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assailant should be too powerful. Such 

 regard, indeed, has the law of England to 

 the immunity of a man's house, that it 

 stiles it his castle, and will never suffer it 

 to be violated with impunity ; for this 

 reason no outward doors can in general be 

 broken open to execute any civil process; 

 though, in criminal cases, the public safety 

 supersedes the private. Hence, also, in 

 part, arises the animadversion of the law 

 upon eves-droppers, nuisancers, and in- 

 cendiaries; and to this principle it must 

 be assigned, that a man may assemble peo- 

 ple together lawfully (at least if they do 

 not exceed eleven) without danger of 

 raising a riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, 

 in order to protect and defend his house; 

 which he is not permitted to do in any 

 other case. The definition of a burglar, 

 as given by Sir Edward Coke, is, " he that 

 by night breaketh and entereth into a 

 mansion-house, with intent to commit a 

 felony." In this definition, says Judge 

 Biaclistone, there are four things to be 

 considered ; the time, the place, the man- 

 ner, and the intent. 1 . The time must be 

 by night, and not by day ; for in the day- 

 time there is no burglary. In considering 

 what is reckoned night, the day was an- 

 ciently accounted to begin at sun-rising 1 , 

 and to end immediately upon sun-set: but 

 the better opinion seems to be,thatif t here 

 be daylight or twilight sufficient begun or 

 left for discerning a man's face, it is no 

 burglary. But this does not extend to 

 moon-light: for then many midnight burg- 

 laries would go unpunished; and besides, 

 the malignity of the offence does not so 

 properly arise from its being done in 

 the dark, as at the dead of night, when 

 the whole creation, exceptbeasts of prey, 

 is at rest ; when sleep has disarmed the 

 owner, and rendered his castle defence- 

 less 2. As to the place. It must be, by 

 the definition, a mansion-house ; and, 

 therefore, in order to account for the 

 reason why breaking open a church is 

 burglary, as it undoubtedly is. Sir Edward 

 Coke quaintly observes, that it is " donuis 

 mansionalis Dei." But it is not necessa- 

 ry that it should in all cases be a mansion- 

 house; for it may he committed by break- 

 ing the gates or walls of a town in the 

 night. 3. As TO the manner of commit- 

 ting 1 burglary ; there must be both a 

 breaking and an entry, to complete this 

 offence. But they need not be done at 

 once: for if a hole be broken one night, 

 am< the same breakers enter the next 

 night through the same, they are burglars. 

 There must in general be an actual break- 

 ing, so that it may be regarded as a sub- 



stantial and forcible irruption. Such are, 

 break;ng or taking out the glass of, or 

 otherwise opening a window, and taking 

 out goods ; picking a lock, or opening it 

 with a key ; and lifting up the latch of a 

 door, or loosing any other fastenings 

 which the owner has provided. But if a 

 person leaves his doors or windows of his 

 house open, and a man enters by them, or 

 with a hook or by any other means draws 

 out some of the goods of the owner, it 

 is no burglary; but if, having entered, he 

 afterwards unlocks an inner or chamber 

 door, or if he comes down a chimney, he 

 is deemed a burglar. If a person enters by 

 the open door of a house,and breaks open 

 a chest and steals goods, this is no bur- 

 glary, by the common law, because the 

 chest is no part of the house. 4. As to 

 the intent: it is clear that such breaking 

 and entry must be with a felonious intent, 

 otherwise it is only a trespass. And it is 

 the same, whether such intention be ac- 

 tually carried into execution, or only de- 

 monstrated by some attempt or overt act, 

 of which the jury is to judge. 



BURGOMASTER,the chief magistrate 

 of the great towns in Flanders, Holland, 

 and Germany. The power and jurisdic- 

 tion of the burgomaster is not the same 

 in all places, every town having its parti- 

 cular customs and regulations at Am- 

 sterdam there are four, chosen by the 

 voices of all those people in the Senate 

 who have either been burgomasters or 

 echevins. Their authority resembles that 

 of the lord-mayor and aldermen ; they 

 dispose of all under offices that fall in 

 their time, keep the key of the bank, and 

 enjoy a salary but of *500 guilders, all 

 feasts, public entertainments, &c. being 

 defrayed out of the common treasury. 



BURGUNDY pitch, in medicine, the 

 juice of the pinus abies, boiled in water, 

 and strained through a linen cloth. It 

 is chief!} emplo\ ed for external purposes 

 in inveterate coughs, &c. Plasters of this 

 resin, by acting as topical stimulants, are 

 frequently found of considerable service 



BURIAL, the interment of a deceased 

 person. The rites of burial make the 

 greatest and most necessary care, being 

 looked upon in all countries, and at all 

 times, as a debt so sacred, that such as 

 neglected to discharge it were thought 

 accursed: hence the Romans called them 

 justa,and the Greeks vo/H.in,cc,}oca,ioc ) oFix :> 

 &.c. words implying the inviolable obliga- 

 tions which nature has laid upon the liv- 

 ing, to take care of the obsequies of the 

 dead. Nor are we to wonder that the an- 

 cient Greeks and Romans were extrerru 



