Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/365

* BOROUGH. 325 BORROMEAN ISLANDS. Britain, an incorporated municipality, either vil- lage, town, or city, having the rijrht of return- ing one or more members to Parliament. The word burh appears in many forms in the namea of towns, as in Canterbury, Edinburgh, Peter- borough, Hamburg, and has kindred forms in several of the Continental languages, such as the French ioiirpcois. It originally signified a hill or mound : as places of defense were thrown up on elevated positions it came to mean a castle or fort, and afterwards the collection of houses and other buildings which gathered naturally beneath the fortified hill. Boroughs existed in England from the earliest times. According to the Domesday Book, there were eighty-two boroughs. Each of these had a market or an annual fair, was ruled by an elective officer, usually called the port-reeve, and had the privilege of a special borough -court, which was independ- ent of the larger divisions, known a.s hundreds and shires. The Xormans utilized these units of government, supplanted the port-reeves with offi- cers deriving their authority directly from the throne, and in time the boroughs received the privileges belonging to municipal corporations. By the time of Henry VI. the boroughs had gen- erally become municipalities, with the power of government vested in the members of the princi- pal guilds. During the same period the boroughs obtained the right of sending burgesses to Parlia- ment. In course of time many of these boroughs decreased in population and became little more than names, but without losing their Parlia- mentary representation; others came entirely under the control of members of the nobility, and acted in elections onh' under such restraint. These two classes of boroughs received the names respectively of 'rotten boroughs' and 'pocket boroughs.' Many of tliese were swept out of existence as regarded their Parliamentary rights by the Reform agitation, which culminated in tiie Reform Bill (q.v.) of 1832. The borough system of Scotland is even of greater antiquity than that of England. A confederation of bor- oughs for purposes of mutual defense and the protection of trades existed in the reign of David I., and was called a Hanse. In Connecticut, New .Jersey, ilinnesota, and Pennsylvania, the term borough is applied to in- corporated towns or villages of a lower grade than a city. William Penn's charter to the territory west of the Delaware River authorized him in 1681 to erect the country, among other divisions, into boroughs similar to those of Eng- land. This system of boroughs continues in Pennsylvania to the present time. In 1019 Vir- ginia had eleven boroughs, the delegates of which sat in the House of Burgesses; but bor- oughs, as in incorporated towns, never obtained a footing in that State. The charter granted to Lord Baltimore entitled him to create boroughs in Maryland, but they were never so created. In New .Jersey, boroughs date back to the early part of the Eighteenth Century, but they were erected by special acts and without uniformity of sys- tem until 1818, when a General Borough Act was passed. Oreater New York, by an act passed by the Legislature of 1897, was made a city, composed of five boroughs— Manhattan, the Bronx, Brook- lyn, Queens, and Richmond. BOROTJOH, The. See Cbabbe, Geoboe. BOROUGH ENGLISH (from Anglo-French toiun- in burgli eiiyloys, tenure in an English borough). A curious custom that prevails in some parts of England, according to which the youngest son inherits tlie property in preference to his elder brothers. The reason assigned for the custom by Littleton is that the youngest son, on account of his tender age, is not so capable as his elder brothers to maintain himself. Black- stone, however, suggests, what is doubtless nearer the truth, that the custom is a survival out of the conditions of primitive society — a viewwhich is strengthened by the sporadic occurrence of the custom in widely separated parts of the Conti- nent of Europe. A posthumous son is entitled to this privilege, and dispossesses his elder brother. The right of representation also e.xists with reference to it; for should the youngest son die in his father's lifetime, leaving a daugh- ter, she will inherit the property. See G.wel- KiNii; Inheritance; Pbimogeniture. Consult: Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of Eng- land; Elton, Origins of English History (Lon- don, 1882) : Pollock and ilaitland. History of English Law (2d cd.. Boston. 1809). BOROUGH JUSTICES. Local justices first appointed in the time of Charles I. U.nder the Municipal Corporations Act ( 1882, 4.5 and 46 Vict. c. 50), these justices consist of the mayor during his year of office, and for one year after it determines, the recorder ex officio, and such persons as the Crown may appoint by commis- sion. Their duties cannot be delegated ; and before acting, they must take the oath of alle- giance and the judicial oath. See BoKOUGH ; Ji s- TICE OF THE PEACE. BOROUGH LAWS. In Scottish legal his- tory, a code of ancient laws which have long ceased to have any force, but serve to throw light on the ancient manners and customs of the coun- try. The authenticity of the compilation is be- yond question. It is supposed to have been made in the reign of David I., in the Twelfth Cen- tury. See Bretts and Scots; and consult Ersk- ine. Principles of the Law of Scotland (18th ed., Edinburgh. ISOO). BOROVITCHI, bo'ro-v^-che'. A town in the Russian Government of Novgorod, situated on both sides of the Msta, near the famous rapids of Borovitchi (Map: Russia, D 3). The inhabitants are engaged in ship-building, the dyeing of cloth and cotton goods, and the production of earthen- ware. The natives are famous for their skill as pilots (for which the proximity of the rapids is mainly responsible) ; and Peter the Great con- sidered them of such importance to the commerce of the country that he freed the town of all State taxes, in order to induce its inhabitants to con- tinue their dangerous occupation. Borovitchi has a salubrious climate, and, owing to its compara- tive proximity to Saint Petersburg (200 miles), is a favorite summer resort of the residents of the capital. Population, in 1897, 9421. BOR'ROME'AN ISLANDS (so named after the Horroineo family). Knur small rooky islands in L.ago Maggiore (q.v.), in northern Italy (Map: Italy, C 2). These islands are famed for their beauty, due partly to theirsnrroundings and partly to the degree of theirartificial development from mere rocks to luxuriant gardens. The one best known to tourists is Isola Bella, on which Count Vitaliano Borromeo, in the latter part of