BURNS, WILLIAM CHALMERS: Missionary; b. at Dun (6 m. w. of Montrose), Forfarshire, Scotland, Apr. 1, 1815; d. at Niu-chwang, China, Apr. 4, 1868. He studied at Marischal College, Aberdeen; began the study of law, but decided to become a minister and reentered the university in 1832; studied theology at Glasgow and was licensed in 1839; preached first in Dundee, and then traveled through the British Islands and visited Canada (1844-46) as an evangelist, meeting with much success. On June 9, 1847, he sailed as first missionary to China of the English Presbyterian Missionary Society; he adopted the Chinese dress and life and lived in Hongkong, Canton, Amoy, Shanghai, Peking, and Niu-chwaag, choosing not to stay long in one place. He was one of the most devoted missionaries of modern times and won the respect of both the natives of China and the foreign residents. He translated Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress into Chinese.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: I. Burns, Memoir of W. C. Burns, London, 1870 (by his brother); W. G. Blaikie, in Leaders in Modern Philanthropy, New York, 1884.

BURNT OFFERING. See SACRIFICE.

BURR, ENOCH FITCH: Congregationalist; b. at Westport, Conn., Oct. 21, 1818; d. at Hamburg, Conn., May 8, 1907. He was educated at Yale College (B.A., 1839), and devoted several years of study in New Haven to science and theology. He then traveled extensively, and after his return to the United States was called in 1850 to the pastorate of the Congregational church at Lyme, Conn., which he held till his death. He lectured on the scientific evidences of religion at Amherst College, Williams College, the Sheffield Scientific School, and other institutions, and wrote: The Mathematical Theory of Neptune (New Haven, 1848); Spiritualism (New York, 1859); Ecce Cœlum (Boston, 1867); Pater Mundi (1869); Ad Fidem (1871); Evolution (1873); Sunday Afternoons for Little People (New York, 1874); Toward the Strait Gate (Boston, 1876); Work in the Vineyard (1876); Dio the Athenian (New York, 1880); Tempted to Unbelief (1882); Ecce Terra (Philadelphia, 1884); Celestial Empires (New York, 1885); Theism as a Canon of Science (London, 1886); Universal Beliefs (New York, 1887); Long Ago, as Interpreted by the Nineteenth Century (1888); Supreme Things (1889); Aleph the Chaldean (1891); Fabius the Roman (1897); and Autumn Leaves from the Mansewood (Andover, Mass., 1905).