen, Buxtorf resumed his studies, which had been interrupted for a short time by that event, at Marburg, and the newly-founded university of Herborn, at the latter of which Olevian and Piscator had been recently appointed professors of theology. It was under the teaching of Piscator that Buxtorf first imbibed a love for the Hebrew language and literature, that department in which he was destined afterwards to become so famous. So great was his progress in these studies, that Piscator acknowledged that he was far surpassed by his pupil. At a later date Piscator received the assistance of Buxtorf in the preparation of his Latin translation of the Old Testament, which was published at Herborn in 1602-3. From Herborn Buxtorf repaired to Heidelberg, and thence to Basel, to which latter university he was attracted by the reputation of John James Grynseus and Hospinian. After a residence of some time at Basel, Buxtorf proceeded to Zurich, for the purpose of attending the lectures of Bullinger, and after that to Geneva, where he enjoyed for a short time the instructions of Beza. On his return to Basel, Grynaeus, who had been greatly impressed by the character, talents, industry, and great learning of the youth, and was desirous that the services of one who promised to become a scholar of great distinction should be secured to the university, procured him a situation as tutor in the family of Leo Curio, son of Coelius Sccundus Curio, so celebrated for his sufferings on account of the Reformed faith. This arrangement exercised a decisive influence upon the future life, public and private, of Buxtorf. At the instance of Grynaeus, Buxtorf undertook the duties of the Hebrew chair in the university, and discharged them for two years with such ability and acceptance, that at the end of that time he was unanimously appointed to the vacant office. From this date (1590) to his death in 1629, a period of thirty-nine years, Buxtorf remained in Basel, and devoted himself to the study of Hebrew and rabbinical literature with an energy and zeal that have rarely been paralleled in the history of any scholar. He is said never to have devoted fewer than eight or ten hours daily to study. Not satisfied with perusing the works of the rabbins, he received into his own house many learned Jews, that he might discuss with them the more difficult and abstruse points treated of in the writings of their countrymen. So great, indeed, became his reputation for profound and extensive knowledge of rabbinical books, that he was frequently consulted by Jews themselves on matters relating to their ceremonial law. Probably no Protestant scholar ever possessed so complete a knowledge of the contents of the rabbinical writings as Buxtorf, and he