Chapter XVIII: Part 18

BOYCOTT, the refusal and incitement to refusal to have commercial or social dealings with any one on whom it is wished to bring pressure. As merely a form of "sending to Coventry" or (in W.E. Gladstone's phrase) "exclusive dealing," boycotting may be, from a legal point of view, unassailable, and as such has frequently been justified by its original political inventors. But in practice it has usually taken the form of what is undoubtedly an illegal conspiracy to injure the person, property or business of another by unwarrantably putting pressure on all and sundry to withdraw from him their social or business intercourse. The word was first used in Ireland, and was derived from the name of Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott (1832-1897), agent for the estates of the earl of Erne in Co. Mayo. For refusing in 1880 to receive rents at figures fixed by the tenants, Captain Boycott had his life threatened, his servants compelled to leave him, his fences torn down, his letters intercepted and his food supplies interfered with. It took a force of 900 soldiers to protect the Ulster Orangemen ("Emergency Men") who succeeded finally in getting in his crops. He was hooted and mobbed in the streets, and hanged and burnt in effigy. The system of boycotting was an essential part of the Irish Nationalist "Plan of Campaign," and was dealt with under the Crimes Act of 1887. The term soon came into common English use, and was speedily adopted by the French, Germans, Dutch and Russians. In the United States this method of "persuasion" was taken up by the trade unions about 1886, an employer who refused their demands being brought to terms by a combination to refuse to buy his product or do his work, or to deal with any who did. Various cases have occurred in America in which labour organizations have pronounced such a boycott against a firm; and its illegal nature has been established in the law-courts, notably in the case of the Bucks Stove Company v. The American Federation of Labor (1907) in the Supreme Court of the district of Columbia, and in a suit against the Hatters' Union (February 1908) in the U.S. Supreme Court. A boycott has also been held by the U.S. Supreme Court to be a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust law.

BOYD, ANDREW KENNEDY HUTCHISON (1825-1899), Scottish author and divine, was born at Auchinleck manse in Ayrshire on the 3rd of November 1825. He studied at King's College, London, and at the Middle Temple, with the idea of practising at the English bar. Returning to Scotland, however, he entered Glasgow University and there qualified for the Scottish ministry, being licensed as a preacher by the presbytery of Ayr. He served in succession the parishes of Newton-on-Ayr, Kirkpatrick-Irongray near Dumfries, St Bernard's, Edinburgh, and finally, in 1865, became minister of the first charge at St Andrews. Here he advocated an improved ritual in the Scottish church, his action resulting in the appointment by the general assembly of a committee, with Boyd as convener, to prepare a new hymnal. In 1890 he was appointed moderator of the general assembly, and fulfilled the duties of the position with admirable dignity and tact. He died at Bournemouth on the 1st of March 1899. Dr Boyd was a very famous preacher and talker, and his desultory essays have very much of the charm of his conversation. Among his numerous publications may be specially mentioned the two works (each in three series), _Recreations of a Country Parson_ (1859, 1861 and 1878), and _Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson_ (1862-1865 and 1875); he also wrote _Twenty-five Years at St Andrews_ (1892), and _St Andrews and Elsewhere_ (1894). He was familiarly known to the public as a writer by his initials "A.K.H.B."

BOYD, ROBERT BOYD, LORD (d.c. 1470), Scottish statesman, was a son of Sir Thomas Boyd (d. 1439), and belonged to an old and distinguished family, one member of which, Sir Robert Boyd, had fought with Wallace and Robert Bruce. Boyd, who was created a peer about 1454, was one of the regents of Scotland during the minority of James III., but, in 1466, with some associates he secured the person of the young king and was appointed his sole governor. As ruler of Scotland he was instrumental in reforming some religious foundations; he arranged the marriage between James III. and Margaret, daughter of Christian I., king of Denmark and Norway, and secured the cession of the Orkney Islands by Norway. However, when in 1467 he obtained the offices of chamberlain and justiciary for himself, and the hand of the king's sister Mary, with the title of earl of Arran for his eldest son Thomas, his enemies became too strong for him, and he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. He escaped to England, and the date of his death is unknown. His brother and assistant, Sir Alexander Boyd, was beheaded on the 22nd of November 1469.

Boyd's son Thomas, earl of Arran, was in Denmark when his father was overthrown. However, he fulfilled his mission, that of bringing the king's bride, Margaret, to Scotland, and then, warned by his wife, escaped to the continent of Europe. He is mentioned very eulogistically in one of the Paston Letters, but practically nothing is known of his subsequent history.

Lord Boyd's grandson Robert (d. c. 1550), a son of Alexander Boyd, was confirmed in the possession of the estates and honours of his grandfather in 1549, and is generally regarded as the 3rd Lord Boyd. His son Robert, 4th Lord Boyd (d. 1590), took a prominent part in Scottish politics during the troubled time which followed the death of James V. in 1542. At first he favoured the reformed religion, but afterwards his views changed and he became one of the most trusted advisers of Mary, queen of Scots, whom he accompanied to the battle of Langside in 1568. During the queen's captivity he was often employed on diplomatic errands; he tried to stir up insurrections in her favour, and he was suspected of participation in the murder of the regent Murray. He enjoyed a high and influential position under the regent James Douglas, earl of Morton, but was banished in 1583 for his share in the seizure of King James VI., a plot known as the Raid of Ruthven. He retired to France, but was soon allowed to return to Scotland. He died on the 3rd of January 1590.

William, 8th or 9th Lord Boyd (d. 1692), was created earl of Kilmarnock in 1661, and this nobleman's grandson William, the 3rd earl (d. 1717), was a partisan of the Hanoverian kings and fought for George I. during the rising of 1715. His son William, the 4th earl (1704-1746), was educated in the same principles, but in 1745, owing either to a personal affront or to the influence of his wife or to his straitened circumstances he deserted George II. and joined Charles Edward, the Young Pretender. The 4th earl fought at Falkirk and Culloden, where he was made prisoner, and was beheaded on the 18th of August 1746. The title of earl of Kilmarnock is now merged in that of earl of Erroll.

BOYD, ZACHARY (1585?-1653), Scottish divine, was educated at the universities of Glasgow and St Andrews. He was for many years a teacher in the Protestant college of Saumur in France, but returned to Scotland in 1621, to escape the Huguenot persecution. In 1623 he was appointed minister of the Barony church in Glasgow, and he was rector of the university in 1634, 1635 and 1645. He bequeathed to the university the half of his fortune, a sum amounting to L20,000 Scots, besides his library and twelve volumes of MSS. His poetical compositions, though often eccentric, have some merit. The common statement that he made the printing of his metrical version of the Gospels and other Biblical narratives a condition of the reception of his grant to the university is a mistake. In later years he was a staunch Covenanter, and though for a time opposed to Oliver Cromwell, afterwards became friendly with him. His best-known works are _The Battel of the Soul in Death_ (1629), of which a new edition, with a biography by G. Neil, was published in Glasgow in 1831; _Zion's Flowers_--often called "Boyd's Bible" (1644); _Four Letters of Comfort_ (1640, reprinted, Edinburgh, 1878).

BOYDELL, JOHN (1719-1804), English alderman and publisher, was born at Dorrington, and at the age of twenty-one came to London and was apprenticed for seven years to an engraver. In 1746 he published a volume of views in England and Wales, and started in business as a print-seller. By his good taste and liberality he managed to secure the services of the best artists, and his engravings were executed with such skill that his business became extensive and lucrative. He succeeded in his plan of a Shakespeare gallery, and obtained the assistance of the most eminent painters of the day, whose contributions were exhibited publicly for many years. The engravings from these paintings form a splendid companion volume to his large illustrated edition of Shakespeare's works. Towards the close of his life Boydell sustained severe losses through the French Revolution, and was compelled to dispose of his Shakespeare gallery by lottery. Boydell had previously become an alderman, and rose to be lord mayor of London.

BOYER, ALEXIS (1757-1833), French surgeon, was born on the 1st of March 1757 at Uzerches (Correze). The son of a tailor, he obtained his first medical knowledge in the shop of a barber-surgeon. Removing to Paris he had the good fortune to attract the notice of Antoine Louis (1723-1792) and P.J. Desault (1744-1795); and his perseverance, anatomical skill and dexterity as an operator, became so conspicuous, that at the age of thirty-seven he obtained the appointment of second surgeon to the Hotel Dieu of Paris. On the establishment of the Ecole de Sante he gained the chair of operative surgery, but soon exchanged it for the chair of clinical surgery. In 1805 Napoleon nominated him imperial family surgeon, and, after the brilliant campaigns of 1806-7, conferred on him the legion of honour, with the title of baron of the empire and a salary of 25,000 francs. On the fall of Napoleon the merits of Boyer secured him the favour of the succeeding sovereigns of France, and he was consulting surgeon to Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe. In 1825 he succeeded J.F.L. Deschamps (1740-1824) as surgeon-in-chief to the Hopital de la Charite, and was chosen a member of the Institute. He died in Paris on the 23rd of November 1833. Perhaps no French surgeon of his time thought or wrote with greater clearness and good sense than Boyer; and while his natural modesty made him distrustful of innovation, and somewhat tenacious of established modes of treatment, he was as judicious in his diagnosis and as cool and skilful in manipulating, as he was cautious in forming his judgment on individual cases. His two great works are:--_Traite complet de l'anatomie_ (in 4 vols., 1797-1799), of which a fourth edition appeared in 1815, and _Traite des maladies chirurgicales et des operations qui leur conviennent_ (in 11 vols., 1814-1826), of which a new edition in 7 vols. was published in 1844-1853, with additions by his son, Philippe Boyer (1801-1858).

BOYER, JEAN PIERRE (1776-1850), president of the republic of Haiti, a mulatto, was born at Port-au-Prince on the 28th of February 1776. He received a good education in France, and, returning to St Domingo, joined the army in 1792. In 1794 he was already in command of a battalion, and fought with distinction under General Rigaud against the English. The negro insurrection under Toussaint l'Ouverture, which was directed against the mulattoes as well as the whites, ultimately forced him to take refuge in France. He was well received by Napoleon, and in 1802 obtained a commission in Leclerc's expedition. Being opposed to the reinstitution of slavery, he turned against the French and succeeded in producing an alliance between the negroes and mulattoes by which they were driven from the island. Dessalines, a negro, was proclaimed king, but his cruelty and despotism were such that Boyer combined with A.A.S. Petion and General Christophe to overthrow him (1806). Christophe now seized the supreme power, but Petion set up an independent republic in the southern part of the island, with Boyer as commander-in-chief. Christophe's efforts to crush this state were defeated by Boyer's gallant defence of Port-au-Prince, and a series of brilliant victories, which, on Petion's death in 1818, led to Boyer's election as president. Two years later the death of Christophe removed his only rival, and he gained almost undisputed possession of the whole island. During his presidency Boyer did much to set the finances and the administration in order, and to encourage the arts and sciences, and in 1825 obtained French recognition of the independence of Haiti, in return for a payment of 150,000 francs. The weight of this debt excited the greatest discontent in Haiti. Boyer was able to carry on his government for some years longer, but in March 1843 a violent insurrection overthrew his power and compelled him to take refuge in Jamaica. He resided there till 1848, when he removed to Paris, where he died in 1850.

See Wallez, _Precis historique des negociations entre la France et
Saint-Domingue, avec une notice biographique sur le general Boyer_
(Paris, 1826).

BOYLE, JOHN J. (1851- ), American sculptor, was born in New York City. He studied in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, and in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. He is particularly successful in the portrayal of Indians. Among his principal works are: "Stone Age," Fairmount Park, Philadelphia; "The Alarm," Lincoln Park, Chicago; and, a third study in primitive culture, the two groups, "The Savage Age" at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901. His work also includes the seated "Franklin," in Philadelphia; and "Bacon" and "Plato" in the Congressional library, Washington, D.C.

BOYLE, ROBERT (1627-1691), English natural philosopher, seventh son and fourteenth child of Richard Boyle, the great earl of Cork, was born at Lismore Castle, in the province of Munster, Ireland, on the 25th of January 1627. While still a child he learned to speak Latin and French, and he was only eight years old when he was sent to Eton, of which his father's friend, Sir Henry Wotton, was then provost. After spending over three years at the college, he went to travel abroad with a French tutor. Nearly two years were passed in Geneva; visiting Italy in 1641, he remained during the winter of that year in Florence, studying the "paradoxes of the great star-gazer" Galileo, who died within a league of the city early in 1642. Returning to England in 1644 he found that his father was dead and had left him the manor of Stalbridge in Dorsetshire, together with estates in Ireland. From that time he gave up his life to study and scientific research, and soon took a prominent place in the band of inquirers, known as the "Invisible College," who devoted themselves to the cultivation of the "new philosophy." They met frequently in London, often at Gresham College; some of the members also had meetings at Oxford, and in that city Boyle went to reside in 1654. Reading in 1657 of Otto von Guericke's air-pump, he set himself with the assistance of Robert Hooke to devise improvements in its construction, and with the result, the "machina Boyleana" or "Pneumatical Engine," finished in 1659, he began a series of experiments on the properties of air. An account of the work he did with this instrument was published in 1660 under the title _New Experiments Physico-Mechanical touching the spring of air and its effects_. Among the critics of the views put forward in this book was a Jesuit, Franciscus Linus (1595-1675), and it was while answering his objections that Boyle enunciated the law that the volume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure, which among English-speaking peoples is usually called after his name, though on the continent of Europe it is attributed to E. Mariotte, who did not publish it till 1676. In 1663 the "Invisible College" became the "Royal Society of London for improving natural knowledge," and the charter of incorporation granted by Charles II. named Boyle a member of the council. In 1680 he was elected president of the society, but declined the honour from a scruple about oaths. In 1668 he left Oxford for London where he resided at the house of his sister, Lady Ranelagh, in Pall Mall. About 1689 his health, never very strong, began to fail seriously and he gradually withdrew from his public engagements, ceasing his communications to the Royal Society, and advertising his desire to be excused from receiving guests, "unless upon occasions very extraordinary," on Tuesday and Friday forenoon, and Wednesday and Saturday afternoon. In the leisure thus gained he wished to "recruit his spirits, range his papers," and prepare some important chemical investigations which he proposed to leave "as a kind of Hermetic legacy to the studious disciples of that art," but of which he did not make known the nature. His health became still worse in 1691, and his death occurred on the 30th of December of that year, just a week after that of the sister with whom he had lived for more than twenty years. He was buried in the churchyard of St Martin's in the Fields, his funeral sermon being preached by his friend Bishop Burnet.

Boyle's great merit as a scientific investigator is that he carried out the principles which Bacon preached in the _Novum Organum_. Yet he would not avow himself a follower of Bacon or indeed of any other teacher: on several occasions he mentions that in order to keep his judgment as unprepossessed as might be with any of the modern theories of philosophy, till he was "provided of experiments" to help him judge of them, he refrained from any study of the Atomical and the Cartesian systems, and even of the _Novum Organum_ itself, though he admits to "transiently consulting" them about a few particulars. Nothing was more alien to his mental temperament than the spinning of hypotheses. He regarded the acquisition of knowledge as an end in itself, and in consequence he gained a wider outlook on the aims of scientific inquiry than had been enjoyed by his predecessors for many centuries. This, however, did not mean that he paid no attention to the practical application of science nor that he despised knowledge which tended to use. He himself was an alchemist; and believing the transmutation of metals to be a possibility, he carried out experiments in the hope of effecting it; and he was instrumental in obtaining the repeal, in 1689, of the statute of Henry IV. against multiplying gold and silver. With all the important work he accomplished in physics--the enunciation of Boyle's law, the discovery of the part taken by air in the propagation of sound, and investigations on the expansive force of freezing water, on specific gravities and refractive powers, on crystals, on electricity, on colour, on hydrostatics, &c.--chemistry was his peculiar and favourite study. His first book on the subject was _The Sceptical Chemist_, published in 1661, in which he criticized the "experiments whereby vulgar Spagyrists are wont to endeavour to evince their Salt, Sulphur and Mercury to be the true Principles of Things." For him chemistry was the science of the composition of substances, not merely an adjunct to the arts of the alchemist or the physician. He advanced towards the modern view of elements as the undecomposable constituents of material bodies; and understanding the distinction between mixtures and compounds, he made considerable progress in the technique of detecting their ingredients, a process which he designated by the term "analysis." He further supposed that the elements were ultimately composed of particles of various sorts and sizes, into which, however, they were not to be resolved in any known way. Applied chemistry had to thank him for improved methods and for an extended knowledge of individual substances. He also studied the chemistry of combustion and of respiration, and made experiments in physiology, where, however, he was hampered by the "tenderness of his nature" which kept him from anatomical dissections, especially of living animals, though he knew them to be "most instructing."

Besides being a busy natural philosopher, Boyle devoted much time to theology, showing a very decided leaning to the practical side and an indifference to controversial polemics. At the Restoration he was favourably received at court, and in 1665 would have received the provostship of Eton, if he would have taken orders; but this he refused to do, on the ground that his writings on religious subjects would have greater weight coming from a layman than a paid minister of the Church. He spent large sums in promoting the spread of Christianity, contributing liberally to missionary societies, and to the expenses of translating the Bible or portions of it into various languages. By his will he founded the Boyle lectures, for proving the Christian religion against "notorious infidels, viz. atheists, theists, pagans, Jews and Mahommedans," with the proviso that controversies between Christians were not to be mentioned.

In person Boyle was tall, slender and of a pale countenance. His constitution was far from robust, and throughout his life he suffered from feeble health and low spirits. While his scientific work procured him an extraordinary reputation among his contemporaries, his private character and virtues, the charm of his social manners, his wit and powers of conversation, endeared him to a large circle of personal friends. He was never married. His writings are exceedingly voluminous, and his style is clear and straightforward, though undeniably prolix.

The following are the more important of his works in addition to the
two already mentioned:--_Considerations touching the Usefulness of
Experimental Natural Philosophy_ (1663), followed by a second part in
1671; _Experiments and Considerations upon Colours, with Observations
on a Diamond that Shines in the Dark_ (1663); _New Experiments and
Observations upon Cold_ (1665); _Hydrostatical Paradoxes_ (1666);
_Origin of Forms and Qualities according to the Corpuscular
Philosophy_ (1666); a continuation of his work on the spring of air
(1669); tracts about the _Cosmical Qualities of Things_, the
_Temperature of the Subterraneal and Submarine Regions_, the _Bottom
of the Sea_, &c. with an _Introduction to the History of Particular
Qualities_ (1670); _Origin and Virtues of Gems_ (1672); _Essays of the
strange Subtilty, great Efficacy, determinate Nature of Effluviums_
(1673); two volumes of tracts on the _Saltness of the Sea_, the
_Hidden Qualities of the Air, Cold, Celestial Magnets, Animadversions
on Hobbes's_ Problemata de Vacuo (1674); _Experiments and Notes about
the Mechanical Origin or Production of Particular Qualities_,
including some notes on electricity and magnetism (1676);
_Observations upon an artificial Substance that Shines without any
Preceding Illustration_ (1678); the _Aerial Noctiluca_ (1680); _New
Experiments and Observations upon the Icy Noctiluca_ (1682); a further
continuation of his work on the air; _Memoirs for the Natural History
of the Human Blood_ (1684); _Short Memoirs for the Natural
Experimental History of Mineral Waters_ (1685); _Medicina
Hydrostatica_ (1690); and _Experimenta et Observiationes Physicae_
(1691). Among his religious and philosophical writings
were:--_Seraphic Love_, written in 1648, but not published till 1660;
an _Essay upon the Style of the Holy Scriptures_ (1663); _Occasional
Reflections upon Several Subjects_ (1665), which was ridiculed by
Swift in _A Pious Meditation upon a Broomstick_, and by Butler in _An
Occasional Reflection on Dr Charlton's Feeling a Dog's Pulse at
Cresham College_; _Excellence of Theology compared with Natural
Philosophy_ (1664); _Some Considerations about the Reconcileableness
of Reason and Religion_, with a _Discourse about the Possibility of
the Resurrection_ (1675); _Discourse of Things above Reason_ (1681);
_High Veneration Man owes to God_ (1685); _A Free Inquiry into the
vulgarly received Notion of Nature_ (1686); and the _Christian
Virtuoso_ (1690). Several other works appeared after his death, among
them _The General History of the Air designed and begun_ (1692); a
"collection of choice remedies," _Medicinal Experiments_ (1692-1698);
and _A Free Discourse against Customary Swearing_ (1695). An
incomplete and unauthorized edition of Boyle's works was published at
Geneva in 1677, but the first complete edition was that of Thomas
Birch, with a life, published in 1744, in five folio volumes, a second
edition appearing in 1772 in six volumes, 4to. Boyle bequeathed his
natural history collections to the Royal Society, which also possesses
a portrait of him by the German painter, Friedrich Kerseboom
(1632-1690).

BOYLE, a market town of Co. Roscommon, Ireland, in the north parliamentary division, on the Sligo line of the Midland Great Western railway, 106-1/4 m. N.W. by W. from Dublin and 28 m. S. by E. from Sligo. Pop. (1901) 2477. It is beautifully situated on both banks of the river Boyle, an affluent of the Shannon, between Loughs Gara and Key. Three bridges connect the two parts of the town. There is considerable trade in agricultural produce. To the north of the town stand the extensive ruins of a Cistercian abbey founded in 1161, including remains of a cruciform church, with a fine west front, and Norman and Transitional arcades with carving of very beautiful detail. The offices of the monastery are well preserved, and an interesting feature is seen in the names carved on the door of the lodge, attributed in Cromwell's soldier, who occupied the buildings. Neighbouring antiquities are Asselyn church near Lough Key, and a large cromlech by the road towards Lough Gara. Boyle was incorporated by James I., and returned two members to the Irish parliament.

BOYNE, a river of Ireland, which, rising in the Bog of Allen, near Carbery in Co. Kildare, and flowing in a north-easterly direction, passes Trim, Navan and Drogheda, and enters the Irish Sea, 4 m. below the town last named. It is navigable for barges to Navan, 19 m. from its mouth. Much of the scenery on its banks is beautiful, though never grand. About 2 m. west of Drogheda, an obelisk, 150 ft. in height, marks the spot where the forces of William III. gained a celebrated victory over those of James II., on the 1st of July[1] 1690, known as the battle of the Boyne.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] This was the "old style" date, which in the new style (see
CALENDAR) would be July 11th (not 12th, as Lecky says, _Hist, of
Ireland_, iii. p. 427). The 12th of July is annually celebrated by
the Orangemen in the north of Ireland as the anniversary, but this is
a confusion between the supposed new style for July 1st and the old
style date of the battle of Aughrim, July 12th; the intention being
to commemorate both.

BOYS' BRIGADE, an organization founded in Glasgow by Mr (afterwards Sir) W.A. Smith in 1883 to develop Christian manliness by the use of a semi-military discipline and order, gymnastics, summer camps and religious services and classes. There are about 2200 companies connected with different churches throughout the United Kingdom, the British empire and the United States, with 10,000 officers and 100,000 boys. A similar organization, confined to the Anglican communion, is the Church Lads' Brigade. Boys' and girls' life brigades are a more recent movement; they teach young people how to save life from fire and from water, and hold classes in hygiene, ambulance and elementary nursing.

BOZDAR, a Baluch tribe of Rind (Arab) extraction, usually associated with the mountain districts of the frontier near Dera Ghazi Khan. They are also to be found in Zhob, Thal-Chotiali and Las Bela, whilst the majority of the population are said to live in the Punjab. They are usually graziers, and the name Bozdar is probably derived from Buz, the Persian name for goat. Within the limits of their mountain home on the outer spurs of the Suliman hills they have always been a turbulent race, mustering about 2700 fighting men, and they were formerly constantly at feud with the neighbouring Ustarana and Sherani tribes. In 1857 their raids into the Punjab drew upon them an expedition under Brigadier-General Sir N.B. Chamberlain. The Sangarh pass was captured and the Bozdars submitted. Since Baluchistan has been taken over they have given but little trouble.

BOZRAH. (1) A capital of Edom (Gen. xxxvi. 33; Amos i. 12; Is. xxxiv. 6, lxiii. 1), doubtfully identified with _el-Buseireh_, S.E. of the Dead Sea, in the broken country N. of Petra; the ruins here are comparatively unimportant. It is the centre of a pastoral district, and its inhabitants, who number between 100 and 200, are all shepherds. (2) A city in the _Mishor_ or plain country of Moab, denounced by Jeremiah (xlviii. 24). It has been identified (also questionably) with a very extensive collection of ruins of various ages, now called Bosra (the Roman _Bostra_), situated in the Hauran, about 80 m. south of Damascus. The area within the walls is about 1-1/4 m. in length, and nearly 1 m. in breadth, while extensive suburbs lie to the east, north and west. The principal buildings which can still be distinguished are a temple, an aqueduct, a large theatre (enclosed by a castle of much more recent workmanship), several baths, a triumphal and other arches, three mosques, and what are known as the church and convent of the monk Boheira. In A.D. 106 the city was beautified and perhaps restored from ruin by Trajan, who made it the capital of the new province of Arabia. In the reign of Alexander Severus it was made a colony, and in 244, a native of the place, Philippus, ascended the imperial throne. By the time of Constantine the Great it seems to have been Christianized, and not long after it was the seat of an extensive bishopric. It was one of the first cities of Syria to be subjected to the Mahommedans, and it successfully resisted all the attempts of the Crusaders to wrest it from their hands. As late as the 14th century it was a populous city, after which it gradually fell into decay. It is now inhabited by thirty or forty families only. Another suggested identification is with Kusur el-Besheir, equidistant (2 m.) from Dibon and Aroer. This is perhaps the same as the Bezer mentioned in Deuteronomy and Joshua as a levitical city and a city of refuge.

In 1 Macc. v. 26 there is mention of Bosor and of Bosora. The latter is probably to be identified with Bosra, the former perhaps with the present Busr el-Hariri in the south-east corner of the Leja. (R. A. S. M.)

BRABANT, a duchy which existed from 1190 to 1430, when it was united with the duchy of Burgundy, the name being derived from Brabo, a semi-mythical Frankish chief.

The history of Brabant is connected with that of the duchy of Lower Lorraine (q.v.), which became in the course of the 11th century split up into a number of small feudal states. The counts of Hainaut, Namur, Luxemburg and Limburg asserted their independence, and the territory of Liege passed to the bishops of that city. The remnant of the duchy, united since 1100 with the margraviate of Antwerp, was conferred in 1106 by the emperor Henry V., with the title of duke of Lower Lorraine, upon Godfrey (Godefroid) I., "the Bearded," count of Louvain and Brussels. His title was disputed by Count Henry of Limburg, and for three generations the representatives of the rival houses contested the possession of the ducal dignity in Lower Lorraine. The issue was decided in favour of the house of Louvain by Duke Godfrey III. in 1159. His son, Henry I., "the Warrior" (1183-1235), abandoned the title of duke of Lower Lorraine and assumed in 1190 that of duke of Brabant. His successors were Henry II., "the Magnanimous" (1235-1248), Henry III., "le Debonnair" (1248-1261), and John I., "the Victorious" (1261-1294). These were all able rulers. Their usual place of residence was Louvain. John I., in 1283 bought the duchy of Limburg from Adolf of Berg, and secured his acquisition by defeating and slaying his competitor, Henry of Luxemburg, at the battle of Woeringen (June 5, 1288). His own son, John II., "the Pacific" (1294-1312), bestowed liberties upon his subjects by the charter of Cortenberg. This charter laid the foundation of Brabantine freedom. By it the imposition of grants (_beden_) and taxes was strictly limited and regulated, and its execution was entrusted to a council appointed by the duke for life (four nobles, ten burghers) whose duty it was to consider all complaints and to see that the conditions laid down by the charter concerning the administration of justice and finance were not infringed. He was succeeded by his son, John III., "the Triumphant" (1312-1355), who succeeded in maintaining his position in spite of formidable risings in Louvain and Brussels, and a league formed against him by his princely neighbours, but he had a hard struggle to face, and many ups and downs of fortune. He it was to whom Brabant owed the great charter of its liberties, called _La joyeuse entree_, because it was granted on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter Johanna (Jeanne) with Wenzel (Wenceslaus) of Luxemburg, and was proclaimed on their state entry into Brussels (1356).

Henry, the only legitimate son of John III., having died in 1349, the ducal dignity passed to his daughter and heiress, the above-named Johanna (d. 1406). She had married in first wedlock William IV., count of Holland (d. 1345). Wenzel of Luxemburg, her second husband, assumed in right of his wife, and by the sanction of the charter _La joyeuse entree_, the style of duke of Brabant. Johanna's title was, however, disputed by Louis II., count of Flanders (d. 1384), who had married her sister Margaret. The question had been compromised by the cession to Margaret in 1347 of the margraviate of Antwerp by John III., but a war broke out in 1356 between Wenzel supported by the gilds, and Louis, who upheld the burgher-patrician party in the Brabant cities. The democratic leaders were Everhard Tserclaes at Brussels and Peter Coutercel at Louvain. In the course of a stormy reign Wenzel was taken prisoner in 1371 by the duke of Gelderland, and had to be ransomed by his subjects. After his death (1383) his widow continued to rule over the two duchies for eighteen years, but was obliged to rely on the support of the house of Burgundy in her contests with the turbulent city gilds and with her neighbours, the dukes of Julich and Gelderland. In 1390 she revoked the deed which secured the succession to Brabant to the house of Luxemburg, and appointed her niece, Margaret of Flanders (d. 1405), daughter of Louis II. and Margaret of Brabant (see FLANDERS), and her husband, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, her heirs. Margaret of Flanders had married (1) Philip I. de Rouvre of Burgundy (d. 1361) and (2) Philip II., the Bold, (d. 1404), son of John II., king of France (see BURGUNDY). Of her three sons by her second marriage John succeeded to Burgundy, and Anthony to Brabant on the death of Johanna in 1406. Anthony was killed at the battle of Agincourt in 1415 and was succeeded by his eldest son by Jeanne of Luxemburg St Pol, John IV. (d. 1427). He is chiefly memorable for the excitement caused by his divorce from his wife Jacoba (q.v.), countess of Holland. John IV. left no issue, and the succession passed to his brother Philip I., who also died without issue in 1430.

On the extinction of the line of Anthony the duchy of Brabant became the inheritance of the elder branch of the house of Burgundy, in the person of Philip III., "the Good," of Burgundy, II. of Brabant, son of John. His grand-daughter Mary (d. 1482), daughter and heiress of Charles I., "the Bold," (d. 1477) married the archduke Maximilian of Austria (afterwards emperor) and so brought Brabant with the other Burgundian possessions to the house of Habsburg. The chief city of Brabant, Brussels, became under the Habsburg regime the residence of the court and the capital of the Netherlands. In the person of the emperor Charles V. the destinies of Brabant and the other Netherland states were linked with those of the Spanish monarchy. The attempt of Philip II. of Spain to impose despotic rule upon the Netherlands led to the outbreak of the Netherland revolt, 1568 (see NETHERLANDS).

In the course of the eighty years' war of independence the province of Brabant became separated into two portions. In the southern and larger part Spanish rule was maintained, and Brussels continued to be the seat of government. The northern (smaller) part was conquered by the Dutch under Maurice and Frederick Henry of Orange. The latter captured 's Hertogenbosch (1629), Maastricht (1632) and Breda (1637). At the peace of Munster this portion, which now forms the Dutch province of North Brabant, was ceded by Philip IV. to the United Provinces and was known as Generality Land, and placed under the direct government of the states-general. The southern portion, now divided into the provinces of Antwerp and South Brabant, remained under the rule of the Spanish Habsburgs until the death of Charles II., the last of his race in 1700. After the War of the Spanish Succession the southern Netherlands passed by the treaty of Utrecht (1713) to the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs. During the whole period of Austrian rule the province of Brabant succeeded in maintaining, to a very large extent unimpaired, the immunities and privileges to which it was entitled under the provisions of its ancient charter of liberty, the Joyous Entry. An ill-judged attempt by the emperor Joseph II., in his zeal for reform, to infringe these inherited rights stirred up the people under the leadership of Henry van der Noot to armed resistance in the Brabancon revolt of 1789-1790.

Since the French conquest of 1794 the history of Brabant is merged in that of Belgium (q.v.). The revolt against Dutch rule in 1830 broke out at Brussels and was in its initial stages largely a Brabancon movement. The important part played by Brabant at this crisis of the history of the southern Netherlands was marked in 1831 by the adoption of the ancient Brabancon colours to form the national flag, and of the lion of Brabant as the armorial bearings of Belgium. The title of duke of Brabant has been revived as the style of the eldest son of the king of the Belgians. (G. E.)

BRABANT, the central and metropolitan province of Belgium, is formed out of part of the ancient duchy. From 1815 to 1830, that is to say, during the existence of the kingdom of the Netherlands, Belgian Brabant was distinguished from Dutch by the employment of the geographical terms South and North. The surface of Brabant is undulating, and the highest points, some 400 ft. in altitude, are to be found at and near Mont St Jean. The province is well cultivated, and the people are well known for their industry. There are valuable stone quarries, and many manufactures flourish in the smaller towns, such as Ottignies, as well as in the larger cities of Brussels and Louvain. Brabant contains 820,740 acres or 1268 sq. m. Its principal towns are Brussels, Louvain, Nivelles, Hal, Ottignies, and its three administrative divisions are named after the first three of those towns. They are subdivided into 50 cantons and 344 communes. In 1904 the population of the province was 1,366,389 or a proportion of 1077 per sq. m.

BRABANT, NORTH, the largest province in Holland, bounded S. by Belgium, W. and N.W. by the Scheldt, the Eendracht, the Volkerak and the Hollandsch Diep, which separate it from Zealand and South Holland, N. and N. E. by the Merwede and Maas, which separate it from South Holland and Gelderland, and E. by the province of Limburg. It has an area of 231 sq. m. and a pop. (1900) of 553,842. The surface of the province is a gentle slope from the south-east (where it ranges between 80 and 160 ft. in height) towards the north and north-west, and the soil is composed of diluvial sand, here and there mixed with gravel, but giving place to sea-clay along the western boundary and river-clay along the banks of the Maas and smaller rivers. The watershed is formed by the north-eastern edge of the Belgian plateau of Campine, and follows a curved line drawn through Bergen-op-Zoom, Turnhout and Maastricht. The landscape consists for the most part of waste stretches of heath, occasionally slightly overlaid with high fen. Between the valleys of the Aa and the Maas lies the long stretch of heavy high-fen called the Peel ("marshy land"). Deurne, a few miles east of Helmond, the site of a prehistoric burial-ground, was an early fen colony. The work of reclamation was removed farther eastwards to Helenaveen in the second half of the 19th century. Agriculture (potatoes, buckwheat, rye) is the main industry, generally combined with cattle-raising. On the clay lands wheat and barley are the principal products, and in the western corner of the province beetroot is largely cultivated for the beet sugar industry, factories being found at Bergen-op-Zoom, Steenbergen and Oudenbosch. There is a special cultivation of hops in the district north-west of 's Hertogenbosch. The large majority of the population is Roman Catholic. The earliest development of towns and villages took place along the river Maas and its tributaries, and the fortified Roman camps which were the origin of many such afterwards developed in the hands of feudal lords. The chief town of the province, 's Hertogenbosch, may be cited as an interesting historical example. Geertruidenberg, Heusden, Ravestein and Grave are all similarly situated. Breda is the next town in importance to the capital. Bergen-op-Zoom had originally a more maritime importance. Rozendaal, Eindhoven and Bokstel (or Boxtel) are important railway junctions. Bokstel was formerly the seat of an independent barony which came into the possession of Philip the Good in 1439. The castle was restored in modern times. The precarious position of the province on the borders of the country doubtless militated against an earlier industrial development, but since the separation from Belgium and the construction of roads, railways and canals there has been a general improvement, Tilburg, Eindhoven and Helmond all having risen into prominence in modern times as industrial centres. Leather-tanning and shoe-making are especially associated with the district called Langstraat, which is situated between Geertruidenberg and 's Hertogenbosch, and consists of a series of industrial villages along the course of the Old Maas.

BRACCIANO, a town in the province of Rome, Italy, 25 m. N.W. of Rome by rail, situated on the S.W. shore of the Lake of Bracciano, 915 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901) 3987. It is chiefly remarkable for its fine castle (built by the Orsini in 1460, and since 1696 the property of the Odescalchi) which has preserved its medieval character. The beautiful lake is the ancient _Lacus Sabatinus_, supposed to derive its name from an Etruscan city of the name of Sabate, which is wrongly thought to be mentioned in the Itineraries; the reference is really to the lake itself, which bore this name and gave it to one of the Roman tribes, the _tribus Sabatina_, founded in 387 B.C. (O. Cuntz in _Jahreshefte des Osterr. Arch. Instituts_, ii., 1899, 85). It is 22 sq. m. in area, 538 ft. above sea-level, and 530 ft. deep; it is almost circular, but is held to be, not an extinct crater, but the result of a volcanic subsidence. The tufa deposits which radiate from it extend as far as Rome; various small craters surround it, while the existence of warm springs in the district (especially those of Vicarello, probably the ancient _Aquae Apollinares_) may also be noted. Many remains of ancient villas may be seen round the lake: above its west bank is the station of Forum Clodii, and on its north shore the village of Trevignano, which retains traces of the fortifications of an ancient town of unknown name. About half-a-mile east of it was a post station called Ad Novas. The site of Anguillara, on the south shore, was occupied by a Roman villa. The water of the lake partly supplies the Acqua Paola, a restoration by Paul V. of the Aqua Traiana. (T. As.)

BRACCIOLINI, FRANCESCO (1566-1645), Italian poet, was born at Pistoia, of a noble family, in 1566. On his removing to Florence he was admitted into the academy there, and devoted himself to literature. At Rome he entered the service of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini, with whom he afterwards went to France. After the death of Clement VIII. he returned to his own country; and when his patron Barberini was elected pope, under the name of Urban VIII., Bracciolini repaired to Rome, and was made secretary to the pope's brother, Cardinal Antonio. He had also the honour conferred on him of taking a surname from the arms of the Barberini family, which were bees; whence he was afterwards known by the name of _Bracciolini dell' Api_. During Urban's pontificate the poet lived at Rome in considerable reputation, though at the same time he was censured for his sordid avarice. On the death of the pontiff he returned to Pistoia, where he died in 1645. There is scarcely any species of poetry, epic, dramatic, pastoral, lyric or burlesque, which Bracciolini did not attempt; but he is principally noted for his mock-heroic poem _Lo Scherno degli Dei_, published in 1618, similar but confessedly inferior to the contemporary work of Tassoni, _Secchia Rapita_. Of his serious heroic poems the most celebrated is _La Croce Racquistata_.

For the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini see POGGIO.

BRACE, CHARLES LORING (1826-1890), American philanthropist, was born on the 19th of June 1826 in Litchfield, Connecticut. He graduated at Yale in 1846, studied theology there in 1847-1848, and graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1849. From this time he practically devoted his life to social work among the poor of New York, and to Christian propaganda among the criminal classes; and he became well known as a social reformer, at home and abroad. He started in 1852 to hold "boys' meetings," and in 1853 helped to found the Children's Aid Society, establishing workshops, industrial schools and lodging-houses for newsboys. In 1872 he was a delegate to the international prison congress which met in London. He died at Campfer, in Tirol, on the 11th of August 1890. He published from time to time several volumes embodying his views on practical Christianity and its application to the improvement of social conditions.

See _The Life and Letters of Charles Loring Brace_ (New York, 1894),
edited by his daughter, Emma Brace.

BRACE, JULIA (1806-1884), American blind deaf-mute, was born at Newington, Connecticut, on the 13th of June 1806. In her fifth year she became blind and deaf, and lost the power of speech. At the age of eighteen she entered the asylum for the deaf and dumb at Hartford. The study of blind deaf-mutes and their scientific training was then in its infancy; but she learnt to sew well, was neat in her dress, and had a good memory. Dr S.G. Howe's experiments with her were interesting as leading to his success with Laura Bridgman. She died at Bloomington, Conn., on the 12th of August 1884.

BRACE (through the Fr. from the plural of the Lat. _bracchium_, the arm), a measure of length, being the distance between the extended arms. From the original meaning of "the two arms" comes that of something which secures, connects, tightens or strengthens, found in numerous uses of the word, as a carpenter's tool with a crank handle and socket to hold a bit for boring; a beam of wood or metal used to strengthen any building or machine; the straps passing over the shoulders to support the trousers; the leathern thong which slides up and down the cord of a drum, and regulates the tension and the tone; a writing and printing sign ({) for uniting two or more lines of letterpress or music; a nautical term for a rope fastened to the yard for trimming the sails (cf. the corresponding French term _bras de vergue_). As meaning "a couple" or "pair" the term was first applied to dogs, probably from the leash by which they were coupled in coursing. In architecture "brace mould" is the term for two ressaunts or ogees united together like a brace in printing, sometimes with a small bead between them.

BRACEGIRDLE, ANNE (c. 1674-1748), English actress, is said to have been placed under the care of Thomas Betterton and his wife, and to have first appeared on the stage as the page in _The Orphan_ at its first performance at Dorset Garden in 1680. She was Lucia in Shadwell's _Squire of Alsatia_ at the Theatre Royal in 1688, and played similar parts until, in 1693, as Araminta in _The Old Bachelor_, she made her first appearance in a comedy by Congreve, with whose works and life her name is most closely connected. In 1695 she went with Betterton and the other seceders to Lincoln's Inn Fields, where, on its opening with Congreve's _Love for Love_, she played Angelica. This part, and those of Belinda in Vanbrugh's _Provoked Wife_, and Almira in Congreve's _Mourning Bride_, were among her best impersonations, but she also played the heroines of some of Nicholas Rowe's tragedies, and acted in the contemporary versions of Shakespeare's plays. In 1705 she followed Betterton to the Haymarket, where she found a serious competitor in Mrs Oldfield, then first coming into public favour. The story runs that it was left for the audience to determine which was the better comedy actress, the test being the part of Mrs Brittle in Betterton's _Amorous Widow_, which was played alternately by the two rivals on successive nights. When the popular vote was given in favour of Mrs Oldfield, Mrs Bracegirdle quitted the stage, making only one reappearance at Betterton's benefit in 1709. Her private life was the subject of much discussion. Colley Cibber remarks that she had the merit of "not being unguarded in her private character," while Macaulay does not hesitate to call her "a cold, vain and interested coquette, who perfectly understood how much the influence of her charms was increased by the fame of a severity which cost her nothing." She was certainly the object of the adoration of many men, and she was the innocent cause of the killing of the actor William Mountfort (q.v.), whom Captain Hill and Lord Mohun regarded as a rival for her affections. During her lifetime she was suspected of being secretly married to Congreve, whose mistress she is also said to have been. He was at least always her intimate friend, and left her a legacy. Rightly or wrongly, her reputation for virtue was remarkably high, and Lord Halifax headed a subscription list of 800 guineas, presented to her as a tribute to her virtue. Her charity to the poor in Clare Market and around Drury Lane was conspicuous, "insomuch that she would not pass that neighbourhood without the thankful acclamations of people of all degrees." She died in 1748, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.

See Genest, _History of the Stage_; Colley Gibber, _Apology_ (edited
by Bellchambers); Egerton, _Life of Anne Oldfield_; Downes, _Roscius
Anglicanus._

BRACELET, or ARMLET, a personal ornament for the arm or wrist, made of different materials, according to the fashion of the age and the rank of the wearer. The word is the French _bracelet_, a diminutive of _bracel_, from _brac(c)hiale_, formed from the Latin _bracchium_, the arm, on which it was usually worn. By the Romans it was called _armilla, brachiale, occabus_; and in the middle ages _bauga, armispatha_.

FIG. 1.--Egyptian Bracelet, Louvre.]

In the Bible there are three different words which the authorized version renders by "bracelet." These are--(1) [Hebrew: 'es'adah] _'es'adah_, which occurs in Num. xxxi. 50, 2 Sam. i. 10, and which being used with reference to men only, may be taken to be the _armlet_; (2) [Hebrew: samid] _samid_, which is found in Gen. xxiv. 22, Num. xxxi. 50, Ezek. xvi. 11;--where these two words occur together (as in Num. xxxi. 50) the first is rendered by "chain," and the second by "bracelet"; (3) [Hebrew: sheroth] _sheroth_, which occurs only in Isa. iii. 19. The first probably meant armlets worn by men; the second, bracelets worn by women and sometimes by men; and the third a peculiar bracelet of chain-work worn only by women. In 2 Sam. i. 10 the first word denotes the royal ornament which the Amalekite took from the arm of the dead Saul, and brought with the other regalia to David. There is little question that this was such a distinguishing band of jewelled metal as we still find worn as a mark of royalty from the Tigris to the Ganges. The Egyptian kings are represented with armlets, which were also worn by the Egyptian women. These, however, are not jewelled, but of plain or enamelled metal, as was in all likelihood the case among the Hebrews.