740 



BOROUGH. 



Borough properly Speaking, compose any essential part of the 

 *- -^ ' parliament : they sat apart both from the barons and 

 knights, who appear to have regarded them as per- 

 sonages of a very inferior rank. Having given their 

 consent to the taxes required of them, their business 

 was considered as finished, and they separated, even 

 although the parliament still continued to sit,*and to 

 canvass the national business. By this union, how- 

 ever, they gradually acquired more weight ; and it be- 

 came customary for them, in return for the supplies 

 which they granted, to prefer petitions to the king 

 for redress of any grievances of which they found 

 reason to complain. The commons, however, do not 

 yet appear to have assumed the character of legisla- 

 tors. Throughout the reign of Edward I., their as- 

 sent is not once expressed in any of the enacting clau- 

 ses, nor in the ensuing reigns, until ths 9th of Edw. 

 III. nor in any of the enacting clauses of Kith 

 Richard II. Nay, even so late as Henry VI., from 

 the beginning till the 8th of his reign, the assent of 

 the commons is not once expressed in any enacting 

 clause. (See RufFhead's edit, of the Statutes, pre- 

 face, p. 7.) So little were they accustomed to 

 transact public business, that they had no speaker 

 till after the parliament 6th Edward III., and, in 

 the opinion of most antiquaries, not till the first of 

 Richard II. The burgesses did not even form the 

 same house with the knights of shires. But as their 

 wealth and consideration gradually increased, so did 

 also their public importance ; and, in the reign of 

 Henry V., the commons required, that no laws should 

 be framed merely upon their petitions, unless the sta- 

 tutes were worded by themselves, and had passed their 

 house in the form of a bill. They were, at length, 

 united in the same house with the knights of shires. 

 This union, according to Mr Carte, who had careful- 

 ly consulted the rolls of parliament, does not appear 

 to have taken place until the 16th of Edward III. 

 .{See Carte's Hist. vol. ii. p. 451.) Even this union, 

 however, was not uninterrupted ; for instances after- 

 wards occur of the knight3 and burgesses acting se- 

 parately. 



Thus did the commons, or third estate of the 

 kingdom, gradually acquire their present form and 

 importance. It were unnecessary for us, at present, 

 t& trace any farther the progress of an institution, 

 which, besides the inestimable benefit of securing the 

 liberties of the subject, has contributed so much to 

 the efficacy and stability of the British constitutional 

 government, as we shall have occasion to revert to 

 this subject in the articles Parliament andWiTTEN- 



AGEMOTE. 



Boroughs are distinguished into those by charter 

 or statute, and those by prescription or custom. The 

 number of boroughs in England and Wales, inclu- 

 ding cities and cinque ports, which send members to 

 parliament, is 215 ; 6ome of which send one, others 

 two representatives. 



Burgesses were first admitted into the Scottish par- 

 liaments by Robert Bruce, in the year 1 326 ; and in 

 the preamble to the laws of Rohert III. they are 

 ranked among the constituent members of that assem- 

 bly. By the articles of the union, the Scottish bo- 

 'xmghs send fifteen representatives to the British par- 

 liament. 



See Jacob's Law Did. Heinrich's Gescltichle tier Borough. 

 Deutscken. Hume's Hist. Lyttelton's Hist. Ma- ^"""v * 

 dox Firma Burgi, and History of the Exchequer. 

 Brady's Historical Treatise of Cities and Boroughs. 

 Petyt's Right of the Commons. Brady's Answer to 

 Petyt. Tyrrel's Appendix to his Hist, of England. 

 Robertson's Hist, of Scotland: (s) 



BOROUGH, in the law of Scotland, signifies a 

 corporate body, erected by charter of the sovereign, 

 and consisting of the inhabitants of a certain district, 

 with jurisdiction annexed to it. Boroughs hold ei- 

 ther of the crown, or of a subject : hence they are 

 distinguished into boroughs royal, and boroughs of. 

 regality or barony. All royal boroughs have power, 

 by their charters, to chtise annually such office-bearers 

 or magistrates as are specified in the grant ; gener- 

 ally a provost, bailies, dean of guild, treasurer, and 

 common council, who are elected in terms of the set 

 or constitution of the borough. 



The magistrates of royal boroughs have as extensive 

 a civil jurisdiction within the borough, as the sheriff 

 in his territory. They are also empowered by special 

 statute, 1644', c. 35. revived by 1663, c. 6. to value 

 and sell ruinous houses, when the proprietors refuse 

 to rebuild or repair them. Their criminal jurisdic- 

 tion, anciently pretty extensive, is now confined to 

 petty riots. They never had jurisdiction in blood- 

 wits, with the exception of a few boroughs, to whom 

 that special right was granted by charter. The ma- 

 gistrates of some boroughs are, by their charters, 

 constituted justices of the peace within the bounds of 

 their erection ; and, since the union, the eldest ma- 

 gistrate of every royal borough is named, of course, 

 in all the commissions of the peace. In all matters 

 of police, the magistrates and town council must con- 

 cur, as the full representatives of the community. In 

 this capacity they enact by-laws, chuse persons into 

 offices which are in their gift, &c. ; and they may 

 not only proportion the public taxes among the inha- 

 bitants, but also impose taxations, for the utility of 

 the borough, by their own authority, provided they 

 have not only the consent of the magistrates and 

 council, but of the special corporations burdened. 



The Convention of Royal Boroughs is composed of 

 deputies or commissioners, one from each borough, 

 who were, as early as 1487, c. 3. authorised to meet 

 yearly, to consider of the " welfare of merchandise, 

 the gude rule and statutes for the common profite of 

 burrows, and to provide for remeid upon the skaith 

 and injuries sustained within the burrowes." Their 

 powers were confirmed and enlarged by many sub- 

 sequent acts ; and accordingly that body have been 

 in the practice of meeting annually in Edinburgh, for 

 the purpose of regulating the matters committed to 

 their charge. 



In boroughs of barony and regality, the right of 

 electing magistrates is, by the charter, vested some- 

 times in the inhabitants themselves, and sometimes 

 in the baron or superior. Their jurisdiction ex- 

 tends to the cognisance of debts, and questions of 

 possession between the inhabitants, and the superior's 

 jurisdiction is always cumulative with that of the 

 magistrates. See Erskine's Inst, of the Law of Scot- 

 land, b. i. tit. iv. 20. Bell's Did. of the Law of 

 Scotland, (r) 



