BURGOYNE

Madrid, in the 16th century, Burgos was in a very flourishing condition, and contained thrice its present population. It has some manufactures in woollens and linens. Pop. 29,683.-The province has an area of 5650 sq. miles, largely hilly or mountainous, but with good agricultural and pastoral land. Pop. 348,152.

Burgoyne (bur-goin'), JOHN, an English general officer and dramatist; born 1722, died 1792. After serving in various parts of the world, he was in 1777 appointed commander

BURGUNDY.

of an army against the revolted Americans, and took Ticonderoga, but had at last to surrender with his whole army at Saratoga to a greatly superior American force. He was ill received on his return to England, and deprived of his command of the 76th Light Dragoons and the governorship of Fort William, but Fox and Sheridan took his part and received his parliamentary support. Latterly he occupied himself mainly with the writing of comedies, including The Maid of the Oaks, Bon Ton,

and The Heiress, a play that still holds the stage.

Burgoyne, SIR JOHN FOX, son of the above, an eminent officer of engineers, was born 1782. Entering the Royal Engineers he served in Malta, Sicily, Egypt, and, with Sir John Moore and Wellington, in the Peninsula from 1809 to 1814, and was present at all the sieges generally as first or second in command of the engineers. In 1851 he was made a lieutenant-general, and was chief of the engineering department at Sebastopol till recalled in 1855. In the following year he was created a baronet, and in 1868 a field-marshal. He died 7th Oct. 1871.

Burgundy, a region of Western Europe, so named from the Burgundians, a Teutonic or Germanic people originally from the country between the Oder and the Vistula. They migrated first to the region of the Upper Rhine, and in the beginning of the 5th century passed into Gaul and obtained possession of the south-eastern part of this country, where

they founded a kingdom having its seat of government sometimes at Lyons, and sometimes at Geneva. They were at last wholly subdued by the Franks. In 879 Boson, Count of Autun, succeeded in establishing the royal dignity again in part of this kingdom. He styled himself King of Provence, and had his residence at Arles. His son. Louis added the country beyond the Jura, and thus established Cis-Juran Burgundy. A second kingdom arose when Rudolph of Strettlingen formed Upper or Transjuran Burgundy out of part of Switzerland and Savoy. Both these Burgundian kingdoms were united, and finally, on the extinction of Rudolph's line, were incorporated with Germany. But a third state, the historical DUCHY OF BURGUNDY, consisting principally of the French province of Bourgogne or Burgundy, had been formed as a great feudal and almost independent province of France in the 9th century. first ducal line died out with a Duke Philip, and the duchy, reverting to the crown, was,

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in 1363, granted by King John of France to his son Philip the Bold, who thus became the founder of a new line of dukes of Burgundy. A marriage with Margaret, daughter of Louis III., count of Flanders, brought him Flanders, Mechlin, Antwerp, and FrancheComté. He was succeeded by his son Duke John the Fearless, whose son and successor, Philip the Good, so greatly extended his dominions, that on his death in 1467 his son Charles, surnamed the Bold, though possessing only the title of duke, was in reality one of the richest and most powerful sovereigns of Europe. (See Charles the Bold.) Charles left a daughter, Mary of Burgundy, the sole heiress of his states, who by her marriage to Maximilian of Austria transferred a large part of her dominions to that prince, while Louis XI. of France acquired Burgundy proper as a male fief of France. Burgundy then formed a province, and is now represented by the four departments of Yonne, Côte-d'Or, Saône-etLoire, and Ain. It is watered by a number of navigable rivers, and is one of the most productive provinces in France, especially of wines. See Burgundy Wines.

Burgundy Pitch, a resin got from the Norway spruce (Abies excelsa) and several other pines. It is used in medicine as a stimulating plaster. It takes its name from Burgundy in France, where it was first prepared.

Burgundy Wines are produced in the former province of Burgundy, especially in the department of Côte-d'Or, and in richness of flavour and all the more delicate qualities of the juice of the grape they are inferior to none in the world. Amongst the red wines of Burgundy the finest are the Chambertin, the Clos Vougeot, RomanéeConty, &c.

Burhampur. See Berhampur.

Burhanpur, a town of India, Central Provinces, formerly the capital of Kandeish, aud famous for its muslin and flowered silk manufactures, which still exist to some extent though the town has long been declining. Pop. 30,017.

Burial (be'ri-al), the mode of disposing of the dead, a practice which varies amongst different peoples. Amongst savage races, and even amongst some cultured peoples of the East, exposure to wild animals or birds of prey is not uncommon. The careful embalmment of their dead by the ancient Egyptians may be regarded as a special form of burial. But by far the most common forms

BURIDAN.

of disposing of the dead have been burning and interring. Amongst the Greeks and Romans both forms were practised, though amongst the latter burning became common only in the later times of the republic. In this form of burial the corpse, after being borne in procession through the streets, was placed upon a pyre built of wood, and profusely sprinkled with oils and perfumes. Fire was set to the wood, and after the process of cremation was complete the bones and ashes were carefully gathered together by the relatives and placed in an urn. With the introduction of the Christian religion, consecrated places were appropriated for the purpose of general burial, and the Roman custom of providing the sepulchre with a stone and inscription was continued by the Christians. The practice of cremation now declined and finally disappeared, but has recently to some little extent been revived. In England every person has a right to be buried in the churchyard of the parish where he dies, and by the Burial Laws Amendment Act, 1880, it is provided that after fortyeight hours' notice to the incumbent or his substitute, such burial may take place either with the service of any Christian church or without any service.

Bu'riats, a nomadic Tartar people allied to the Kalmucks, inhabiting the southern part of the government of Irkutsk and Transbaikalia. Their number is about 200,000. They live in huts called yurts, which in summer are covered with leather, in winter with felt. They support themselves by their flocks, by hunting, and the mechanical arts, particularly the forging of

iron.

Buridan (bu-re-dän), JEAN, a French scholastic philosopher of the 14th century. He was a disciple of Occam at Paris, and has attained a kind of fame from an illustration he is said to have used in favour of his theory of determinism (that is, the doctrine that every act of volition is determined by some motive external to the will itself), and which still goes under the name of Buridan's ass.' He is said to have supposed the case of a hungry ass placed at an equal distance from two equally attractive bundles of hay, and to have asserted that in the supposed case the ass must inevitably have perished from hunger, there being nothing to determine him to prefer the one bundle to the other. The nature of the illustration, however, makes it more likely that it was invented by Buridan's opponents

BURIN

to ridicule his views than by himself. Buridan died after 1358 at the age of sixty.

Bu'rin, or GRAVER, an instrument of tempered steel, used for engraving on copper, steel, &c. It is of a prismatic form, having

Burin.

one end attached to a short wooden handle, and the other ground off obliquely, so as to produce a sharp triangular point. In work ing, the burin is held in the palm of the hand, and pushed forward so as to cut a portion of the metal.

Buriti (by-re'tē), a South American palm (Mauritia vinifera) growing to the height of 100-150 feet, preferring marshy situations, and bearing an imposing crown of fanshaped leaves. A sweet vinous liquor is prepared from the juice of the stem as also from the fruits.

Burke, EDMUND, a writer, orator, and statesman of great eminence, was born in Dublin, Jan. 1, 1730. After studying at Trinity College, Dublin, where he took a bachelor's degree, he went to London in 1750, and became a law student at the Temple. He applied himself more to literature than to law, and in 1756 published his Essay on the Sublime and the Beautiful, which attracted considerable attention, and procured him the friendship of some of the most notable men of the time. The political career for which he had been arduously preparing himself all along at length opened up to him on his appointment as private secretary to Mr. W. G. Hamilton, Secretary for Ireland, in 1761. On his return he was rewarded with a pension of £300 per annum, and obtained the appointment of private secretary to the Marquis of Rockingham, then First Lord of the Treasury. Through the same interest he entered parliament as member for Wendover (1765). The great question of the right of taxing the American colonies was then occupying parliament, and the Rockingham ministry having taken, mainly through Burke's advice, a middle and undecided course, was soon dissolved (1766). From 1770 to 1782 Lord North was in power, and Burke held no office. In 1774-80 he was member for Bristol. In several magnificent speeches he criticised the ministerial measures with regard to the colonies, and advocated a policy of justice and conciliation. In 1782, when the Rock

BURKE.

ingham party returned to power, Burke obtained the lucrative post of paymaster-general of the forces, and shortly after introduced his famous bill for economical reform, which passed after considerable modifications had been made on it. On the fall of the Duke of Portland's coalition ministry, 1783, of which Burke had also been part, Pitt again succeeded to power, and it was during this administration that the impeachment of Hastings, in which Burke was the prime mover, took place. The lucidity, eloquence, and mastery of detail which Burke showed on this occasion have never been surpassed. The chief feature in the latter part of Burke's life was his resolute struggle against the ideas and doctrines of the French revolution. His attitude on this question separated him from his old friend Fox, and the Liberals who followed Fox. His famous

Reflections on the Revolution in France, a pamphlet which appeared in 1790, had an unprecedented sale, and gave enormous impetus to the reaction which had commenced in England. From this time most of his writings are powerful pleadings on the same side. We may mention An Appeal from the New to the Old Whigs; Letter to a Noble Lord; Letters on a Regicide Peace; &c. In 1794 he withdrew from parliament. Three years after, on July 8, 1797, he died, his end being hastened by grief for the loss of his only son.

Burke, ROBERT O'HARA, an Australian explorer, born in county Galway, Ireland, in 1821, died in Australia 1861. After serving in the Austrian army he went to

BURKING.

Australia, and after seven years' service as inspector of police was appointed commander of an expedition to cross the continent of Australia from south to north. He and his associate Wills reached the tidal waters of the Flinders river, but both perished of starvation on the return journey.

Burking, a species of murder by suffocation, which derives its name from William Burke, a native of Ireland, who, in 1828-29, was detected, tried, and executed at Edinburgh, for the murder of numerous individuals. The vigilance with which the burying-grounds throughout the country were watched rendered a supply of subjects for anatomical schools almost altogether impracticable, and the demand for dead bodies consequently became great. This led the abovementioned individual, in conjunction with another wretch named Hare, to decoy into their lodging-house and murder by strangulation many obscure wayfarers, whose bodies they sold to a school of anatomy at prices averaging from £8 to £14.

Burleigh, LORD. See Cecil. Burlesque (bur-lesk') signifies a low form of the comic, arising generally from a ludicrous mixture of things high and low. High thoughts, for instance, are clothed in low expressions, noble subjects described in a familiar manner, or vice versa.

Burlet'ta, a light, comic species of musi cal drama, which derives its name from the Italian burlare, to jest.

Burlingame, ANSON, minister to China, was born in New York in 1820; died in 1870. He was an early worker in the freesoil party; a leader in the American party; member of congress, 1854-61; as minister to China he negotiated important treaties, securing China's recognition of international rights of property, trade, and worship. Burlington, the name of several towns in the U. States. (1) A city in Vermont, on Lake Champlain, the chief commercial centre of the state, with a considerable trade in timber; woollen, cotton, and flour milis, &c. The University of Vermont is here. Pop. 18,640. (2) A city in Iowa, on the Mississippi, with a Baptist college, and manufactures of agricultural implements, &c. Pop. 23,201. (3) A city of New Jersey, on the Delaware, 7 miles above Philadel phia. Pop. 7392.

Bur'mah, a country of Southern Asia, bounded on the north by Assam and Thibet, on the east by Chinese territory and Siam, elsewhere mainly by the Bay of Bengal;

- BURMAH.

area about 171,400 square miles. It is traversed by great mountain ranges branching off from those of Northern India and running parallel to each other southwards to the sea, Between these ranges and in the plains or valleys here situated the four great rivers of Burmah--the Irrawaddy, its tributary the Kyen-dwen, the Sittang, and the Salwen-flow in a southerly direc tion to the sea, watering the rich alluvial tracts of Lower Burmah, and having at their mouths all the great seaports of the country

Rangoon, Bassein, Moulmein, Akyab, &c. The Irrawaddy is of great value as a highway of communication and traffic, being navigable beyond Bhamo, near the Chinese frontier, or over 800 miles. In their lower courses the rivers often overflow their banks in the rainy season. Though its resources are almost entirely undeveloped, the country, as a whole, is productive, especially in the lower portions. Here grow rice, sugar cane, tobacco, cotton, indigo, &c. Cotton is grown almost everywhere; tea is cultivated in many of the more elevated parts. The forests produce timber of many sorts, including teak, which grows most luxuriantly, and is largely exported. Iron-wood is another valuable timber; and among forest products are also the bamboo, cutch, stick-lac, and rubber. Burmah has great mineral wealth-gold, silver, precious stones, iron, marble, lead, tin, coal, petroleum, &c.; but these resources have not yet been much developed. The chief precious stone is the ruby, and the mines of this gem belong to the crown. Sapphire, amber, and jade are also obtained. Among wild animals are the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, deer of various kinds, and the wild hog. Among domestic animals are the ox, buffalo, horse, and elephant. The rivers abound with fish. The most common fruits are the guava, custard-apple, tamarind, pine, orange, banana, jack, and mango. The yam and sweet potato are cultivated, and in some parts the common potato. The climate of course varies according to elevation and other circumstances, but as a whole is warm, though not unhealthy, except in low jungly districts. The rainfall among the mountains reaches as high as 190 inches per annum.

The population, by the last census taken was stated as 7,605,560, made up of a great variety of races besides the Burmese proper, as Talaings, Shans, Karens, &c. The Burmese proper are of a brown colour, with lank, black hair (seldom any on the face),

and have active, vigorous, well-proportioned frames. They are a cheerful, lively people, fond of amusement, averse to continuous exertion, free from prejudice of caste or creed, temperate and hardy. The predominant religion is Buddhism. Missionaries are active in their efforts, but the Christian faith has not yet made much progress in the country. Polygamy is permitted by Buddhist law, but is rare, and is considered as not altogether respectable. Divorce is easily obtained. Women in Burmah occupy a much freer and happier position than they do in Indian social life. They go about freely, manage the household, and make successful women of business, conducting not merely retail trades but also large wholesale concerns. Education is very general, one of the chief occupations of the monks in the numerous monasteries being the teaching of boys to read and write. Many of these monastic schools are under government inspection. The Burmese are skilful weavers, smiths, sculptors, workers in gold and silver, joiners, &c. The ordinary buildings are of a very slight construction, chiefly of timber or bamboo raised on posts; but the religious edifices are in many cases imposing, though the material is but brick. Carving and gilding are features of their architecture. The Burmese language is monosyllabic, like Chinese, and is written with an alphabet the characters of which (derived from India) are more or less circular. There is a considerable literature.

Burmah is now divided into Lower Burmah and Upper Burmah, the former till 1886 being called British Burmah, while the latter till that date was an independent kingdom or empire. Lower Burmah was acquired from Independent Burmah in 1826 and 1852 as the result of two wars terminating in favour of Britain. It comprises the divisions of Aracan, Pegu, Irrawaddy, and Tenasserim; area, 87,473 sq. miles; pop. (1891),2,946,933. Under British rule it has prospered greatly, the population and trade having increased immensely, there being regularly a large surplus revenue. Roads, canals, and railways have been constructed and other public works carried out, as also public buildings erected. The total foreign trade is valued at over £10,000,000; the exports to Britain in 1891 amounted to £2,403,268 (chiefly rice); imports from Britain £2,134,850. The chief city and port is Rangoon, which is now connected by railway with Mandalay in Upper Burmah.

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Under its native kings the form of government in Upper Burmah was absolute monarchy, the seat of government being latterly at Mandalay. The king was assisted in governing by a council of state known as the Hloot-daw, to which belonged the functions of a house of legislature, a cabinet, and a supreme court. The king had power to punish at his pleasure anyone, even the great officers of state. The revenue was derived from taxes levied in a very irregular and capricious manner, and official corruption was rampant. The criminal laws were barbarously severe. Capital punishment was commonly inflicted by decapitation, but crucifixion and disembowelling were also prac tised. After the loss of the maritime provinces the influence of Independent Burmah greatly declined, as did also its Asiatic and foreign trade.

The Burmese empire is of little note in ancient or general history. Since the 16th century the Burmese proper have mostly been the predominant race, and ruled the Peguans, Karens, &c., throughout the country. The capital has at different times been at Ava, Pegu, Prome, or elsewhere. In the latter half of the 18th century the Burmese emperors began a series of wars of conquest with China, Siam, Assam, through which they greatly enlarged the empire. This brought them into contact with the British, and in 1824 war was declared against them on account of their encroachments on British territory and their seizure of British subjects. The war terminated in the cession of the provinces of Aracan and Tenasserim to the British. Peace continued for some years, but latterly various acts of hostility were committed by the Burmese, and in 1852 the maltreatment of British subjects occasioned a second war, at the end of which the British possessions were extended to include the whole of Pegu. The third and last war occurred in 1885 in consequence of the arrogance and arbitrary conduct of King Theebaw. The result was that Upper Burmah was annexed to the British empire by proclamation of the Viceroy of India, 1st Jan. 1886. The area thus annexed was about 200,000 sq. miles, of which half belonged to the kingdom proper, half to the semi-independent Shan states. Its government is not yet fully organized, but it has been put under a chiefcommissioner and divided into provinces (under commissioners), which again are subdivided into districts. The Shan states are

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