BOLINGBROKE, HENRY ST. JOHN, 1ST VISCOUNT (1678-1751).—­Statesman and philosopher, s. of Sir Henry St. J., b. at Battersea, and ed. at Eton and perhaps Oxf., was during his youth noted chiefly for dissipation, but entering Parliament in 1701 as a supporter of Harley, soon made himself a name by his eloquence and talent.  He held office as War and Foreign Sec. successively, became a peer in 1712, intrigued successfully against Harley, and formed an administration during the last days of Queen Anne, with the intention of bringing back the Stuarts, which was frustrated by the Queen’s death.  On the arrival of George I. and the accession to power of the Whigs, B. was impeached, and his name erased from the Roll of Peers.  He went to France, and became Sec. of State to the Pretender James, who, however, dismissed him in 1716, after which he devoted himself to philosophy and literature.  In 1723 he was pardoned and returned to England, and an act was passed in 1725 restoring his forfeited estates, but still excluding him from the House of Lords.  He thereupon retired to his house, Dawley, near Uxbridge, where he enjoyed the society of Swift and Pope, on the latter of whom he exerted a strong influence.  After some ineffectual efforts to regain a position in political life, he returned to France in 1735, where he remained for 7 years, and wrote most of his chief works.

B. was a man of brilliant and versatile talents, but selfish, insincere, and intriguing, defects of character which led to his political ruin.  His writings, once so much admired, reflect his character in their glittering artificiality, and his pretensions to the reputation of a philosopher have long been exploded; the chief of them are Reflections upon Exile, Letters on the Study of History (in which he attacked Christianity), Letters on the Spirit of Patriotism, and Idea of a Patriot King.  He left his MSS. to David Mallet (q.v.), who pub. a complete ed. of his works in 5 vols. (1753-54).

BONAR, HORATIUS (1808-1889).—­Divine and poet, s. of James B., Solicitor of Exise for Scotland, b. and ed. in Edin., entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland, and was settled at Kelso.  He joined the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843, and in 1867 was translated to Edin.  In 1853 he was made D.D. of Aberdeen.  He was a voluminous and highly popular author, and in addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., “I heard the voice of Jesus say,” are known all over the English-speaking world.  A selection of these was pub. as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series).  His last vol. of poetry was My Old Letters.

BOORDE, or BORDE, ANDREW (1490?-1549).—­Traveller, b. near Cuckfield, Sussex, was brought up as a Carthusian, and held ecclesiastical appointments, then practised medicine at various places, including Glasgow, and was employed in various capacities by T. Cromwell.  He travelled widely, going as far as Jerusalem, and wrote descriptions of the countries he had visited.  His Dyetary is the first English book of domestic medicine.  The Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge describes his journeys on the Continent.  Other works are The Boke of Berdes (Beards), Handbook of Europe, and Itinerary of England.