pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
BURDWAN, a district of Hindustan, in the province of Bengal, situated between the twenty-second and twenty fourth degrees of north latitude, and on the western side of the Hooghly river. It is bounded on the north by Birboom and Ranjeshy, on the south by Midnapoor and Hooghly, on the east by the river Hooghly, and on the west by Midnapoor and Pachete. This district is about seventy-three miles long by forty-five broad, and is perhaps the best cultivated and most pι,,ductive of any similar extent of territory in India; while it appears like a garden in a wilderness, being surrounded by the jungles of Midnapoor in Orissa, of Pachete, and of Birboom. Its products are grain, cotton, silk, sugar, and indigo, which it yields in great abundance, and of excellent quality. The chief towns are Burdwan, Bissunpoor, and Keerpay; and the principal rivers are the Hooghly and Dummoodah. The inhabitants are estimated at two millions, one sixteenth of whom are supposed to be Mahommedans. Gang robbery has been very prevalent here, as in all the lower districts of Bengal; but of late years it has been greatly repressed by the energy of the government.
BUREN, a circle in the Prussian government of Minden, and province of Westphalia. It extends over 262 square miles, or 167,680 acres, and contains four towns, fifty-one villages, sixteen hamlets, and 28,228 inhabitants. It is generally a very poor district, but affords some iron, lead, and salt. The chief place, from which the circle takes its name, stands on the Alme, where it joins the Allfte∙ Before the expulsion of the Jesuits it was the property of that order, and contains now only 1380 inhabitants.
BURFORD, a market-town of the hundred of Bampton, in the county of Oxford, seventy-three miles from London, on the river Windrush. It is celebrated as the place where an ecclesiastical synod was held in 685, to determine on the time for celebrating Easter; for a battle between Cuthred, king of the West Saxons, and Ethelbald, king of the Mercians; and for a victory by Fairfax in 1649 over the army of Charles I. The church is a large and handsome fabric, with a lofty spire. There is very little trade. The market is held on Saturday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 1516, in 1811 to 1342, and in 1821 to 1409.
BURGAGE, or Burgage-tenure, is where the king or other person is lord of a borough in which the tenements are held by a rent certain. A borough is distinguished from other towns by the right of sending members to parliament; and where the right of election is by burgagetenure, that alone is a proof of the antiquity of the borough. Tenure in burgage, therefore, or burgage-tenure, is where houses, or lands which were formerly the site of houses, in an ancient borough, are held of some lord in common soccage, by a certain established rent. These tenures seem to have withstood the shock of the Norman encroachments, principally on account of their insignificance, as a hundred of them put together would scarcely have amounted to a knight’s fee. Besides, the owners of them, being chiefly artificers, and persons engaged in trade, could not with propriety be put on a military establishment like that founded on the tenure in chivahy, and hence the free soccage in which these tenements are held seems to be a remnant of Saxon liberty, which may account for the variety of customs affecting many oft e tenements held in ancient burgage.
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Burgage-holding, in Scotland, is the tenure by which the property in real burghs is held under the king, and is originally constituted by a charter from the crown in favour of the burgh, the effect of which is, that every proprietor within the burgh holds his property directly of the king as superior, for the reddendo, now merely nominal, of watching and warding, or “service of burgh used and wont.” The title of a disponee to a burgage property proceeds on a resignation made by delivery of staff and baton in the hands of the magistrates, in virtue of a procuratory granted by the vassal last infeft, and followed by an infeftment given by the magistrate in favour of the disponee, without the intervention of any precept or charter by progress. The title of an heir in burgage subjects is sometimes completed by a precept of clare constat and infeftment, but more frequently by a single act called a cognition and seisin. The proper vassal in burgage-holding being the whole community, which, in a legal sense, never dies, the ordinary casualties are not exigible; and the nature of the tenure also properly excludes such infeudations, although a base infeftment in an annualrent out of burgage property, given by a bailie of the burgh as bailie in that part, and the town-clerk, as a common notary, has been held as effectual. No widow’s tierce is due from burgage subjects.
BURGAU, a city, the capital of a magistracy of the same name, in the circle of the Upper Danube, of the kingdom of Bavaria. The district extends over sixty-five square miles, and contains, besides the city, one markettown, with thirty-five villages and 11,408’inhabitants. The city is situated on the river Mindel, has an ancient palace or castle, and 2530 inhabitants.
BURGEBRACH, a town, the chief place of a magistracy of the same name, in the circle of the Upper Maine, and kingdom of Bavaria. The judicature extends over 195square miles, and contains, besides the town, fifty-eight villages, with 13,430 inhabitants. The town is small, and has only 114 houses.
BURGESS, an inhabitant of a borough or walled town, [7:5:711] or one who possesses a tenement therein. Anciently, burgesses were held in great contempt, being reputed servile, base, and unfit for war; so that the gentry were not allowed to intermarry in their families, or fight with them, but in lieu thereof to appoint champions.

Burgess is now ordinarily used for the representative of a borough in parliament. Burgesses are supposed to represent the mercantile part, or trading interest, of the nation; and they were formerly allowed, by a rate established in the reign of Edward III. two shillings a day as wages. The right of election of burgesses depends on several local charters and customs; and by 3 Geo. III. c. 15, no freeman, except such as claim by birth, servitude, or marriage, is entitled to vote, unless lie has been admitted to his freedom twelve months before. Burgess, in Scotland, is a member of the corporation of a burgh, admitted either by the charter of erection, or by birth, as being the son of a burgess, or by serving an apprenticeship to a burgess, or by marrying the daughter of a burgess, or by election by the magistrates of the burgh. The heir of a burgess has a right to heirship movables.
BURGGRAVE properly denotes the hereditary governor of a castle or fortified town, chiefly in Germany. The word is compounded of bourg, town, and graf or grave, count. The burggraves were originally the same with what is otherwise called castellans or comites castellani ; but their dignity was considerably advanced under Rodolph of Hapsburg. Before his time they were ranked only as counts, and below the princes, but under him they began to be esteemed as on a footing with princes. In some parts the dignity has much degenerated.
BURGH, a market-town of the Lindsay division of the hundred of Candleshoe, in the county of Lincoln, distant a hundred and thirty-six miles from London. The country around it is a rich tract of mårshy land, in which the best oxen are fattened. The market is held on Thursday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 716, in 1811 to 709, and in 1821, to 903.
BURGHBOTE signifies contribution towards the building or repairing of castles or walls, for the defence of a borough or city. By a law of King Athelstan, the castles and walls of towns were to be repaired, and burghbote levied every year within a fortnight after rogation days. No person whatever was exempt from this service, and even the king himself could not exempt a man from burghbote; yet in after-times exemptions appear to have been frequently granted, insomuch that the word burghbote came to denote, not the service, but the liberty or exemption from it.
BURGHBRECHE, or Burghbrech, a fine imposed on the community of a town or burgh, for a breach of the peace among them.
BURGHMOTE, the court of a borough. By the laws of King Edgar, the burghmote was to be held thrice in the year; by those of Henry I. twelve times.
BURGLARY, or Nocturnal House-Breaking (burgi latrocinium), which by the ancient English law was called hamesuchen, a word also used in the law of Scotland, but in a somewhat different sense, has always been looked upon as a very heinous offence. The definition of a burglar, as given by Sir Edward Coke, is, “he that by night breaketh and entereth in a mansion-house with intent to commit a felony.” Burglary is a felony at common law, but within the benefit of clergy.
BURGLENGENFELD, a magistracy in the circle of Regen, in the kingdom of Bavaria, which comprehends 323 square miles, and contains 24,500 inhabitants. The city from which it takes the name stands in a most romantic situation, and in the neighbourhood of others of similar beauty, on the river Nab. It contains about 1500 inhabitants, who are chiefly occupied in the manufacture of fire-arms, and in the tanning of leather.
BURGOMAS l’ER, Burghermaster, Burgermester, or Burgmester, the chief magistrate of the great towns in Flanders, Holland, and Germany. The power and juris- ∖ diction of the burgomaster are not the same in all places, every town having its particular customs and regulations. The word is formed from the two Flemish words borger, burgess, or citizen; and mester, master. Some express it in Latin by consul, others by senator. Purgermaster, in Holland, answers to alderman and sheriff in England.

Burgomaster. See Ornithology, Index.
BURGOS, a province of Castile, in the north of Spain, bounded on the north by the ocean; on the east by Biscay, Alava, and Soria; on the south by Segovia; and on the west by Palencia, Valladolid, Toro, and Asturias. Its extent is 7822 square miles. It is a lofty territory, intersected by ranges of mountains, between which are extensive and fruitful valleys. The soil is for the most part sandy, intermixed with stones, but in some parts is of a good loamy description. The loftiest mountains are in the north, called the Cantabrian, which are covered with woods; whilst the Sierra Reynosa and others are bare, and almost utterly barren. The valleys in the province are watered by various small streams, and their tributary rivulets, the waters of all which are collected in part by the Ebro, which conveys them to the Mediterranean Sea, and in part by the Douro, which runs to the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is generally temperate, the summers being cool, and, except on the loftier parts, the winters not sufficiently cold. The atmosphere in the interior is commonly clear, but on the coast moist and foggy. The agriculture, though ill conducted, produces a sufficiency for the population. The breeding of cattle is the most profitable branch of rural industry; and the province supplies its neighbours with many cows, sheep, goats, horses, mules, and asses. Some silk, flax, and hemp are produced, but in very small quantities. There are scarcely any manufactures except of the domestic kind, or upon a very small scale. The inhabitants at the last correct census, that of 1803, amounted to 470,588; and it is probable they have increased since that period. The province contains five cities, 583 towns, and 1118 villages. The only places of more than 5000 inhabitants are Burgos, Logrofio, and Santander.

Burgos, a city, the capital of the province of the same name, in Spain. It is situated on a hill, around which the river Arlanzon winds. It is fortified, but its chief defence is the castle, which checked the progress of the British army. It is the see of an archbishop, whose cathedral is large and handsome, though antique. It has, besides, fourteen other churches, and twenty-four religious houses. It is the seat of the military academy and an ecclesiastical seminary, and contains about 11,000 inhabitants. Long. 3. 46. 14. W. Lat. 42. 20. 59. N.
BURGUNDIONES, a part or branch of the Vindili or Wandili, placed by Cluverius about, the Warta, a river of Poland; though the conjectures as to the seat of this people are doubtful. They afterwards removed to Cisalpine Germany, and at length to Celtic Gaul, and gave name to the duchy and county of Burgundy.
BURGUNDY, called also Burgundy Proper, or Lower Burgundy, formerly a province in the east of France, lying on the west of Franche-Comté, and on the south of Champagne. It now forms the departments of the Yonne, Côte d’Or, Saône et Loire, and Ain, under which several heads Burgundy will be found described.
BURHAMPOOR, a town of Hindustan, in the province of Bengal, situated on the east bank of Bhagirathi or Cossimbazar river, five miles from Moorshedabad. Here is stationed a brigade of troops in commodious cantonments, [7:5:712]which consist of a fine range of buildings in an open lawn. Long. 89. 14. E. Lat. 24. 3. N.
BURIATS, Buraty, or Bratsky, a tribe of Tartars, now brought under the jurisdiction of Russia, and widely dispersed throughout Siberia, in the government of Irkutsk, wherein their numbers are computed from the capitation tax at about sixty thousand. Their features are of a genuine Tartar cast, resembling those of the Kalmucks, though they are not quite so flat, the nose being somewhat higher, and the countenance more open. They themselves trace their origin to the Kalmucks, and not to the Moguls. They are entirely pastoral in their habits, and depend for their subsistence chiefly on their flocks. The principal occupations of the men are riding and hunting; and they are dexterous archers as well as skilful horsemen. They are esteemed honest and sincere, and both sexes are extremely courteous. They are very ignorant, and debased by the grossest paganism. The residence of this tribe is chiefly around the banks of the lake Baikal, and those of the rivers Angora and Lena.
BURIDAN, John, a native of Bethune, in Artois, was one of the most celebrated philosophers of the fourteenth century. He taught in the university of Paris with great reputation, and wrote commentaries on logic, morality, and Aristotle’s metaphysics. Aventinus relates that he was a disciple of Ockam; and that, being expelled Paris by the power of the realists, which was superior to that of the nominalists, he went into Germany, where he founded the university of Vienna.
BURKITT, William, a celebrated commentator on the New Testament, was born at Hitcham in Northamptonshire 25th July 1650, and educated at Pembroke Hall, Cambridge. He entered young upon the ministry, having been ordained by Bishop Reynolds; and the first employment which he had was at Milden in Suffolk, where he continued twenty-one years a constant preacher, first as curate, and afterwards as rector of that church. In the year 1692 he had a call to the vicarage of Dedham in Essex, where he continued to the time of his death, which happened in the latter end of October 1703. He was a very pious and charitable man; made great collections for the French Protestants in 1687 and the years immediately following; and by his great care, pains, and charges, procured a worthy minister to go and settle in Carolina. Among other charities, by his last will and testament he bequeathed the house in which he lived, with the lands thereunto belonging, as a habitation for the lecturer who should be chosen from time to time to read the lecture at Dedham. Besides his commentary on the New Testament, written in the same plain, practical, and affectionate manner in which he preached, he wrote a volume entitled The Poor Alans Help and the Rich Man’s Guide.
BURLEIGH. See Cecil.
BURLESQUE, a species of composition, which, though a great engine of ridicule, is not confined to the ridiculous alone; for it is clearly distinguishable into burlesque that excites laughter merely, and burlesque that excites derision or ridicule. A grave subject, in which there is no impropriety, may be brought down by a certain colouring so as to be risible, as in Virgil Travestie ; the author laughing at every turn in order to make his readers also laugh. The Lutrin is a burlesque poem of the other sort, laying hold of a low and trifling incident in order to expose the luxury, indolence, and contentious spirit of a set of monks. Boileau, the author, turns the subject into ridicule by dressing it in the heroic style, and affecting to consider it as of the utmost dignity and importance. Though broad ridicule is the poet’s aim, he always carries a grave face, and never once betrays a smile. The opposition between the subject and the manner of handling it is what produces the ridicule; and therefore, in a composition of this kind, no image professedly ludicrous ought to be admitted, because such images destroy the contrast.

Though the burlesque that aims at ridicule produces its effects by elevating the style far above the subject, yet the poet ought to confine himself to such images as are lively and readily apprehended. A strained elevation, soaring above the ordinary reach of fancy, makes not a pleasant impression. The mind is soon disgusted by being kept long on the stretch. Machinery may be employed in a burlesque poem, such as the Lutrin, Dispensary, or Hudibras, with more success and propriety than in any other species of poetry; for burlesque poems, though they assume the air of history, give entertainment chiefly by their pleasant and ludicrous pictures. It is not the aim of such compositions to raise sympathy, for which reason a strict imitation of nature is not necessary; and hence, the more extravagant the machinery in a ludicrous poem, the more entertainment it affords.
BURLINGTON, or Bridlington, a sea-port town of England, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, situated on a bay called Burlington Bay, formed by Flamborough Head, which is about five miles distant, nearly north-east. It is situated about a mile from the shore; but there is another portion of it, named Burlington Quay, situated directly on the coast, formed by a pier which extends a considerable way into the bay. Considerable trade is carried on here, and the burden of the shipping belonging to the port amounts to about 6000 tons. A weekly market is held here, and two annual fairs. Burlington and Burlington Quay contain about 4000 inhabitants. Long. 0. 8. W. Lat. 54. 8. 30. N.

Burlington, a post-town of Vermont, and capital of Chittenden county. It is the most considerable commercial town of Vermont, and possesses a university, a court house, a jail, a bank, an academy, and three places of public worship. The trade is principally with New York. The population in 1820 was 2111. Long. 73. 15. W. Lat. 44. 27. N.
BURNHAM, a market-town of the hundred of Brothercross, in the county of Norfolk, 128 miles from London, near the sea shore. The market is held on Monday. It is celebrated as the birth-place of Admiral Lord Nelson. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 743, in 1811 to 845, and in 1821 to 937.
BURNISHER, a round polished piece of steel, serving to smooth and give a lustre to metals. Of these there are different kinds, of different figures, straight, crooked, and the like. Half burnishers are used to solder silver, as well as to give it a lustre. Burnishers for gold and silver are commonly made of a dog’s or wolf’s tooth, set in the end of an iron or wooden handle. Of late agates and pebbles have been introduced, which many prefer to the dog’s tooth. The burnishers used by engravers in copper, usually serve with one end to burnish, and with the other to scrape.
BURNISHING, the art of smoothing or polishing a metalline body, by a brisk rubbing of it with a burnisher.
BURNLEY, a market-town of the parish of Whalley, and hundred of Blackburn, in the county of Lancaster, 210 miles from London. The district abounds with coal, the raising of which, as well as stones and slate, is the chief labour in which the inhabitants find occupation. The market is held on Saturday. The population amounted in 1801 to 3305, in 1811 to 4368, and in 1821 to 6378.
BURNTISLAND, or Bruntisland, a royal burgh and parish of Scotland, in the county of Fife, situated upon the Frith of Forth. It is slightly peninsular, but it does not appear to have been ever surrounded by the sea. It is well sheltered towards the north by steep hills; and accordingly the harbour, which lies on its western quarter, is reckoned one of the safest in the frith. There is also a small light-house erected on the right of the entrance. The town is tolerably clean and well built, possessing one main street of considerable length, with a back one of . lesser dimensions, and various diverging thoroughfares.
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There is a large distillery here, and ship-building is carried on to some extent. ∙ In ancient times it was fortified, and the remains of a wall and fort are still extant. There is a regular ferry between Burntisland and Leith, from which it is distant six miles north-north-west. The population amounted in 1821 to 2136, and in 1831 to 2366.
BURRAMOOTEE, a large town of Hindustan, in the province of Bejapoor, forty-four miles south-east from Poonah, and one mile from Merud. It has a strong fortification, divided by the Kurrah river.
BURROW, Sir James, master of the crown office, was elected a fcllow of the Royal Society and of the Society of Arts in 1751. On the death of Mr West in 1772, he was prevailed on to fill the president’s chair at the Royal Society till the anniversary election, when he resigned it to Sir John Pringle; and on the 10th of August 1773, when the society presented an address to his majesty, he received the honour of knighthood. He published two volumes of reports in 1766; two others in 1771 and 1776; and a volume of decisions of the court of king’s bench upon settlement cases from 1732 to 1772, to which was subjoined an Essay of Punctuation, in three parts, 4to, 1768, 1772, 1776. The Essay was also printed separately in 4to, 1773. He published, without his name, A few Anecdotes and Observations relating to Oliver Cromwell and his family, serving to rectify several errors concerning him, published by Nico. Comm. Papadopoli, in his Historia Gymnasii Patavini, 1763,4to. He died in 1782.