John Burton (scholar)
Encyclopedia
John Burton, D.D. was an English clergyman and academic, a theological and classical scholar.
, where his father Samuel Burton was rector. He was educated partly at Okehampton
and Tiverton in his native county, and partly at Ely
, where he was placed on his father's death by the Rev. Samuel Bentham, the first cousin of his mother. In 1713 he was elected as a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
, and took his degree of B. A. on 27 June 1717, shortly after which he became the college tutor. He proceeded M.A. 24 March 1720-1, was elected probationary fellow 6 April following, and admitted actual fellow 4 April 1723.
As college tutor he acquired a great reputation. Particulars of his teaching are set out in his friend Edward Bentham's 'De Vita et Moribus Johannis Burtoni . . . epistola ad Robertum Lowth,' 1771. In logic and metaphysics he passed from Robert Sanderson
and Jean Le Clerc
to John Locke
; in ethics from Aristotle
to Puffendorf's abridgment and Sanderson's lectures. Twice a week he lectured on Xenophon
and Demosthenes
, and occasionally he taught on some Latin author. It was through Burton that the study of Locke was introduced into the schools, and he printed for the use of the younger students a double series of philosophical questions, with references to the authors to be consulted under each head. A set of exercises which he gave the undergraduates of his college for employment during the long vacation was printed under the title of 'Sacræ Scripturæ locorum quorundam versio metrica,' 1736.
For the Oxford University Press
he obtained a gift from John Rolle
, and a legacy from Dr. Walter Hodges, the Provost of Oriel College
. Through the circumstance that Burton had been tutor to a son of Dr. Henry Bland, a fellowship at Eton College
was bestowed on him on 17 August 1733, and when the vicarage of Mapledurham
became vacant by the death of Dr. Edward Littleton on 16 November 1733, Burton was nominated thereto by the college and inducted on 9 March 1734. Dr. Littleton had married a daughter of Barnham Goode, under-master of Eton School, and left her a widow 'with three infant daughters, without a home, without a fortune.' The new vicar allowed the family to remain for a time in their old home, and the story runs that 'some time after a neighbouring clergyman happened to call and found Mrs. Littleton shaving John Burton.' At this sight the visitor remonstrated with his clerical friend, and the result was that 'Burton proposed marriage and was accepted.' Burton devoted much of his income to improving the parsonage and the glebe
lands.
His other university degrees were M.A. in 1720, B.D. in 1729, and D.D. in 1752. On 1 February 1766, towards the close of his life, he quitted the vicarage of Mapledurham for the rectory of Worplesdon
in Surrey, and here he was instrumental in the formation of a causeway over the Wey, so that his parishioners might travel to Guildford at all seasons. A year or two later he was seized by fever, but he still lingered on.
His death occurred on 11 February 1771, and he was buried at the entrance to the inner chapel at Eton, precisely in the centre under the organ-loft.
His mother took as her second husband Dr. John Bear, rector of Shermanbury, Sussex. She died on 23 April 1755, aged 80; her husband on 9 March 1762, aged 88; and in 1767 her son erected a monument to their memory. Dr. Burton's wife died in 1748.
He contributed to the Weekly Miscellany a series of papers on 'The Genuineness of Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion—Mr. Oldmixon's Slander confuted,' which was subsequently enlarged and printed separately at Oxford in 1744. The circumstances which led to their production are set out in Samuel Johnson
's Lives of the Poets in the life of Edmund Smith
: George Duckett had misled John Oldmixon
, to the effect that Smith had been employed by Francis Atterbury
and others to garble Lord Clarendon's history before it was published.
Burton was fond of jokes. One or two of them can be found in S. Pegge's Anonymiana (1809, pp. 384–5), and an allusion to Ralph Allen
provoked William Warburton
to insert in the 1749 edition of the 'Dunciad' (book iv., verse 443) a caustic note on Burton, which was subsequently omitted at the request of Thomas Hayter
. While at Mapledurham he wrote 'The present State of the Navigation of the River Thames considered, with certain regulations proposed,' 1765; second edition 1767.
In 1758 he issued a volume, 'Πενταλογία, sive tragœdiarum Græcarum Delectus,' which was reissued with additional observations by Thomas Burgess in 1779.
Burton made frequent visits to his mother in Sussex, and in 1752 described his journey there in 'Όδοιπορούντος Μελεθήματα, sive iter Surriense et Sussexiense.' Numerous extracts from this tour were printed in the 'Sussex Archaeological Collections,' viii. 250–65. His Latin poem, 'Sacerdos Parœcialis Rusticus,' was issued in 1757, and a translation by Dawson Warren of Edmonton came out in 1800.
An oration which Burton delivered at Oxford in 1763 gave him the opportunity for an attack on John Wilkes
, whereupon Charles Churchill, in the 'Candidate' (verse 716 et seq.), retaliated with sneers at his 'new Latin and new Greek,' and his 'pantomime thoughts and style so full of trick.'
A Latin letter by Burton to a friend, or a 'commentariolus' of Archbishop Thomas Secker
, attracted attention, and was criticised by Archdeacon Francis Blackburne
on behalf of the latitudinarians, and by Philip Furneaux
for the nonconformists in his 'Letters to Blackstone.'
When the settling of the Province of Georgia
was a live issue, he took an active role, and published in 1764 'An Account of the Designs of the late Dr. Bray, with an Account of their Proceedings,' a tract often reprinted, on the episcopalian Thomas Bray
.
, whom he had met at Oxford, to lay plans for a new colony in America. The initiative, which envisioned a model colony founded on humanistic principles, was taken up in 1730 by a philanthropic group known as the Associates of Dr. Thomas Bray
. The group applied for a royal charter, which was granted in 1732. The charter created the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America
, and Burton was named in the charter as a founding Trustee. Given Burton’s close relationship with Oglethorpe it is likely he participated in framing the elaborate design of its economic system and settlement plan. The humanistic principles upon which Georgia was founded were underscored in the Trustees’ first annual sermon, which was delivered by Burton. Burton described the new colony as one where colonists would “seem in a literal sense to begin the world again.” Leaving behind an Old World system that offered little opportunity, they would become part of a new society that would reward hard work and personal virtue. In the sermon, Burton also articulated a policy of “equity and beneficence” toward indigenous Americans.
Life
Burton was born at Wembworthy, DevonDevon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, where his father Samuel Burton was rector. He was educated partly at Okehampton
Okehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...
and Tiverton in his native county, and partly at Ely
Ely, Cambridgeshire
Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about by road from London. It is built on a Lower Greensand island, which at a maximum elevation of is the highest land in the Fens...
, where he was placed on his father's death by the Rev. Samuel Bentham, the first cousin of his mother. In 1713 he was elected as a scholar of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, and took his degree of B. A. on 27 June 1717, shortly after which he became the college tutor. He proceeded M.A. 24 March 1720-1, was elected probationary fellow 6 April following, and admitted actual fellow 4 April 1723.
As college tutor he acquired a great reputation. Particulars of his teaching are set out in his friend Edward Bentham's 'De Vita et Moribus Johannis Burtoni . . . epistola ad Robertum Lowth,' 1771. In logic and metaphysics he passed from Robert Sanderson
Robert Sanderson
Robert Sanderson was an English theologian and casuist.He was born in Sheffield in Yorkshire and grew up at Gilthwaite Hall, near Rotherham. He was educated at Lincoln College, Oxford. Entering the Church, he rose to be Bishop of Lincoln.His work on logic, Logicae Artis Compendium , was long a...
and Jean Le Clerc
Jean Leclerc (theologian)
Jean Le Clerc, also Johannes Clericus was a Swiss theologian and biblical scholar. He was famous for promoting exegesis, or critical interpretation of the Bible, and was a radical of his age...
to John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
; in ethics from Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
to Puffendorf's abridgment and Sanderson's lectures. Twice a week he lectured on Xenophon
Xenophon
Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens, was a Greek historian, soldier, mercenary, philosopher and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
and Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
, and occasionally he taught on some Latin author. It was through Burton that the study of Locke was introduced into the schools, and he printed for the use of the younger students a double series of philosophical questions, with references to the authors to be consulted under each head. A set of exercises which he gave the undergraduates of his college for employment during the long vacation was printed under the title of 'Sacræ Scripturæ locorum quorundam versio metrica,' 1736.
For the Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
he obtained a gift from John Rolle
John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle
John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle was a British peer who had served as a Member of Parliament in general support of William Pitt the Younger and was later an active member of the House of Lords...
, and a legacy from Dr. Walter Hodges, the Provost of Oriel College
Oriel College
Oriel College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford...
. Through the circumstance that Burton had been tutor to a son of Dr. Henry Bland, a fellowship at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
was bestowed on him on 17 August 1733, and when the vicarage of Mapledurham
Mapledurham
Mapledurham is a small village, civil parish and country estate beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire.It should not be confused with the Mapledurham electoral ward of the nearby Borough of Reading, which is a subdivision of that town's suburb of Caversham....
became vacant by the death of Dr. Edward Littleton on 16 November 1733, Burton was nominated thereto by the college and inducted on 9 March 1734. Dr. Littleton had married a daughter of Barnham Goode, under-master of Eton School, and left her a widow 'with three infant daughters, without a home, without a fortune.' The new vicar allowed the family to remain for a time in their old home, and the story runs that 'some time after a neighbouring clergyman happened to call and found Mrs. Littleton shaving John Burton.' At this sight the visitor remonstrated with his clerical friend, and the result was that 'Burton proposed marriage and was accepted.' Burton devoted much of his income to improving the parsonage and the glebe
Glebe
Glebe Glebe Glebe (also known as Church furlong or parson's closes is an area of land within a manor and parish used to support a parish priest.-Medieval origins:...
lands.
His other university degrees were M.A. in 1720, B.D. in 1729, and D.D. in 1752. On 1 February 1766, towards the close of his life, he quitted the vicarage of Mapledurham for the rectory of Worplesdon
Worplesdon
Worplesdon is a village in Surrey, England, located three miles north of Guildford. Worplesdon is also the name of the parish that also includes the settlements of Fairlands, Jacobs Well, Perry Hill, and Wood Street Village. Nearby villages include Pirbright and Deepcut, with significant military...
in Surrey, and here he was instrumental in the formation of a causeway over the Wey, so that his parishioners might travel to Guildford at all seasons. A year or two later he was seized by fever, but he still lingered on.
His death occurred on 11 February 1771, and he was buried at the entrance to the inner chapel at Eton, precisely in the centre under the organ-loft.
His mother took as her second husband Dr. John Bear, rector of Shermanbury, Sussex. She died on 23 April 1755, aged 80; her husband on 9 March 1762, aged 88; and in 1767 her son erected a monument to their memory. Dr. Burton's wife died in 1748.
Works
Throughout his life Burton poured forth tracts and sermons; most of the sermons are reprinted in 'Occasional Sermons preached before the University of Oxford,' 1764–6. Many of his Latin tracts and addresses are in his 'Opuscula Miscellanea Theologica,' 1748–61, or in the volume 'Opuscula Miscellanea Metrico-Prosaica,' 1771.He contributed to the Weekly Miscellany a series of papers on 'The Genuineness of Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion—Mr. Oldmixon's Slander confuted,' which was subsequently enlarged and printed separately at Oxford in 1744. The circumstances which led to their production are set out in Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
's Lives of the Poets in the life of Edmund Smith
Edmund Smith
Edmund Smith , born Edmund Neale, was a minor English poet in the early 18th century. He is little read today but Samuel Johnson included him in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets in 1781.-Biography:...
: George Duckett had misled John Oldmixon
John Oldmixon
John Oldmixon was an English historian.He was a son of John Oldmixon of Oldmixon, Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. His first writings were poetry and dramas, among them being Amores Britannici; Epistles historical and gallant ; and a tragedy, The Governor of Cyprus...
, to the effect that Smith had been employed by Francis Atterbury
Francis Atterbury
Francis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...
and others to garble Lord Clarendon's history before it was published.
Burton was fond of jokes. One or two of them can be found in S. Pegge's Anonymiana (1809, pp. 384–5), and an allusion to Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. He was baptised at St Columb Major, Cornwall on 24 July 1693. As a teenager he worked at the Post Office. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age...
provoked William Warburton
William Warburton
William Warburton was an English critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759.-Life:He was born at Newark, where his father, who belonged to an old Cheshire family, was town clerk. William was educated at Oakham and Newark grammar schools, and in 1714 he was articled to Mr Kirke, an...
to insert in the 1749 edition of the 'Dunciad' (book iv., verse 443) a caustic note on Burton, which was subsequently omitted at the request of Thomas Hayter
Thomas Hayter
Thomas Hayter was an English divine, who served as a Church of England bishop for 13 years.He was born in Chagdord, Devon , officially the son of George Hayter. It has often been claimed that Lancelot Blackburne was his father, but there is no conclusive evidence either way...
. While at Mapledurham he wrote 'The present State of the Navigation of the River Thames considered, with certain regulations proposed,' 1765; second edition 1767.
In 1758 he issued a volume, 'Πενταλογία, sive tragœdiarum Græcarum Delectus,' which was reissued with additional observations by Thomas Burgess in 1779.
Burton made frequent visits to his mother in Sussex, and in 1752 described his journey there in 'Όδοιπορούντος Μελεθήματα, sive iter Surriense et Sussexiense.' Numerous extracts from this tour were printed in the 'Sussex Archaeological Collections,' viii. 250–65. His Latin poem, 'Sacerdos Parœcialis Rusticus,' was issued in 1757, and a translation by Dawson Warren of Edmonton came out in 1800.
Politics and religion
Though Burton was a Tory in politics, he was as extreme as William King of St. Mary Hall, and he criticised, as 'Phileleutherus Londinensis,' the speech which King delivered at the dedication of the Radcliffe Library, 13 April 1749. King thereupon retorted with a fierce 'Elogium famæ inserviens Jacci Etonensis; or the praises of Jack of Eton, commonly called Jack the Giant,' with a dissertation on 'the Burtonic style,' and left behind him in his 'Anecdotes of his own Times' several stinging references to Burton.An oration which Burton delivered at Oxford in 1763 gave him the opportunity for an attack on John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
, whereupon Charles Churchill, in the 'Candidate' (verse 716 et seq.), retaliated with sneers at his 'new Latin and new Greek,' and his 'pantomime thoughts and style so full of trick.'
A Latin letter by Burton to a friend, or a 'commentariolus' of Archbishop Thomas Secker
Thomas Secker
Thomas Secker , Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire.-Early life and studies:In 1699, Secker went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, staying with his half-sister and her husband, Elizabeth and Richard Milnes...
, attracted attention, and was criticised by Archdeacon Francis Blackburne
Francis Blackburne (archdeacon)
Francis Blackburne was an English Anglican churchman, archdeacon of Cleveland and an activist against the requirement of subscription to the Thirty Nine Articles.-Life:...
on behalf of the latitudinarians, and by Philip Furneaux
Philip Furneaux
-Early life:Furneaux was born in December 1726 at Totnes, Devon. At the grammar school there he formed a life-long friendship with Benjamin Kennicott. In 1742 or 1743 he came to London to study for the dissenting ministry under David Jennings, at the dissenting academy in Wellclose Square...
for the nonconformists in his 'Letters to Blackstone.'
When the settling of the Province of Georgia
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
was a live issue, he took an active role, and published in 1764 'An Account of the Designs of the late Dr. Bray, with an Account of their Proceedings,' a tract often reprinted, on the episcopalian Thomas Bray
Thomas Bray
The Reverend Dr Thomas Bray was an English clergyman, who spent time in Maryland as an Anglican representative.-Life:...
.
Role in the Founding of Georgia
Burton was recruited by James OglethorpeJames Oglethorpe
James Edward Oglethorpe was a British general, member of Parliament, philanthropist, and founder of the colony of Georgia...
, whom he had met at Oxford, to lay plans for a new colony in America. The initiative, which envisioned a model colony founded on humanistic principles, was taken up in 1730 by a philanthropic group known as the Associates of Dr. Thomas Bray
Thomas Bray
The Reverend Dr Thomas Bray was an English clergyman, who spent time in Maryland as an Anglican representative.-Life:...
. The group applied for a royal charter, which was granted in 1732. The charter created the Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America
Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America
The Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony of Georgia in America, or simply the Georgia Trustees, was organized by James Edward Oglethorpe and associates following Parliamentary investigations into prison conditions in Britain. The organization petitioned for a royal charter in July, 1731,...
, and Burton was named in the charter as a founding Trustee. Given Burton’s close relationship with Oglethorpe it is likely he participated in framing the elaborate design of its economic system and settlement plan. The humanistic principles upon which Georgia was founded were underscored in the Trustees’ first annual sermon, which was delivered by Burton. Burton described the new colony as one where colonists would “seem in a literal sense to begin the world again.” Leaving behind an Old World system that offered little opportunity, they would become part of a new society that would reward hard work and personal virtue. In the sermon, Burton also articulated a policy of “equity and beneficence” toward indigenous Americans.