Paul, with a linen cloth, sealing it with his own seal. The word Bull is derived from bullare, to seal letters; or from Bulla, a drop or bubble. Some derive it from the Greek Bovan, Council; Pezron from the Celtic Buil, bubble. BULL IN CENA DOMINI is a particular Bull, read every year, on the day of the Lord's supper, or Maunday Thursday, in the Pope's presence; containing excommunications, and anathemas against heretics, and all who disturb or oppose the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the holy see. After the reading of the Bull the Pope throws a burning torch into the public place, to denote the thunder of this anathema. The Council of Tours, in 1510, declared the Bull in cana Domini void in regard to France. BUNYAN, JOHN, the celebrated author of the Pilgrim's Progress," was born at Elstow, in Bedfordshire, in the year 1628. His father was a tinker; and Bunyan only received instruction in reading and writing. From the account which he gives of himself, in a work written by him, entitled, "Grace abounding to the Chief of Sinners," it appears that, in his early days, his character was notoriously vile; that he was addicted to the practice of almost every vice; and that even the profligate and profane regarded "John Bunyan as a great sinner." For some time he followed the trade of his father, till, when sixteen years of age, he became a soldier in the Parliament's army, and, in 1645, was present at the siege of Leicester; where, being drawn out to stand sentinel, another soldier of his company desiring to take his place, he consented, and thereby probably avoided being shot through the head by a musket-ball, which killed his comrade. It is impossible, when reading the account of the first twenty years of his life, as recorded in his "Grace Abounding," not to be forcibly impressed with the truth of the doctrine, now generally received by all Christians, of the special Providence of God. His preservation from drowning, from destruction by an adder, by a musket-shot, and from death by various ways, demonstrate such doctrine to be unquestionably true; and the facts which he has communicated, as to his conversion, additionally confirm the veracity of that doctrine. For although some allowances are to be made for his enthusiasm, and, therefore, for the language which he frequently adopted, yet the facts which he records are unquestionably true; and, if they be true, the inference appears to be obvious. He relates, "that one day he was at play at the game of cat; and, having struck it one blow from the hole, just as he was about again to strike it, a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into his soul, which said, Wilt thou leave thy sins, and go to heaven, or have thy sins, and go to hell?' which put him into such consternation, that, leaving bis cat on the ground, he looked up to heaven, and was as if he had, with the eyes of his understanding, seen the Lord Jesus looking down upon him, and threatening him with some grievous punishment for his ungodly practices." Bunyan, at an early age, married a young woman, whose parents had educated her in habits of respect for religion; and, from such union, the mind of Bunyan was sometimes roused to review his own character, and deplore his conduct. His heart was at that time, however, unaffected, though his judgment was convinced; and he attended regularly, with superstitious feelings, at his parish church. At length he was induced to set about reading the Scriptures, by the accidental conversation of a poor man, with whom he conversed on the subject of religion. It appears, however, that he still continued unacquainted with the sinfulness of his nature, and the necessity of faith in Christ, till he met with four poor women at Bedford, “sitting at a door in the sun, talking about the things of God-about a new birth-about the work of God in their hearts, as also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature-of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ of his word and promises of the temptations of Satan-and of their wretchedness of heart and unbelief." Bunyan was so affected with the conversation of these good women, that he availed himself of every opportunity to converse with them. His irreligious companions perceived a difference in him, which was to them offensive; and being unable to disturb in him that steady purpose of his mind, to seek for happiness in God alone, they resigned his society. His mind was shortly afterwards much distressed by thoughts, which perpetually accompanied him, that he wanted faith, and never could have any, because he was not one of the elect. He says this put him upon considering how to make trial of this matter; and he resolved to attempt the working of a miracle as the surest test of his faith. Accordingly, as he was one day going between Elstow and Bedford, he was about to say to some puddles that were in the horsepath, "Be dry;" but, just as he was about to speak, his good sense prevailed with him, not to put his faith upon that trial. After much perplexity, however, his doubts were satisfied by that passage of Scripture, Luke xiv. 22, 23: "Compel them to come in, that my house may be full; and yet there is room."' As soon as Mr. Bunyan obtained a good hope, that he was interested in the salvation of Jesus Christ, he communicated the state of his mind to Mr. Gifford, a Baptist dissenting minister, residing at Bedford; attended his preaching, and obtained from it much advantage; and, believing that baptism, by immersion, on a personal profession of faith, was most scriptural, he was so baptized, and admitted a member of the church, A. D. 1653. In 1656, Mr. Bunyan, conceiving that he was called by God to become a preacher of the gospel, delayed not to comply with that call. The measure excited considerable notice, and exposed him to great persecution. For some years he continued to preach with eminent success; though, during the period of the Commonwealth, he was indicted for holding an unlawful assembly at Eton, but for which offence it does not appear that he was punished. At length, however, in the month of November, 1660, in the reign of Charles II., being about to preach at Samsell, a small hamlet near Harlington, in Bedfordshire, he was seized, by virtue of a warrant from a justice of the peace. The Nonconformists, at that time, were unquestionably the objects of bitter malice, and unwise and severe persecution. Bunyan was one of the first victims of the intolerant measures of Charles II. After the usual examination before the justice, at which Bunyan displayed much firmness and zeal, he was committed to Bedford jail, until the quarter sessions. At those sessions, in January, 1661, an indictment was preferred against him, for being an upholder of unlawful meetings and conventicles. His defence, though long, and, on the whole, judicious, did not avail him; and he was sentenced to perpetual banishment, and committed to prison, where, though that sentence was not executed, he was confined twelve years and a half. In the same prison were also confined about sixty dissenters, taken at a religious meeting at Kaistoe, in Bedfordshire. During that confinement, Mr. Bunyan supported himself and his family by making tagged laces. His spare time he employed in writing the first part of his "Pilgrim's Progress," and in preaching to, and praying with, his fellow-prisoners. The respectability of his character, and the propriety of his conduct, induced, in the mind of the jailer, a feeling of respect for him. He frequently permitted him to leave the prison, and visit his friends. He once permitted him to visit London, and he committed a great share of the management of the prison to his care. In the last year of his confinement, he wrote his work, entitled, “A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification." At length, by the exertions of Dr. Owen, his liberation was obtained, in the year 1674; and having been chosen co-pastor over the Baptist congregation at Bedford, he resumed the arduous duties of a Nonconformist divine. After his enlargement he travelled into several parts of England, to visit the dissenting congregations, which procured him the epithet of Bishop Bunyan. In King James II.'s reign, when that prince's declaration in favour of liberty of conscience came, Mr. Bunyan, by the voluntary contributions of his followers, built a large meeting-house at Bedford, and preached constantly to great congregations. He also annually visited London, where he was very popular; and assemblies of twelve hundred have been convened in Southwark to hear him, on a dark winter's morning, at seven o'clock, even on week days. In the midst of these and similar exertions, he closed his life; and, at the age of sixty, on the 31st of Au gust, 1688, "he resigned his soul into the hands of his most merciful Redeemer." He was interred in Bunhill Fields buryingground, and over his remains a handsome tomb was erected. Of Bunyan it has been said, and with seeming propriety, "that he appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper, but, in his conversation, mild and affable; not given to loquacity or much discourse in company, unless some urgent occasion required it: observing never to boast of himself or his parts, but rather seem low in his own eyes, and submit himself to the judgment of others; abhorring lying and swearing; being just, in all that lay in his power, to his word; not seeming to revenge injuries; loving to reconcile differences, and making friendship with all. He had a sharp, quick eye, accompanied with an excellent discerning of persons, being of good judg ment and quick wit." Dr. Towers has said of him, "He was certainly a man of genius, and might have made a great figure in the literary world, if he had received the advantages of a liberal education." Mr. Scott, the author of "The Force of Truth," has said, "he was certainly endued with extraordinary natural talents; his understanding, discernment, memory, invention, and imagination, were remarkably sound and vigorous, so that he made a very great proficiency in the knowledge of scriptural divinity" though brought up in ignorance." Of the "Pilgrim's Progress," but one opinion seems to be entertained. Mr. Grainger said, that the Pilgrim's Progress was one of the most ingenious books in the English lan guage; and in this opinion, he states, Mr. Merrick and Dr. Roberts coincided. Dr. Radcliffe termed it, "a phoenix in a cage." Lord Kaimes said, "it was composed in a style enlivened, like that of Homer, by a proper mixture of the dramatic and narrative, and upon that account has been translated into most European languages." Dr. Johnson remarked, "that it had great merit, both for invention, imagination, and the conduct of the story: and it had the best evidence of its merit-the general and continued approbation of mankind. Few books," he said, "had had a more extensive sale; and that it was remarkable that it began very much like the poem of Dante, yet there was no translation of Dante when Bunyan wrote." Dr. Franklin said, "Honest John Bunyan is the first man I know of who has mingled narrative and dialogue together, a mode of writing very engaging to the reader, who, in the most interesting passages, finds himself admitted, as it were, into the company, and present at the conversation." Dean Swift declared that he "had been better entertained and more informed by a chapter in the Pilgrim's Progress than by a long discourse upon the will and the intellect, and simple or complex ideas." And Cowper, (in his " Miscellanies,") has immortalised him in some beautiful lines, of which the length of this memoir precludes the insertion. In addition to his "Pilgrim's Progress," he wrote two other allegorical pieces: "Solomon's Temple Spiritualized," and "The Holy War;" the latter of which has excited a degree of attention nearly equal to that displayed to his " Pilgrim's Progress." His other works are principally controversial. Vide his own account of himself, entitled, Grace Abounding," &c. His works in folio, and life prefixed; "Wilson's History of Disanting Churches;" Middleton's Evangelical Biography" "The Life of Mr. John Bunyan, by Joseph Ivimey."-Jones's Christ. Biog. BURIAL, the interment of a deceased person. The rites of burial have been looked upon in all countries as a debt so sacred, that such as neglected to discharge them were thought accursed. Among the Jews, the privilege of burial was denied only to self-murderers, who were thrown out to putrefy upon the ground. In the Christian church, though good men always desired the privilege of interment, yet they were not, like the heathens, so concerned for their bodies as to think it any detriment to them if either the barbarity of an enemy, or some other accident, deprived them of this privilege. The primitive church denied the more solemn rites of burial only to unbaptized persons, self-murderers, and excommunicated persons, who continued obstinate and impenitent, in manifest contempt of the church's censures. The place of burial among the Jews was never particularly determined. We find they had graves in the town and country, upon the highways or gardens, and upon mountains. Among the Greeks, the temples were made repositories for the dead in the primitive ages; yet, in the latter ages, the Greeks as well as the Romans buried the dead without the cities, and chiefly by the highways. Among the primitive Christians, burying in cities was not allowed for the first three hundred years, nor in churches for many ages after; the dead bodies being first deposited in the atrium, or churchyard, and porches and porticoes of the church hereditary burying-places were forbidden till the twelfth century. See FUNERAL RITES. As to burying in churches, we find a difference of opinion: some have thought it improper that dead bodies should be interred in the church. Sir Matthew Hale used to say, that churches were for the living, and church- Mr. BUTLER, JOSEPH, BISHOP, the celebrated author of "The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature," was the youngest of eight children of Mr. Thomas Butler, residing at Wantage, in Berkshire, and was born in that town in the year 1692. He received his primary education at the free grammar school of Wantage, under the tuition of the Rev. Philip Barton. At that school he received much sound instruction, and became as distinguished for his steady, moral, serious character, as for his genius and learning. His father was a dissenter, and Mr. Butler, having quitted the grammar school, was sent to a presbyterian dissenting academy at Tewkesbury. Butler, at that academy, received from Mr. Jones, the principal tutor, who was a man of extraordinary learning, the greatest attention, and made a progress in the study of theology which was truly surprising. His letters, written at that time, to the celebrated Dr. Samuel Clarke, containing his doubts as to the tenable nature of some of the arguments made use of by that divine, in demonstrating the being and attributes of God, displayed a sagacity and depth of thought which excited the notice, and even respect, of Dr. Clarke. The whole correspondence is now annexed to that incomparable treatise. His mind, at that time, was also much occupied in examining the principles of nonconformity, and in endeavouring to satisfy himself whether he should become a dissenting clergyman, or a minister of the established church. The result of that investigation appears to be, that he considered, on the whole, episcopacy to be preferable; and accordingly, on the 17th of March, 1714, he was admitted a commoner of Oriel College, Oxford. With Mr. Edward Talbot, who was the second son of Dr. Edward Talbot, he formed at college a very intimate acquaintanceship; and through the medium of Mr. Talbot, many of Mr. Butler's subsequent preferments may be traced. It was thus that, in 1718, he was appointed preacher at the Rolls, by Sir Joseph Jekyl; and in 1721 he took the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He continued at the Rolls till 1726, in which year he published, in one volume 8vo, Fifteen Sermons, preached at that chapel. By the continued friendship of Dr. Talbot, then bishop of Durham, he had presented Mr. Butler to the rectory of Haughton, near Darlington, and after I wards to that of Stanhope. At Stanhope he afterwards much resided; and, during seven years, he performed, with unremitting assiduity and piety, all the duties of a parish priest. In 1733, he quitted the retirement of Stanhope, to become chaplain to Lord Charles Talbot. He at the same time was admitted at Oxford to the degree of Doctor of Laws, and was shortly afterwards presented by the chaplains with a prebend in the church of Rochester. In 1736, Dr. Butler was appointed Clerk of the Closet to Queen Caroline; and, in the same year, presented a copy of the treatise for which his name has been so long, so extensively, and so justly celebrated. That work, and his uniformly consistent conduct, ensured him the respect and esteem of the Queen; and in 1738, he was consecrated to the bishopric of Bristol. In 1740, King George II. promoted him to the deanery of St. Paul's, London; but finding the demands of that dignity to be incompatible with his parish duty at Stanhope, where he had still resided six months of the year, he immediately resigned that rich benefice. In 1750, he was translated to the see of Durham, in consequence of the decease of Dr. Edward Chandler. In the following year, he distinguished himself by his charge On the Importance of External Religion." In consequence of that charge, Bishop Butler has been accused of being addicted to superstition, of being inclined to popery, and of dying in the communion of the church of Rome; but such calumnies have been long since refuted by the evidence of facts. Rank and talents, and usefulness and piety, present, however, neither separate nor combined, any impediments to the advances of death. For he had been but a short time seated in his new bishoprick, when his health declined; and at Bath, on the 16th of July, 1752, he expired. His corpse was conveyed to Bristol, and there, in the cathedral, was interred all that was mortal of this learned prelate. Of Bishop Butler's Analogy but one opinion has been entertained. It has always been regarded as a work of very superior merit, and as displaying a depth of thought and a profundity of mind, acquired or possessed but by few. It is a standard work on the evidences of Christianity. BYZANTINE CHURCH, comprehending all the churches which acknowledge the supremacy of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Of the population included within its pale, reduced as it now nearly is to the limits of Turkey in Europe, Greece, and Palestine, it is not easy to form a correct estimate. The Greek population (properly so called) of the Morea, the islands Livadia, Epirus, Thessaly, and Macedonia, cannot be estimated at more than a million and a half; and those resident in the other provinces of European Turkey, including the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, in Asiatic Turkey and Egypt, would probably be overrated at the same number. Three millions, we are inclined to think, would be a full allowance for the subjects of the Universal Bishop of the Eastern World. C. CABBALA. (Heb.) Traditions. Among the Jews, it principally means the mystical interpretations of their Scriptures, handed down by tradition. The manner in which Maimonides explains the Cabbala, or traditions of the Jews, is as follows:-" God not only delivered the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, but the explanation of it likewise. When Moses came down from the mount, and entered into his tent, Aaron went to visit him, and Moses acquainted Aaron with the laws he had received from God, together with the explanation of them. After this, Aaron placed himself at the right hand of Moses, and Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron, were admitted, to whom Moses re BYZANTINE RECENSION, the text of the Greek New Testament, as propagated within the limits of the patriarchate of Constantinople. The readings of the recension are those which are most commonly found in the Kown Ekdoσic, or common printed Greek text, and are also most numerous in the exist ing manuscripts which correspond to it, a very considerable additional number of which have recently been discovered and collated by Professor Scholz. The Byzantine text is found in the Four Gospels of the Alexandrian Ms.; it was the original from which the Sclavonic version was made, and was cited by Chrysostom and by Theophylact, bishop of Bulgaria.-Horne's Introduction. peated what he had just before told to Aaron. These being seated, the one on the right, the other on the left hand of Moses, the seventy elders of Israel, who composed the Sanhedrim, came in. Moses again declared the same laws to them, with the interpretations of them, as he had done before to Aaron and his sons. Lastly, all who pleased of the common people were invited to enter, and Moses instructed them likewise in the same manner as the rest. So that Aaron heard four times what Moses had been taught by God upon Mount Sinai; Eleazar and Ithamar three times; the seventy elders twice; and the people once. Moses afterwards reduced the laws which he had received into writing, but not the explanations of them: these he thought it sufficient to trust to the memories of the above-mentioned persons, who, being perfectly instructed in them, delivered them to their children, and these again to theirs, from age to age." The Cabbala, therefore, is properly the oral law of the Jews, delivered down, by word of mouth, from father to son; and it is to these interpretations of the written law our Saviour's censure is applied, when he reproves the Jews for making the commands of God of none effect through their traditions. Some of the Rabbins pretend that the origin of the Cabbala is to be referred to the Angels; that the angel Raziel instructed Adam in it; that the angel Japhiel Shem; the angel Zedekiel Abraham, &c. But the truth is, these explications of the law are only the several interpretations and decisions of the Rabbins on the law of Moses; in the framing of which they studied principally the combinations of particular words, letters, and numbers, and by that means pretended to discover clearly the true sense of the difficult passages of Scripture. This is properly called the artificial Cabbala, to distinguish it from simple tradition; and it is of three sorts. The first called Gematria, consists in taking letters as figures, and explaining words by the arithmetical value of the letters of which they are composed. For instance, the Hebrew letters of Jabo-Schiloh (Shiloh shall come), make up the same arithmetical number as Mashiach (the Messiah), from whence they conclude that Shiloh signifies the Messiah. Without it, the holy Scriptures could not be distinguished from profane books, wherein we find some miraculous events, and as pure morality as that of the law, if we did not penetrate into the truths locked up under the external cover of the literal sense. As men were grossly deceived, when, dwelling upon the sensible object, they mistook angels for men; so also they fall into error or ignorance, when they insist upon the surface of letters or words, which change with custom, and ascend not up to the ideas of God himself, which are infinitely more noble and spiritual. Some visionaries, among the Jews, believe that Jesus Christ wrought his miracles by virtue of the mysteries of the Cabbala. Some learned men are of opinion that Pythagoras and Plato learned the Cabbalistic art of the Jews in Egypt: others, on the contrary, say the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato furnished the Jews with the Cabbala. Most of the heretics in the primitive Christian church fell into the vain conceits of the Cabbala, particularly the Gnostics, Valentinians, aud Basilidians. His CABBALISTS, those Jewish doctors who profess the study of the Cabbala. In the opinion of these men, there is not a word, letter, or accent in the law, without some mystery in it. The first Cabbalistical author that we know of is Simon the son of Joachai, who is said to have lived a little before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. book, intituled Zohar, is extant; but it is agreed that many additions have been made to it. The first part of this work is entitled Zeniutha or Mystery; the second, Idra Rabba, or the Great Synod; the third, Idra Lata, or the Little Synod; which is the author's adieu to his disciples. The second kind of artificial Cabbala, which is called Notaricon, consists in taking each particular letter of a word for an entire diction. For example, of Bereschith, which is CAINITES, a sect that sprung up about the the first word of Genesis, composed of the let-year 130; so called because they esteemed ters B, R, A, S, C, H, J, T, they make-BaraRakia-Arez-Schamaim-Yam-Tehomoth, i. e. he created the firmament, the earth, the heavens, the sea, and the deep; or in forming one entire diction out of the initial letters of many thus, in Attah-Gibbor-Leolam-Adonai | (thou art strong for ever, O Lord), they put the initial letters of this sentence together, and form the word Agla, which signifies either-I will reveal, or a drop of dew, and is the Cabbalistic name of God. The third kind, called Themura, consists in changing and transposing the letters of a word: thus of the word Bereschith (the first of the book of Genesis), they make A-betisri, the first of the month Tisri, and infer from thence that the world was created on the first day of the month Tisri, which answers very nearly to our September. The Cabbala, according to the Jews, is a noble and sublime science, conducting men by an easy method to the profoundest truths. Cain worthy of the greatest honours. They honoured those who carry in Scripture the most visible marks of reprobation; as the inhabitants of Sodom, Esau, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. They had in particular great veneration for Judas, under the pretence that the death of Christ had saved mankind. CALENDAR, the order and series of the months that make up a year: it comes from the word Calenda, the name which the Romans gave to the first days of the month. The Roman calendar was composed by Romulus, founder of Rome, who being better versed in martial affairs than acquainted with the stars, made a year of ten months, whereof the first was March, then April, May, June, Quintil, called afterwards Julius, and Sextil, called also in process of time, August, September, October, November, December: he gave March, May, Quintil, and October, each 31 days, and but 30 each to the other six; so that altogether made but 304 days. |