BURNET 469 central Asia. A year was occupied on this tour through Sinde, Afghanistan, Balkh, Bo- khara, and Persia. He returned to England in October, 1833, and received 800 for the first edition of his " Travels into Bokhara " (3 vols. 12mo). He was made a member of the royal Asiatic society and of the royal geo- graphical society; the latter voting him its gold medal and a premium of 50 guineas " for the navigation of the Indus, and a journey by Balkh and Bokhara across central Asia." The French geographical society gave him its gold medal. On returning to India in 1835, he un- dertook a mission to Hyderabad to prevent the necessity of a war with Sinde, and obtained permission from the ameers to survey the -In- dus, and a. pledge that the practice of robbing stranded vessels should cease. In 1836-7 he was sent to Dost Mohammed, at Cabool, on a commercial mission ; but, persuaded that this prince meditated treachery toward the Anglo- Indian government, he remonstrated, was dis- missed, and retired to Simla. When it was resolved to restore Shah Shujah to the throne of Cabool, he preceded the army, in charge of the commissariat, and while so employed re- ceived the announcement of his having ob- tained the honor of knighthood and the bre- vet rank of lieutenant colonel. In Septem- ber, 1839, on the restoration of Shah Shujah, he was made political resident at Cabool. In this capacity lie continued until Nov. 2, 1841, when on the outbreak of the Oabool insurrec- tion he was murdered, with his brother Lieut. Charles Burnes and others. After his death was published "Cabool" (London, 1842), in which he gave a narrative of his journey to and residence in that city in the years 1836, '37, and '38. BURNET, a central county of Texas, bounded W. by the Colorado river, which intersects its S. W. portion, and watered by affluents of Lit- tle river, a branch of the Brazos ; area, 995 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 3,688, of whom 358 were colored. The falls of the Colorado are in this county. The surface is rocky, broken by hills, and in some parts mountainous. The soil is a rich loam. Cedar brakes cover a large part of the surface; oak and elms are also found. Various kinds of marble, from pure white to jet black, are abundant ; coal, iron ore, fine limestone, and traces of gold are found. Pe- troleum has been discovered at the county seat. The chief productions in 1870 were 6,020 bush- els of wheat, 142,900 of Indian corn, 408 bales of cotton, and 13,870 Ibs. of wool. There were 2,726 horses, 3,023 milch cows, 20,865 other cattle, 5,792 sheep, and 13,847 swine. Capi- tal, Burnet, 40 m. N. W. of Austin. BIIR>ET, Gilbert, a British bishop and author, born in Edinburgh, Sept. 18, 1643, died in London, March 17, 1715. He took the degree of M. A. at Aberdeen before the age of 14, studied law for a short time, but at the age of 18 was licensed to preach. His sermons from the first were extempore. He declined a living, as being too young for such a charge. After visiting Oxford, Cambridge, and London, he travelled in the Netherlands and France. On his return in 1665 he was made a fellow of the royal society, and soon after, accepting the living of Saltoun, in East Lothian, was ordain- ed by the bishop of Edinburgh. He remained in Saltoun for several years, and drew up a statement of the abuses practised by the Scot- tish bishops, avowing the authorship, for doing which Archbishop Sharpe proposed excommu- nication and deprivation, which, however, did not take place. In 1669 he was elected divin- ity professor at Glasgow, and in the same year published " A Modest and Free Conference be- tween a Conformist and a Nonconformist." In 1671 he married Lady Margaret Kennedy, daughter of the earl of Cassilis. In 1672 he published "A Vindication of the Authority, Constitution, and Laws of the Church," a trea- tise much at variance with his previous opin- ions, being so defensive of the doctrine of pas- sive obedience that it was highly approved at court, and obtained for him the offer of a Scot- tish archbishopric, which he declined. While in London in 1673 he was made chaplain to Charles II. ; but soon after his name was struck off the list of royal chaplains, because he op- posed the arbitrary measures of the duke of Lauderdale. He resigned his Glasgow profes- sorship in 1674 and removed to London, where he was appointed preacher at the Rolls chapel and lecturer at St. Clement's. In 1676 he pub- lished " Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton," compiled from family archives at Glasgow. In 1679 he published the first volume of his " His- tory of the Reformation," for which he received votes of thanks from both houses of parliament, and a request to complete it. The second vol- ume appeared in 1681, when he also printed " An Account of the Life and Death of the Earl of Rochester," having attended that profligate nobleman at his own request. Dr. Johnson says, " It is a book the critic ought to read for its elegance, the philosopher for its argument, and the saint for its piety." In 1682 he pub- lished his " Life of Sir Matthew Hale " and some minor works, and wrote a private letter to Charles II., remonstrating with him on his public misgovernment and private licentious- ness, and reminding him of the fate of his fa- ther. The king is said to have read the letter twice, and then thrown it into the fire, but or- dered the bishopric of Chichester to be offered to the writer "if he would entirely come to his interest." The offer was declined. He at- tended Lord William Russell on the scaffold in 1683 ; was dismissed from his Rolls preacher- ship and St. Clement's lecturership, by order of the king ; and on the death of Charles II., early in 1685, retired to the continent. He travelled through the south of France, Italy, Switzerland, and the north of Germany, to Holland, and subsequently published an ac- count of his journey. Visiting the Hague on the invitation of the prince and princess of
