BOWLING, SIR JOHN, linguist and political writer, born at Exeter;
friend and disciple of Bentham as well as editor of his works; first
editor of _Westminster Review_; at the instance of the English Government
visited the Continental States to report on their commercial relations;
became governor of Hong-Kong; ordered the bombardment of Canton, which
caused dissatisfaction at home (1792-1872).
BOWYER, WILLIAM, printer and scholar, born in London; wrote on the
origin of printing, and published an edition of the Greek New Testament
with notes (1699-1777).
"BOX AND COX," a farce by J. M. Morton, remarkable for a successful
run such as is said to have brought the author £7000.
BOY BISHOP, a boy chosen on 6th December, St. Nicholas' Day,
generally out of the choir, to act as bishop and do all his episcopal
duties, except celebrate mass. For the term of his office, which varied,
he was treated as bishop, and if he died during his tenure of it was
buried with episcopal honours. The term of office was limited in 1279 to
24 hours.
BOYARS, the old nobility of Russia, whose undue influence in the
State was broken by Peter the Great; also the landed aristocracy of
Roumania.
BOYCE, WILLIAM, composer, chiefly of church music, born in London;
published a collection of the "Cathedral Music of the Old English
Masters"; composed "Hearts of Oak," a naval song sung by ships' crews at
one time before going into action (1710-1779).
BOYCOTT, CAPTAIN, an Irish landlord's agent in Connemara, with whom
the population of the district in 1880 refused to have any dealings on
account of disagreements with the tenantry.
BOYD, ANDREW KENNEDY HUTCHISON, a Scottish clergyman and writer;
bred for the bar, but entered the Church; known to fame as A. K. H. B.;
author of "Recreations of a Country Parson," which was widely read, and
of Reminiscences of his life; died at Bournemouth by mischance of
swallowing a lotion instead of a sleeping-draught (1825-1899).
BOYD, ZACHARY, a Scottish divine; regent of a Protestant college at
Samur, in France; returned to Scotland in consequence of the persecution
of the Huguenots; became minister of Barony Parish, Glasgow, and rector
of the University; preached before Cromwell after the battle of Dunbar;
author of the "Last Battell of the Soule in Death" and "Zion's Flowers,"
being mainly metrical versions of Scripture, called "Boyd's Bible"
(1585-1653).
BOYDELL, JOHN, an English engraver and print-seller, famous for his
"Shakespeare Gallery," with 96 plates in illustration of Shakespeare, and
the encouragement he gave to native artists; he issued also Hume's
"History of England," with 196 plates in illustration (1719-1804).
BOYER, BARON, French anatomist and surgeon; attendant on Napoleon,
afterwards professor in the University of Paris; wrote works on anatomy
and surgical diseases, which continued for long text-books on those
subjects; was a man of very conservative opinions (1757-1833).
BOYER, JEAN PIERRE, president of Hayti, born at Port-au-Prince of a
negress and a Creole father; secured the independence of the country;
held the presidency for 25 years from 1818, but suspected of consulting
his own advantage more than that of the country, was driven from power by
a revolution in 1843; retired to Paris, where he spent the rest of his
life and died (1776-1850).
BOYLE, CHARLES, fourth Earl of Orrery, distinguished for the
connection of his name with the Bentley controversy, and for its
connection with an astronomical contrivance by one Graham to illustrate
the planetary system (1676-1731).
BOYLE, RICHARD, first and great Earl of Cork, distinguished among
Irish patriots and landlords for what he did to improve his estates and
develop manufactures and the mechanical arts in Ireland, also for the
honours conferred upon him for his patriotism; when Cromwell saw how his
estates were managed he remarked, that had there been one like him in
every province in Ireland rebellion would have been impossible
(1566-1643).
BOYLE, THE HON. ROBERT, a distinguished natural philosopher, born at
Lismore, of the Orrery family; devoted his life and contributed greatly
to science, especially chemistry, as well as pneumatics; was one of the
originators of the "Royal Society"; being a student of theology, founded
by his will an endowment for the "Boyle Lectures" in defence of
Christianity against its opponents and rivals; refused the presidentship
of the Royal Society, and declined a peerage (1626-1691).
BOYLE LECTURES, the lectureship founded by the Hon. Robert Boyle in
1691, and held for a tenure of three years, the endowment being £50 per
annum; the lecturer must deliver eight lectures in defence of
Christianity, and some of the most eminent men have held the post.
BOYLE'S LAW, that the volume of a gas is inversely as the pressure.
BOYNE, a river in Ireland, which flows through Meath into the Irish
Sea; gives name to the battle in which William III. defeated the forces
of James II. on 30th July 1690.
BOZ, a _nom de plume_ under which Dickens wrote at first, being his
nickname when a boy for a little brother.
BOZZY, Johnson's familiar name for Boswell.
BRABANT, in mediæval times was an important prov. of the Low
Countries, inhabitants Dutch, cap. Breda; is now divided between Holland
and Belgium. It comprises three provs., the N. or Dutch Brabant; Antwerp,
a Belgian prov., inhabitants Flemings, cap. Antwerp; and S. Brabant, also
Belgian, inhabitants Walloons, cap. Brussels; the whole mostly a plain.
BRACTON, HENRY DE, an English "justice itinerant," a writer on
English law of the 13th century; author of "De Legibus et Consuetudinibus
Angliæ," a "Treatise on the Laws and Customs of England," and the first
attempt of the kind; _d_. 1268.
BRADAMANTE, sister to Rinaldo, and one of the heroines in "Orlando
Furioso"; had a lance which unhorsed every one it touched.
BRADDOCK, EDWARD, British general, born in Perthshire; entered the
Coldstream Guards, and became major-general in 1754; commanded a body of
troops against the French in America, fell in an attempt to invest Fort
Duquesue, and lost nearly all his men (1695-1755).
BRADDON, MISS (Mrs. John Maxwell), a popular novelist, born in
London; authoress of "Lady Audley's Secret," "Aurora Floyd," and some 50
other novels; contributed largely to magazines; _b_. 1837.
BRADFORD (216), a Yorkshire manufacturing town, on a tributary of
the Aire, 9 m. W. of Leeds; it is the chief seat of worsted spinning and
weaving in England, and has an important wool market; coal and iron mines
are at hand, and iron-works and machinery-making are its other industries.
Also the name of a manufacturing town on the Avon, in Wilts.
BRADLAUGH, CHARLES, a social reformer on secularist lines, born in
London; had a chequered career; had for associate in the advocacy of his
views Mrs. Annie Besant; elected M.P. for Northampton thrice over, but
not allowed to sit till he took the oath, which he did in 1886; died
respected by all parties in the House of Commons; wrote the "Impeachment
of the House of Brunswick" (1833-1891).
BRADLEY, JAMES, astronomer, born in Gloucestershire; professor of
Astronomy at Oxford, and astronomer-royal at Greenwich; discovered the
aberration of light and the nutation of the earth's axis; made 60,000
astronomical observations (1693-1762).
BRADSHAW, GEORGE, an engraver of maps in Manchester; published maps
illustrative of certain canal systems, and did the same service for
railways, which developed into the well-known "Railway Guide"
(1830-1863).
BRADSHAW, JOHN, president of the High Court of Justice for trial of
Charles I., born at Stockport; bred for the bar; a friend of Milton; a
thorough republican, and opposed to the Protectorate; became president of
the Council on Cromwell's death; was buried in Westminster; his body was
exhumed and hung in chains at the Restoration (1586-1659).
BRADWARDIN, THOMAS, archbishop of Canterbury, surnamed "Doctor
Profundus" from his treatise "De Causa Dei" against Pelagianism; chaplain
to Edward III.; was present at Crécy and at the taking of Calais; died of
the black death shortly after his consecration (1290-1348).
BRADWARDINE, the name of a baron and his daughter, the heroine of
"Waverley."
BRAEMAR`, a Scottish Highland district SW. of Aberdeenshire; much
frequented by tourists, and resorted to for summer country quarters.
BRAG, JACK, a pretender who ingratiates himself with people above
him.
BRAGA (23), a city, 34 m. NE. of Oporto, Portugal; the residence of
the Primate; the capital of Minho.
BRAGANZA, capital of Traz-os-Montes, in Portugal; gives name to the
ruling dynasty of Portugal, called the House of Braganza, the eighth duke
of Braganza having ascended the throne in 1640, on the liberation of
Portugal from the yoke of Spain.
BRAGI, the Norse god of poetry and eloquence, son of Odin and
Frigga; represented as an old man with a long flowing beard and
unwrinkled brow, with a mild expression of face; received in Valhalla the
heroes who fell in battle.
BRAHAM, JOHN, a celebrated tenor singer, the most so in Europe of
his day, and known all over Europe; was particularly effective in
rendering the national songs; born in London, of Jewish parents; composed
operas, which, however, were only dramas interspersed with songs. Scott
described him as "a beast of an actor, but an angel of a singer"
(1774-1856).
BRAHÉ, TYCHO, a Swedish astronomer, of noble birth; spent his life
in the study of the stars; discovered a new star in Cassiopeia; had an
observatory provided for him on an island in the Sound by the king, where
he made observations for 20 years; he was, on the king's death, compelled
to retire under persecution at the hand of the nobles; accepted an
invitation of the Kaiser Rudolf II. to Prague, where he continued his
work and had Kepler for assistant and pupil (1546-1601).
BRAHMA, in the Hindu religion and philosophy at one time the formless
spirit of the Universe, from which all beings issue and into which they
all merge, and as such is not an object of worship, but a subject of
meditation; and at another the creator of all things, of which VISHNU (q.
v.) is the preserver AND SIVA (q. v.) the destroyer, killing that he may
make alive. See TRIMURTI.
BRAHMAN, or BRAHMIN, one of the sacred caste of the Hindus that
boasts of direct descent from, or immediate relationship with, Brahma,
the custodians and mediators of religion, and therefore of high-priestly
rank.
BRAHMANAS, treatises on the ceremonial system of Brahminism, with
prescriptions bearing upon ritual, and abounding in legends and
speculations.
BRAHMAPUTRA (i. e. son of Brahma), a river which rises in Tibet,
circles round the E. of the Himalayas, and, after a course of some 1800
m., joins the Ganges, called the Sampo in Tibet, the Dihong in Assam, and
the Brahmaputra in British India; it has numerous tributaries, brings
down twice as much mud as the Ganges, and in the lower part of its course
overflows the land, particularly Assam, like an inland sea.
BRAHMINISM, the creed and ritual of the Brahmans, or that social,
political, and religious organisation which developed among the Aryans in
the valley of the Ganges under the influence of the Brahmans. According
to the religious conception of this class, Brahma, or the universal
spirit, takes form or incarnates himself successively as Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva, which triple incarnation constitutes a trimurti or trinity. In
this way Brahma, the first incarnation of the universal spirit, had four
sons, from whom issued the four castes of India--Brahmans, Kshatriyas,
Vaisyas, and Sudras--all the rest being outcasts or pariahs. See
CASTE.
BRAHMO-SOMAJ (i. e. church of God), a secession from traditional
Hinduism, originated in 1830 by Rammohun Roy, and developed by Chunder
Sen; founded on theistic, or rather monotheistic, i. e. unitarian,
principles, and the rational ideas and philosophy of Europe, as well as a
profession of a sense of the brotherhood of man no less than the unity of
God.
BRAHMS, JOHANNES, a distinguished composer, born at Hamburg; of
great promise from a boy; settled in Vienna; has no living rival; the
appearance of compositions of his an event in the musical world;
approaches Beethoven as no other does; distinguished as a performer as
well as a composer; _b_. 1833.
BRAIDWOOD, JAMES, born in Edinburgh; director of the London fire
brigade; distinguished for his heroism on the occasion of great fires
both in Edinburgh and London (1790-1861).
BRAILLE, a blind Frenchman, invented printing in relief for the
blind (1809-1852).
BRAINERD, American missionary to the Red Indians, born in
Connecticut; his Life was written by Jonathan Edwards, in whose house he
died (1718-1747).
BRAMAH, JOSEPH, an engineer, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire; author of
many mechanical inventions, 18 of which were patented, among others the
hydraulic press, named after him (1748-1814).
BRAMANTE, DONATO, architect; laid the foundation of St. Peter's at
Rome, which he did not live to complete (1444-1514).
BRAMBLE, MATTHEW, a gouty humorist in "Humphrey Clinker"; of a
fretful temper, yet generous and kind, who has a sister, MISS
TABITHA, an ungainly maiden at forty-five, and of anything but a
sweet temper.
BRAMHALL, JOHN, archbishop of Armagh, born in Yorkshire, a
high-handed Churchman and imitator of Laud; was foolhardy enough once to
engage, nowise to his credit, in public debate with such a dialectician
as Thomas Hobbes on the questions of necessity and free-will (1594-1663).
BRAMWELL, SIR FREDERICK, civil engineer, president of the British
Association in 1888, and previously of Association of Engineers; _b_.
1818.
BRAN, name given to Fingal's dog.
BRAND, JOHN, antiquary, born in Durham, wrote a "Popular
Antiquities" (1744-1784).
BRANDAN, ST., ISLAND OF, an island reported of by St. Brandan as
lying W. of the Canary Islands, and that figured on charts as late as
1755, in quest of which voyages of discovery were undertaken as recently
as the beginning of the 18th century, up to which time it was believed to
exist.
BRANDE, chemist, born in London; author of "Manual of Chemistry" and
other works (1788-1866).
BRANDENBURG (2,542), in the great northern plain of Germany, is a
central Prussian province, and the nucleus of the Prussian kingdom; most
of it a sandy plain, with fertile districts and woodlands here and there.
BRANDENBURG, THE HOUSE OF, an illustrious German family dating from
the 10th century, from which descended the kings of Prussia.
BRANDES, GEORGE, a literary critic, born at Copenhagen, of Jewish
parents; his views of the present tendency of literature in Europe
provoked at first much opposition in Denmark, though they were received
with more favour afterwards; the opposition to his views were such that
he was forced to leave Copenhagen, but, after a stay in Berlin, he
returned to it in 1862, with the support of a strong party in his favour.
BRANDT, a Swedish chemist; chanced on the discovery in 1669 of
phosphorus while in quest of a solvent to transmute metals, such as
silver, into gold; _d_. 1692.
BRANDT, SEBASTIAN, a satirical writer, born at Strassburg; author of
the "Narrenschiff" or "Ship of Fools," of which there have been many
translations and not a few imitations (1458-1521).
BRANDY NAN, a nickname for Queen Anne, from her fondness for brandy.
BRANDYWINE CREEK, a small river in Delaware; scene of a victory of
the British over the Americans in 1777.
BRANGTONS, THE, a vulgar, evil-spoken family in Miss Burney's
"Evelina."
BRANT, JOSEPH, Indian chief who sided with the British in the
American war; a brave and good man; _d_. 1807.
BRANTÔME, PIERRE DE BOURDEILLES, a French chronicler, contemporary
of Montaigne, born in Périgord; led the life of a knight-errant, and
wrote Memoirs remarkable for the free-and-easy, faithful, and vivid
delineations of the characters of the most celebrated of his
contemporaries (1527-1614).
BRASIDAS, a Spartan general, distinguished in the Peloponnesian war;
his most celebrated action, the defeat at the expense of his life, in 422
B.C., of the flower of the Athenian army at Amphipolis, with a small
body of helots and mercenaries.
BRASS, SAMPSON, a knavish attorney in "Old Curiosity Shop"; affected
feeling for his clients, whom he fleeced.
BRASSES, sepulchral tablets of a mixed metal, called latten, inlaid
in a slab of stone, and insculpt with figures and inscriptions of a
monumental character; the oldest in England is at Stoke d'Abernon, in
Surrey.
BRASSEY, THOMAS, a great railway contractor, born in Cheshire;
contracted for the construction of railways in all parts of the world
(1805-1870).
BRAUN, AUGUSTE EMIL, German archæologist, born at Gotha; works
numerous, and of value (1809-1856).
BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE, Marshal Ney, so called from his fearlessness
in battle; Napoleon had on one occasion said, "That man is a lion."
BRAXY, an inflammatory disease in sheep, due to a change in food
from succulent to dry; and the name given to the mutton of sheep affected
with it.
BRAY, a Berkshire village, famous for Simon Aleyn, its vicar from
1540 to 1588, who, to retain his living, never scrupled to change his
principles; he lived in the reigns of Charles II., James II., William
III., Queen Anne, and George I.
BRAZEN AGE, in the Greek mythology the age of violence, that
succeeded the weak Silver Age. See AGES.
BRAZIL (14,000), the largest South American State, almost equal to
Europe, occupies the eastern angle of the continent, and comprises the
Amazon basin, the tablelands of Matto Grosso, the upper basin of the
Paraguay, and the maritime highlands, with the valleys of the Paraná and
San Francisco. Great stretches of the interior are uninhabitable swamp
and forest lands; forests tenanted by an endless variety of
brilliant-plumed birds and insects; the coasts are often humid and
unhealthy, but the upper levels have a fine climate. Almost all the
country is within the tropics. The population at the seaports is mostly
white; inland it is negro, mulatto, and Indian. Vegetable products are
indescribably rich and varied; timber of all kinds, rubber, cotton, and
fruit are exported; coffee and sugar are the chief crops. The vast
mineral wealth includes diamonds, gold, mercury, and copper. Most of the
trade is with Britain and America. The language is Portuguese; the
religion, Roman Catholic; education is very backward, and government
unsettled. Discovered in 1500, and annexed by Portugal; the Portuguese
king, expelled by the French in 1808, fled to his colony, which was made
a kingdom 1815, and an empire in 1822. The emperor, Pedro II., was driven
out in 1889, and a republic established on the federal system, which has
been harassed ever since by desultory civil war. The capital is Rio
Janeiro; Bahia and Pernambuco, the other seaports.
BRAZIL-WOOD, a wood found in Brazil, of great value for dyeing red,
the colouring principle being named Brasilin.
BRAZZA (22), an island in the Adriatic, belonging to Austria; is
richly wooded; noted for its wines; yields marble.
BRAZZA, PIERRE SAVORGNAN DE, explorer, born in Rome; acquired land
N. of the Congo for France, and obtained a governorship; _b_. 1852.
BREADFRUIT-TREE, a South Sea island tree producing a fruit which,
when roasted, is used as bread.
BRÉAL, MICHEL, a French philologist, born at Landau; translator into
French of Bopp's "Comparative Grammar"; _b_. 1832.
BRÈCHE-DE-ROLAND, a gorge in the dep. of the Haute-Pyrénées, which,
according to tradition, Charlemagne's Paladin of the name of Roland cleft
with one stroke of his sword when he was beset by the Gascons.
BRECHIN, a town in Forfarshire, W. of Montrose, on the S. Esk, with
a cathedral and an old round tower near it, 85 ft. high, the only one of
the kind in Scotland besides being at Abernethy.
BREDA (23), fortified town, the capital of N. Brabant; a place of
historical interest; Charles II. resided here for a time during his
exile, and issued hence his declaration prior to his restoration.
BREECHES BIBLE, the Geneva Bible, so called from its rendering in
Gen. iii. 7, in which "aprons" is rendered "breeches."
BREECHES REVIEW, the _Westminster_, so called at one time, from one
Place, an authority in it, who had been a leather-breeches maker at
Charing Cross.
BRÉGNET, a French chronometer-maker, born at Neuchâtel; a famous
inventor of astronomical instruments (1747-1823).
BREHM, ALFRED EDMUND, German naturalist; his chief work
"Illustrirtes Thierleben" (1829-1884).
BREHON LAWS, a body of judge-created laws that for long formed the
common law of Ireland, existed from prehistoric times till Cromwell's
conquest. The origin of the code is unknown, and whether it was at first
traditional; many manuscript redactions of portions exist still.
BREMEN (126), the chief seaport of Germany, after Hamburg; is on the
Weser, 50 m. from its mouth, and is a free city, with a territory less
than Rutlandshire. Its export and import trade is very varied; half the
total of emigrants sail from its docks; it is the head-quarters of the
North German Lloyd Steamship Company. Textiles, tobacco, and paper
industries add to its prosperity; was one of the principal cities of the
Hanseatic League.
BREMER, FREDRIKA, a highly popular Swedish novelist, born in
Finland; "The Neighbours," "The President's Daughter," and "Strife and
Peace," are perhaps her best stories; has been called the Jane Austen of
Sweden.
BREMER, SIR JAMES, rear-admiral; distinguished in the Burmese and
Chinese wars (1786-1850).
BREMERHAVEN, the port of Bremen, on the estuary of the Weser,
founded for the accommodation of large vessels in 1830, with a large
hospice for emigrants.
BRENDAN, ST., an Irish saint, born at Tralee, celebrated for his
voyages in quest of "a land beyond human ken" and his discovery of "a
paradise amid the waves of the sea"; founded a monastery at Clonfert;
died in 577, in his ninety-fourth year.
BRENNER PASS, pass on the central Tyrolese Alps, 6853 ft. high,
between Innsbruck and Botzen, crossed by a railway, which facilitates
trade between Venice, Germany, and Austria.
BRENNUS, a Gallic chief, who, 300 B.C., after taking and pillaging
Rome, invested the Capitol for so long that the Romans offered him a
thousand pounds' weight of gold to retire; as the gold was being weighed
out he threw his sword and helmet into the opposite scale, adding _Væ
victis_, "Woe to the conquered," an insolence which so roused Camillus,
that he turned his back and offered battle to him and to his army, and
totally routed the whole host.
BRENTA, an Italian river; rises in the Tyrol, waters Bassano, and
debouches near Venice.
BRENTANO, CLEMENS, poet of the romanticist school, born at
Frankfort-on-the-Main, brother of Goethe's Bettina von Arnim; was a
roving genius (1778-1849).
BRENTFORD, market-town in Middlesex, on the Brent, 10 m. W. of
London, that figures in history and literature.
BRENZ, JOHANN, the reformer of Würtemberg, and one of the authors of
the Würtemberg Confession, as well as a catechism extensively used
(1499-1570).
BRESCIA (43), a city of Lombardy, on the Mella and Garza, 50 m. E.
of Milan; has two cathedrals, an art gallery and library, a Roman temple
excavated in 1822, and now a classical museum; its manufactures are
woollens, silks, leather, and wine.
BRESLAU (335), the capital of Silesia, second city in Prussia; an
important commercial and manufacturing centre, and has a first-class
fortress; is on the Oder, 150 m. by rail SE. of Frankfort; it stands in
the centre of the Baltic, North Sea, and Danube trade, and has a large
woollen industry and grain market; there are a cathedral, university, and
library.
BRESSAY, one of the Shetland Isles, near Lerwick, with one of the
best natural harbours in the world.
BREST (76), a strongly-fortified naval station in the extreme NW. of
France; one of the chief naval stations in France, with a magnificent
harbour, and one of the safest, first made a marine arsenal by Richelieu;
has large shipbuilding yards and arsenal; its industries are chiefly
related to naval equipment, with leather, waxcloth, and paper
manufactures.
BRÉTON, JULES ADOLPHE, a French _genre_ and landscape painter, born
at Courrières, in Pas-de-Calais, 1827.
BRETON DE LOS HERREROS, Spanish poet and dramatist; wrote comedies
and satires in an easy, flowing style (1800-1873).
BRETEUIL, BARON DE, an ex-secretary of Louis XVI. (1733-1807).
BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LIFE, a Dutch branch of the "Friends of God,"
founded at Deventer by Gerard Groote.
BRETSCHNEIDER, HENRY GOTTFRIED VON, a German satirical writer, born
at Gera; led a bohemian life; served in the army; held political posts;
composed, besides satirical writings, "Almanach der Heiligen auf das
Jahr, 1788," "Wallers Leben und Sitten," and the comic epic, "Graf Esau"
(1739-1810).
BRETSCHNEIDER, KARL GOTTLIEB, a German rationalistic theologian;
much regarded for his sound judgment in critical matters; his theological
writings are of permanent value; his chief works, "Handbuch der
Dogmatik," and an edition of Melanchthon's works.
BRETWALDA, a title apparently of some kind of acknowledged supremacy
among the Anglo-Saxon kings, and the leader in war.
BREUGHEL, a family of Butch painters, a father and two sons, the
father, Peter, called "OLD" B. (1510-1570); a son, John, "VELVET"
B., either from his dress or from the vivid freshness of his colours
(1560-1625); and the other, Peter, "HELLISH" B., from his fondness
for horrible subjects (1559-1637).
BREVET`, a commission entitling an officer in the army to a nominal
rank above his real rank.
BREVIARY, a book containing the daily services in the Roman Catholic
Church and corresponding to the English Prayer-Book; differs from the
"Missal," which gives the services connected with the celebration of the
Eucharist, and the "Pontifical," which gives those for special occasions.
BREWER, JOHN SHERREN, historian, professor of English Literature in
King's College, London; author of "Calendar of Letters and Papers of
Henry VIII.'s Reign," his work the sole authority on Henry's early reign
(1810-1879).
BREWER OF GHENT, Jacob Arteveld.
BREWSTER, SIR DAVID, an eminent Scottish natural philosopher, born
at Jedburgh; edited the "Edinburgh Encyclopædia," in the pages of which
Carlyle served his apprenticeship; specially distinguished for his
discoveries in light, his studies in optics, and for his optical
inventions, such as the kaleidoscope and the stereoscope; connected with
most scientific associations of his time; wrote largely on scientific and
other subjects, e. g., a Life of Newton, as well as Lives of Euler,
Kepler, and others of the class; Principal of the United Colleges of St.
Andrews, and afterwards of Edinburgh, being succeeded at St. Andrews by
James David Forbes, who years before defeated him as candidate for the
Natural Philosophy chair in Edinburgh; bred originally for the Church,
and for a time a probationer (1781-1868).
BREWSTER, WILLIAM, leader of the Pilgrim Fathers in the _Mayflower_,
who conveyed them to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620; had been a
clergyman of the Church of England.
BRIAN BOROIHME, an Irish chief, who early in the 10th century
established his rule over a great part of Ireland, and made great efforts
for the civilisation of the country; died defeating the Danes at
Clontarf, being, it is said, the twenty-fifth battle in which he defeated
them.
BRIANÇON, the highest town in France, 4300 ft. above sea-level, 42
m. SE. from Grenoble, with a trade in cutlery.
BRIAREUS, a Uranid with 50 heads and 100 arms, son of Ouranos and
Gaia, i. e. Heaven and Earth, whom Poseidon cast into the sea and
buried under Etna, but whom Zeus delivered to aid him against the Titans;
according to another account, one of THE GIANTS (q. v.).
BRICE, ST., bishop of Tours in the beginning of the 5th century, and
disciple of St. Martin. Festival, Nov. 19.
BRICE'S, ST., a day in 1002 on which a desperate attempt was made to
massacre all the Danes in England and stamp them wholly out, an attempt
which was avenged by the Danish king, Sweyn.