(A. N.)
BYELAYA TSERKOV (i.e. White Church), a town of Russia, in the government of Kiev, 32 m. S.S.W. of Vasilkov, on the main road from Kiev to the Crimea, in 49° 47′ N. lat. and 30° 7′ E. long. Pop. (1860) 12,075; (1897) 20,705. First mentioned in 1155, Byelaya Tserkov was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of the 13th century. In 1550 a castle was built here by the prince of Kiev, and various privileges were bestowed upon the inhabitants. From 1651 the town was subject alternately to Poland and to independent hetmans (Cossack chiefs). In 1793 it was united to Russia. There is a trade in beer, cattle and grain, sold at eleven annual fairs, three of which last for ten days each.
BYELEV, a town of Russia, in the government of Tula, and 67 m. S.W. from the city of that name on the left bank of the Oka, in 53° 48′ N. lat., and 36° 9′ E. long. Pop. (1860) 8063; (1897) 9567. It is first mentioned in 1147. It belonged to Lithuania in the end of the 14th century; and in 1468 it was raised to the rank of a principality, dependent on that country. In the end of the 15th century this principality began to attach itself to the grand-duchy of Moscow; and by Ivan III. it was ultimately united to Russia. It suffered greatly from the Tatars in 1507, 1512, 1530, 1536 and 1544. In 1826 the empress Elizabeth died here on her way from Taganrog to St Petersburg. A public library was founded in 1858 in memory of the poet Zhukovsky, who was born (1782) in a neighbouring village. The industries comprise tallow-boiling, oil-manufacture, tanning, sugar-refining and distilling. There is a trade in grain, hemp oil, cattle and tallow. A fair is held from the 28th of August to the 10th of September every year.
BYELGOROD (i.e. White Town), a town of Russia, in the government of Kursk, 100 m. S.S.E. by rail from the city of that name, in 50° 46′ N. lat. and 36° 37′ E. long., clustering on a chalk hill on the right bank of the Donets. Pop. (1860) 11,722; (1897) 21,850. In the 17th century it suffered repeatedly from Tatar incursions, against which there was built (from 1633 to 1740) an earthen wall, with twelve forts, extending upwards of 200 m. from the Vorskla to the Don, and called the Byelgorod line. In 1666 an archiepiscopal see was established in the town. There are two cathedral churches, both built in the 16th century, as well as a theological seminary. Candles, leather, soap, lime and bricks are manufactured, and a trade is carried on in grain, cattle, wool, honey, wax and tallow. There are three annual fairs, on the 10th Friday after Easter, the 29th of June and the 15th of August respectively.
BYELOSTOK (Polish, Bialystok), a town of West Russia, in the government of and 53 m. by rail S.W. of the city of Grodno, on the main railway line from Moscow to Warsaw, at its junction with the Kiev-Grayevo (Prussian frontier) line. Founded in 1320, it became part of Prussia after the third partition of Poland, but was annexed to Russia in 1807, after the peace of Tilsit. Its development dates from 1845, when woollen-mills were built. Since that time it has grown very rapidly, its population being 13,787 in 1857; 56,629 in 1889; and 65,781 in 1901, three-fourths Jews. Its woollen, silk and felt hat factories give occupation to several thousand workers.
BYEZHETSK, a town of Russia, in the government of Tver, and 70 m. N.N.E. of the city of that name, on the right bank of the Mologa, in 57° 46′ N. lat. and 36° 43′ E. long. Pop. (1860) 5423; (1897) 9090. It is mentioned in the chronicles of 1137. On the fall of Novgorod, to which it had belonged, it was incorporated (1479) with the grand-duchy of Moscow. The town is famous for its scythes and shearing hooks, but makes also axes, nails and other hardware, and trades in grain, linen, hemp and flax.
BY-LAW, or Bye-law (by- being used in the sense of subordinate or secondary, cf. by-path), a regulation made by councils, boards, corporations and companies, usually under statutory power, for the preservation of order and good government within some place or jurisdiction. When made under authority of a statute, by-laws must generally, before they come into operation, be submitted to some confirming authority for sanction and approval; when approved, they are as binding as enacted laws. By-laws must be reasonable in themselves; they must not be retrospective nor contrary to the general law of the land. By various statutes powers are given to borough, county and district councils, to make by-laws for various purposes; corporate bodies, also, are empowered by their charters to make by-laws which are binding on their members. Such by-laws must be in harmony with the objects of the society and must not infringe or limit the powers and duties of its officers.
BYLES, MATHER (1706-1788), American clergyman, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 26th of March 1706, descended, on his mother's side, from John Cotton and Richard Mather. He graduated at Harvard in 1725, and in 1733 became pastor of the Hollis Street church (Congregational), Boston. He held a high rank among the clergy of the province and was noted for his scholarly sermons and his ready wit. At the outbreak of the War of Independence he was outspoken in his advocacy of the royal cause, and after the British evacuation of Boston his connexion with his church was dissolved. He remained in Boston, however, and subsequently (1777) was arrested, tried and sentenced to deportation. This sentence was later changed to imprisonment in his own house. He was soon released, but never resumed his pastorate. He died in Boston on the 5th of July 1788. Besides many sermons he published A Poem on the Death of George I. (1727) and Miscellaneous Poems (1744).
His son, Mather Byles (1735-1814), graduated at Harvard in 1751, and was a Congregational clergyman at New London, Connecticut, until 1768, when he entered the Established Church, and became rector of Christ church, Boston. Sympathizing with the royal cause, he settled, after the War of Independence, in St Johns, New Brunswick, where he was rector of a church until his death.