Elizabeth Branwell, to leave Penzance and to take up her residence with his
family at Haworth. Miss Branwell accepted the trust and would seem to have
watched over her nephew and five nieces with conscientious care. The two
eldest of those nieces were not long in following their mother. Maria and
Elizabeth, Charlotte and Emily, were all sent to the Clergy Daughters'
school at Cowan Bridge in 1824, and Maria and Elizabeth returned home in
the following year to die. How far the bad food and drastic discipline were
responsible cannot be accurately demonstrated. Charlotte gibbeted the
school long years afterwards in _Jane Eyre_, under the thin disguise of
"Lowood," and the principal, the Rev. William Carus Wilson (1792-1859), has
been universally accepted as the counterpart of Mr Naomi Brocklehurst in
the same novel. But congenital disease more probably accounts for the
tragedy from which happily Charlotte and Emily escaped, both returning in
1825 to a prolonged home life at Haworth. Here the four surviving children
amused themselves in intervals of study under their aunt's guidance with
precocious literary aspirations. The many tiny booklets upon which they
laboured in the succeeding years have been happily preserved. We find
stories, verses and essays, all in the minutest handwriting, none giving
any indication of the genius which in the case of two of the four children
was to add to the indisputably permanent in literature.
At sixteen years of age--in 1831--Charlotte Brontë became a pupil at the
school of Miss Margaret Wooler (1792-1885) at Roe Head, Dewsbury. She left
in the following year to assist in the education of the younger sisters,
bringing with her much additional proficiency in drawing, French and
composition; she took with her also the devoted friendship of two out of
her ten fellow-pupils--Mary Taylor (1817-1893) and Ellen Nussey
(1817-1897). With Miss Taylor and Miss Nussey she corresponded for the
remainder of her life, and her letters to the latter make up no small part
of what has been revealed to us of her life story. Her next three years at
Haworth were varied by occasional visits to one or other of these friends.
In 1835 she returned to Miss Wooler's school at Roe Head as a governess,
her sister Emily accompanying her as a pupil, but remaining only three
months, and Anne then taking her place. The year following the school was
removed to Dewsbury. In 1838 Charlotte went back to Haworth and soon
afterwards received her first offer of marriage--from a clergyman, Henry
Nussey, the brother of her friend Ellen. This was followed a little later
by a second offer from a curate named Bryce. She refused both and took a
situation as nursery governess, first with the Sidgwicks of Stonegappe,
Yorkshire, and later with the Whites at Rawdon in the same county. A few
months of this, however, filled her with an ambition to try and secure
greater independence as the possessor of a school of her own, and she
planned to acquire more proficiency in "languages" on the continent, as a
preliminary step. The aunt advanced some money, and accompanied by her
sister Emily she became in February 1842 a pupil at the Pensionnat Héger,
Brussels. Here both girls worked hard, and won the goodwill and indeed
admiration of the principal teacher, M. Héger, whose wife was at the head
of the establishment. But the two girls were hastily called back to England
before the year had expired by the announcement of the critical illness of
their aunt. Miss Branwell died on the 29th of October 1842. She bequeathed
sufficient money to her nieces to enable them to reconsider their plan of
life. Instead of a school at Bridlington which had been talked of, they
could now remain with their father, utilize their aunt's room as a
classroom, and take pupils. But Charlotte was not yet satisfied with what
the few months on Belgian soil had done for her, and determined to accept
M. Héger's offer that she should return to Brussels as a governess. Hence
the year 1843 was passed by her at the Pensionnat Héger in that capacity,
and in this period she undoubtedly widened her intellectual sphere by
reading the many books in French literature that her friend M. Héger lent
her. But life took on a very sombre shade in the lonely environment in
which she found herself. She became so depressed that on one occasion she
took refuge in the confessional precisely as did her heroine Lucy Snowe in
_Villette_. In 1844 she returned to her father's house at Haworth, and the
three sisters began immediately to discuss the possibilities of converting
the vicarage into a school. Prospectuses were issued, but no pupils were
forthcoming.
Matters were complicated by the fact that the only brother, Patrick
Branwell, had about this time become a confirmed drunkard. Branwell had
been the idol of his aunt and of his sisters. Educated under his father's
care, he had early shown artistic leanings, and the slender resources of
the family had been strained to provide him with the means of entering at
the Royal Academy as a pupil. This was in 1835. Branwell, it would seem,
indulged in a glorious month of extravagance in London and then returned
home. His art studies were continued for a time at Leeds, but it may be
assumed that no commissions came to him, and at last he became tutor to the
son of a Mr Postlethwaite at Barrow-in-Furness. Ten months later he was a
booking-clerk at Sowerby Bridge station on the Leeds & Manchester railway,
and later at Luddenden Foot. Then he became tutor in the family of a
clergyman named Robinson at Thorp Green, where his sister Anne was
governess. Finally he returned to Haworth to loaf at the village inn, shock
his sisters by his excesses, and to fritter his life away in painful
sottishness. He died in September 1848, having achieved nothing reputable,
and having disappointed all the hopes that had been centred in him. "My
poor father naturally thought more of his _only_ son than of his
daughters," is one of Charlotte's dreary comments on the tragedy. In early
years he had himself written both prose and verse; and a foolish story
invented long afterwards attributed to him some share in his sisters'
novels, particularly in Emily Brontë's _Wuthering Heights_. But Charlotte
distinctly tells us that her brother never knew that his sisters had
published a line. He was too much under the effects of drink, too besotted
and muddled in that last year or two of life, to have any share in their
intellectual enthusiasms.
The literary life had, however, opened bravely for the three girls during
those years. In 1846 a volume of verse appeared from the shop of Aylott &
Jones of Paternoster Row; "_Poems_, by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell," was
on the title-page. These names disguised the identity of Charlotte, Emily
and Anne Brontë. The venture cost the sisters about £50 in all, but only
two copies were sold. There were nineteen poems by Charlotte, twenty-one by
Emily, and the same number by Anne. A consensus of criticism has accepted
the fact that Emily's verse alone revealed true poetic genius. This was
unrecognized then except by her sister Charlotte. It is obvious now to all.
The failure of the poems did not deter the authors from further effort.
They had each a novel to dispose of. Charlotte Brontë's was called _The
Master_, which before it was sent off to London was retitled _The
Professor_. Emily's story was entitled [v.04 p.0639] _Wuthering Heights_,
and Anne's _Agnes Gray_. All these stories travelled from publisher to
publisher. At last _The Professor_ reached the firm of Smith, Elder & Co.,
of Cornhill. The "reader" for that firm, R. Smith Williams (1800-1875), was
impressed, as were also his employers. Charlotte Brontë received in August
1847 a letter informing her that whatever the merits of _The
Professor_--and it was hinted that it lacked "varied interest"--it was too
short for the three-volume form then counted imperative. The author was
further told that a longer novel would be gladly considered. She replied in
the same month with this longer novel, and _Jane Eyre_ appeared in October
1847, to be wildly acclaimed on every hand, although enthusiasm was to
receive a counterblast when more than a year later, in December 1848, Miss
Rigby, afterwards Lady Eastlake (1809-1893), reviewed it in the
_Quarterly_.
Meanwhile the novels of Emily and Anne had been accepted by T. C. Newby.
They were published together in three volumes in December 1847, two months
later than _Jane Eyre_, although the proof sheets had been passed by the
authors before their sister's novel had been sent to the publishers. The
dilatoriness of Mr Newby was followed up by considerable energy when he saw
the possibility of the novels by Ellis and Acton Bell sailing on the wave
of Currer Bell's popularity, and he would seem very quickly to have
accepted another manuscript by Anne Brontë, for _The Tenant of Wildfell
Hall_ was published by Newby in three volumes in June 1848. It was Newby's
clever efforts to persuade the public that the books he published were by
the author of _Jane Eyre_ that led Charlotte and Anne to visit London this
summer and interview Charlotte's publishers in Cornhill with a view to
establishing their separate identity. Soon after their return home Branwell
died (the 24th of September 1848), and less than three months later Emily
died also at Haworth (the 19th December 1848). Then Anne became ill and on
the 24th of May 1849 Charlotte accompanied her to Scarborough in the hope
that the sea air would revive her. Anne died there on the 28th of May, and
was buried in Scarborough churchyard. Thus in exactly eight months
Charlotte Brontë lost all the three companions of her youth, and returned
to sustain her father, fast becoming blind, in the now desolate home at
Haworth.
In the interval between the death of Branwell and of Emily, Charlotte had
been engaged upon a new novel--_Shirley_. Two-thirds were written, but the
story was then laid aside while its author was nursing her sister Anne. She
completed the book after Anne's death, and it was published in October
1849. The following winter she visited London as the guest of her
publisher, Mr George Smith, and was introduced to Thackerary, to whom she
had dedicated _Jane Eyre_. The following year she repeated the visit, sat
for her portrait to George Richmond, and was considerably lionized by a
host of admirers. In August 1850 she visited the English lakes as the guest
of Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, and met Mrs Gaskell, Miss Martineau, Matthew
Arnold and other interesting men and women. During this period her
publishers assiduously lent her books, and her criticisms of them contained
in many letters to Mr George Smith and Mr Smith Williams make very
interesting reading. In 1851 she received a third offer of marriage, this
time from Mr James Taylor, who was in the employment of her publishers. A
visit to Miss Martineau at Ambleside and also to London to the Great
Exhibition made up the events of this year. On her way home she visited
Manchester and spent two days with Mrs Gaskell. During the year 1852 she
worked hard with a new novel, _Villette_, which was published in January of
1853. In September of that year she received a visit from Mrs Gaskell at
Haworth; in May 1854 she returned it, remaining three days at Manchester,
and planning with her hostess the details of her marriage, for at this time
she had promised to unite herself with her father's curate, Arthur Bell
Nicholls (1817-1906), who had long been a pertinacious suitor for her hand
but had been discouraged by Mr Brontë. The marriage took place in Haworth
church on the 29th of June 1854, the ceremony being performed by the Rev.
Sutcliffe Sowden, Miss Wooler and Miss Nussey acting as witnesses. The
wedded pair spent their honeymoon in Ireland, returning to Haworth, where
they made their home with Mr Brontë, Mr Nicholls having pledged himself to
continue in his position as curate to his father-in-law. After less than a
year of married life, however, Charlotte Nicholls died of an illness
incidental to childbirth, on the 31st of March 1855. She was buried in
Haworth church by the side of her mother, Branwell and Emily. The father
followed in 1861, and then her husband returned to Ireland, where he
remained some years afterwards, dying in 1906.
The bare recital of the Brontë story can give no idea of its undying
interest, its exceeding pathos. Their life as told by their biographer Mrs
Gaskell is as interesting as any novel. Their achievement, however, will
stand on its own merits. Anne Brontë's two novels, it is true, though
constantly reprinted, survive principally through the exceeding vitality of
the Brontë tradition. As a hymn writer she still has a place in most
religious communities. Emily is great alike as a novelist and as a poet.
Her "Old Stoic" and "Last Lines" are probably the finest achievement of
poetry that any woman has given to English literature. Her novel _Wuthering
Heights_ stands alone as a monument of intensity owing nothing to
tradition, nothing to the achievement of earlier writers. It was a thing
apart, passionate, unforgettable, haunting in its grimness, its grey
melancholy. Among women writers Emily Brontë has a sure and certain place
for all time. As a poet or maker of verse Charlotte Brontë is
undistinguished, but there are passages of pure poetry of great
magnificence in her four novels, and particularly in _Villette_. The novels
_Jane Eyre_ and _Villette_ will always command attention whatever the
future of English fiction, by virtue of their intensity, their
independence, their rough individuality.
The _Life of Charlotte Brontë_, by Mrs Gaskell, was first published in
1857. Owing to the many controversial questions it aroused, as to the
identity of Lowood in _Jane Eyre_ with Cowan Bridge school, as to the
relations of Branwell Brontë with his employer's wife, as to the supposed
peculiarities of Mr Brontë, and certain other minor points, the third
edition was considerably changed. The _Life_ has been many times reprinted,
but may be read in its most satisfactory form in the Haworth edition
(1902), issued by the original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. To this
edition are attached a great number of letters written by Miss Brontë to
her publisher, George Smith. The first new material supplied to supplement
Mrs Gaskell's _Life_ was contained in _Charlotte Brontë: a Monograph_, by
T. Wemyss Reid (1877). This book inspired Mr A.C. Swinburne to issue
separately a forcible essay on Charlotte and Emily Brontë, under the title
of _A Note on Charlotte Brontë_ (1877). A further collection of letters
written by Miss Brontë was contained in _Charlotte Brontë and her Circle_,
by Clement Shorter (1896), and interesting details can be gathered from the
_Life of Charlotte Brontë_, by Augustine Birrell (1887), _The Brontës in
Ireland_, by William Wright, D.D. (1893), _Charlotte Brontë and her
Sisters_, by Clement Shorter (1906), and the Brontë Society publications,
edited by Butler Wood (1895-1907). Miss A. Mary F. Robinson (Madame
Duclaux) wrote a separate biography of Emily Brontë in 1883, and an essay
in her _Grands Écrivains d'outre-Manche_. _The Brontës: Life and Letters_,
by Clement Shorter (1907), contains the whole of C. Brontë's letters in
chronological order.
(C. K. S.)
BRONTE, a town of the province of Catania, Sicily, on the western slopes of
Mt. Etna, 24 m. N.N.W. of Catania direct, and 34 m. by rail. Pop. (1901)
20,366. It was founded by the emperor Charles V. The town, with an
extensive estate which originally belonged to the monastery of Maniacium
(Maniace), was granted, as a dukedom, to Nelson by Ferdinand IV. of Naples
in 1799.
BRONX, THE, formerly a district comprising several towns in Westchester
county, New York, U.S.A., now (since 1898) the northernmost of the five
boroughs of New York City (_q.v._). Several settlements in the Bronx were
made by the English and the Dutch between 1640 and 1650.
BRONZE, an alloy formed wholly or chiefly of copper and tin in variable
proportions. The word has been etymologically connected with the same root
as appears in "brown," but according to M.P.E. Berthelot (_La Chimie au
moyen âge_) it is a place-name derived from _aes Brundusianum_ (cf. Pliny,
_Nat. Hist._ xxxiii. ch. ix. §45, "specula optima apud majores fuerunt
Brundusiana, stanno et aere mixtis"). A Greek MS. of about the 11th century
in the library of St Mark's, Venice, contains [v.04 p.0640] the form
[Greek: brontêsion], and gives the composition of the alloy as 1 lb of
copper with 2 oz. of tin. The product obtained by adding tin to copper is
more fusible than copper and thus better suited for casting; it is also
harder and less malleable. A soft bronze or _gun-metal_ is formed with 16
parts of copper to 1 of tin, and a harder gun-metal, such as was used for
bronze ordnance, when the proportion of tin is about doubled. The _steel
bronze_ of Colonel Franz Uchatius (1811-1881) consisted of copper alloyed
with 8% of tin, the tenacity and hardness being increased by cold-rolling.
Bronze containing about 7 parts of copper to 1 of tin is hard, brittle and
sonorous, and can be tempered to take a fine edge. _Bell-metal_ varies
considerably in composition, from about 3 to 5 parts of copper to 1 of tin.
In _speculum metal_ there are 2 to 2½ parts of copper to 1 of tin. Statuary
bronze may contain from 80 to 90% of copper, the residue being tin, or tin
with zinc and lead in various proportions. The bronze used for the British
and French copper coinage consists of 95% copper, 4% tin and 1% zinc. Many
copper-tin alloys employed for machinery-bearings contain a small
proportion of zinc, which gives increased hardness. "Anti-friction metals,"
also used in bearings, are copper-tin alloys in which the amount of copper
is small and there is antimony in addition. Of this class an example is
"Babbitt's metal," invented by Isaac Babbitt (1799-1862); it originally
consisted of 24 parts of tin, 8 parts of antimony and 4 parts of copper,
but in later compositions for the same purpose the proportion of tin is
often considerably higher. Bronze is improved in quality and strength when
fluxed with phosphorus. Alloys prepared in this way, and known as _phosphor
bronze_, may contain only about 1% of phosphorus in the ingot, reduced to a
mere trace after casting, but their value is nevertheless enhanced for
purposes in which a hard strong metal is required, as for pump plungers,
valves, the bushes of bearings, &c. Bronze again is improved by the
presence of manganese in small quantity, and various grades of _manganese
bronze_, in some of which there is little or no tin but a considerable
percentage of zinc, are extensively used in mechanical engineering. Alloys
of copper with aluminium, though often nearly or completely destitute of
tin, are known as _aluminium bronze_, and are valuable for their strength
and the resistance they offer to corrosion. By the addition of a small
quantity of silicon the tensile strength of copper is much increased; a
sample of such _silicon bronze_, used for telegraph wires, on analysis was
found to consist of 99.94% of copper, 0.03% of tin, and traces of iron and
silicon.
The bronze (Gr. [Greek: chalkos], Lat. _aes_) of classical antiquity
consisted chiefly of copper, alloyed with one or more of the metals, zinc,
tin, lead and silver, in proportions that varied as times changed, or
according to the purposes for which the alloy was required. Among bronze
remains the copper is found to vary from 67 to 95%. From the analysis of
coins it appears that for their bronze coins the Greeks adhered to an alloy
of copper and tin till 400 B.C., after which time they used also lead with
increasing frequency. Silver is rare in their bronze coins. The Romans also
used lead as an alloy in their bronze coins, but gradually reduced the
quantity, and under Caligula, Nero, Vespasian and Domitian, coined pure
copper coins; afterwards they reverted to the mixture of lead. So far the
words [Greek: chalkos] and _aes_ may be translated as bronze. Originally,
no doubt, [Greek: chalkos] was the name for pure copper. It is so employed
by Homer, who calls it [Greek: eruthros] (red), [Greek: aithups]
(glittering), [Greek: phaennos] (shining), terms which apply only to
copper. But instead of its following from this that the process of alloying
copper with other metals was not practised in the time of the poet, or was
unknown to him, the contrary would seem to be the case from the passage
(_Iliad_ xviii. 474) where he describes Hephaestus as throwing into his
furnace copper, tin, silver and gold to make the shield of Achilles, so
that it is not always possible to know whether when he uses the word
[Greek: chalkos] he means copper pure or alloyed. Still more difficult is
it to make this distinction when we read of the mythical Dactyls of Ida in
Crete or the Telchines or Cyclopes being acquainted with the smelting of
[Greek: chalkos]. It is not, however, likely that later Greek writers, who
knew bronze in its true sense, and called it [Greek: chalkos], would have
employed this word without qualification for objects which they had seen
unless they had meant it to be taken as bronze. When Pausanias (iii. 17. 6)
speaks of a statue, one of the oldest figures he had seen of this material,
made of separate pieces fastened together with nails, we understand him to
mean literally bronze, the more readily since there exist very early
figures and utensils of bronze so made.
For the use of bronze in art, see METAL-WORK.
BRONZE AGE, the name given by archaeologists to that stage in human
culture, intermediate between the Stone and Iron Ages, when weapons,
utensils and implements were, as a general rule, made of bronze. The term
has no absolute chronological value, but marks a period of civilization
through which it is believed that most races passed at one time or another.
The "finds" of stone and bronze, of bronze and iron, and even of stone and
iron implements together in tumuli and sepulchral mounds, suggest that in
many countries the three stages in man's progress overlapped. From the
similarity of types of weapons and implements of the period found
throughout Europe a relatively synchronous commencement has been inferred
for the Bronze Age in Europe, fixed by most authorities at between 2000
B.C. to 1800 B.C. But it must have been earlier in some countries, and is
certainly known to have been later in others; while the Mexicans and
Peruvians were still in their bronze age in recent times. Not a few
archaeologists have denied that there ever was a distinct Bronze Age. They
have found their chief argument in the fact that weapons of these ages have
been found side by side in prehistoric burial-places. But when it is
admitted that the ages must have overlapped, it is fairly easy to undertand
the mixed "finds." The beginning, the prevalence and duration of the Bronze
Age in each country would have been ordered by the accessibility of the
metals which form the alloy. Thus in some lands bronze may have continued
to be a substance of extreme value until the Iron Age was reached, and in
tumuli in which more than one body was interred, as was frequently the
case, it would only be with the remains of the richer tenants of the tomb
that the more valuable objects would be placed. There is, moreover, much
reason to believe that sepulchral mounds were opened from age to age and
fresh interments made, and in such a practice would be found a simple
explanation of the mixing of implements. Another curious fact has been
seized on by those who argue against the existence of a Bronze Age. Among
all the "finds" examined in Europe there is a most remarkable absence of
copper implements. The sources of tin in Europe are practically restricted
to Cornwall and Saxony. How then are we to explain on the one hand the
apparent stride made by primitive man when from a Stone Age civilization he
passed to a comparatively advanced metallurgical skill? On the other, how
account for a comparatively synchronous commencement of bronze civilization
when one at least of the metals needed for the alloy would have been
naturally difficult of access, if not unknown to many races? The answer is
that there can be but little doubt that the knowledge of bronze came to the
races of Europe from outside. Either by the Phoenicians or by the Greeks
metallurgy was taught to men who no sooner recognized the nature and
malleable properties of copper than they learnt that by application of heat
a substance could be manufactured with tin far better suited to their
purposes. Copper would thus have been but seldom used unalloyed; and the
relatively synchronous appearance of bronze in Europe, and the scanty
"finds" of copper implements, are explained. We may conclude then that
there was a Bronze Age in most countries; that it was the direct result of
increasing intercommunication of races and the spread of commerce; and that
the discovery of metals was due to information brought to Stone-Age man in
Europe by races which were already skilful metallurgists.
The Bronze Age in Europe is characterized by weapons, utensils and
implements, distinct in design and size from those in use in the preceding
or succeeding stage of man's civilization. Moreover--and this has been
employed as an argument in favour of the foreign origin of the knowledge of
bronze--all the [v.04 p.0641] objects in one part of Europe are identical
in pattern and size with those found in another part. The implements of the
Bronze Age include swords, awls, knives, gouges, hammers, daggers and
arrow-heads. A remarkable confirmation of the theory that the Bronze Age
culture came from the East is to be found in the patterns of the arms,
which are distinctly oriental; while the handles of swords and daggers are
so narrow and short as to make it unlikely that they would be made for use
by the large-handed races of Europe. The Bronze Age is also characterized
by the fact that cremation was the mode of disposal of the dead, whereas in
the Stone Age burial was the rule. Barrows and sepulchral mounds strictly
of the Bronze Age are smaller and less imposing than those of the Stone
Age. Besides varied and beautiful weapons, frequently exhibiting high
workmanship, amulets, coronets, diadems of solid gold, and vases of elegant
form and ornamentation in gold and bronze are found in the barrows. These
latter appear to have been used as tribal or family cemeteries. In Denmark
as many as seventy deposits of burnt bones have been found in a single
mound, indicating its use through a long succession of years. The
ornamentation of the period is as a rule confined to spirals, bosses and
concentric circles. What is remarkable is that the swords not only show the
design of the cross in the shape of the handle, but also in tracery what is
believed to be an imitation of the Svastika, that ancient Aryan symbol
which was probably the first to be made with a definite intention and a
consecutive meaning. The pottery is all "hand-made," and the bulk of the
objects excavated are cinerary urns, usually found full of burnt bones.
These vary from 12 to 18 in. in height. Their decoration is confined to a
band round the upper part of the pot, or often only a projecting flange
lapped round the whole rim. A few have small handles, formed of pierced
knobs of clay and sometimes projecting rolls of clay, looped, as it were,
all round the urn. The ornamentation consists of dots, zigzags, chevrons or
crosses. The lines were frequently made by pressing a twisted thong of skin
against the moist clay; the patterns in all cases being stamped into the
pot before it was hardened by fire.
See ARCHAEOLOGY, &c. Also Lord Avebury, _Prehistoric Times_ (1900); Sir J.
Evans, _Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain_ (1881); Chartre's _Age
du bronze en France_.
BRONZING, a process by which a bronze-like surface is imparted to objects
of metal, plaster, wood, &c. On metals a green bronze colour is sometimes
produced by the action of such substances as vinegar, dilute nitric acid
and sal-ammoniac. An antique appearance may be given to new bronze articles
by brushing over the clean bright metal with a solution of sal-ammoniac and
salt of sorrel in vinegar, and rubbing the surface dry, the operation being
repeated as often as necessary. Another solution for the same purpose is
made with sal-ammoniac, cream of tartar, common salt and silver nitrate.
With a solution of platinic chloride almost any colour can be produced on
copper, iron, brass or new bronze, according to the dilution and the number
of applications. Articles of plaster and wood may be bronzed by coating
them with size and then covering them with a bronze powder, such as Dutch
metal, beaten into fine leaves and powdered. The bronzing of gun-barrels
may be effected by the use of a strong solution of antimony trichloride.
BRONZINO, IL, the name given to ANGELO ALLORI (1502-1572), the Florentine
painter. He became the favourite pupil of J. da Pontormo. He painted the
portraits of some of the most famous men of his day, such as Dante,
Petrarch and Boccaccio. Most of his best works are in Florence, but
examples are in the National Gallery, London, and elsewhere.
BRONZITE, a member of the pyroxene group of minerals, belonging with
enstatite and hypersthene to the orthorhombic series of the group. Rather
than a distinct species, it is really a ferriferous variety of enstatite,
which owing to partial alteration has acquired a bronze-like sub-metallic
lustre on the cleavage surfaces. Enstatite is magnesium metasilicate,
MgSiO_3, with the magnesia partly replaced by small amounts (up to about
5%) of ferrous oxide; in the bronzite variety, (Mg,Fe)SiO_3, the ferrous
oxide ranges from about 5 to 14%, and with still more iron there is a
passage to hypersthene. The ferriferous varieties are liable to a
particular kind of alteration, known as "schillerization," which results in
the separation of the iron as very fine films of oxide and hydroxides along
the cleavage cracks of the mineral. The cleavage surfaces therefore exhibit
a metallic sheen or "schiller," which is even more pronounced in
hypersthene than in bronzite. The colour of bronzite is green or brown; its
specific gravity is about 3.2-3.3, varying with the amount of iron present.
Like enstatite, bronzite is a constituent of many basic igneous rocks, such
as norites, gabbros, and especially peridotites, and of the serpentines
which have been derived from them. It also occurs in some crystalline
schists.
Bronzite is sometimes cut and polished, usually in convex forms, for small
ornamental objects, but its use for this purpose is less extensive than
that of hypersthene. It often has a more or less distinct fibrous
structure, and when this is pronounced the sheen has a certain resemblance
to that of cat's-eye. Masses sufficiently large for cutting are found in
the norite of the Kupferberg in the Fichtelgebirge, and in the serpentine
of Kraubat near Leoben in Styria. In this connexion mention may be made of
an altered form of enstatite or bronzite known as _bastite_ or
_schiller-spar_. Here, in addition to schillerization, the original
enstatite has been altered by hydration and the product has approximately
the composition of serpentine. In colour bastite is brown or green with the
same metallic sheen as bronzite. The typical locality is Baste in the
Radauthal, Harz, where patches of pale greyish-green bastite are embedded
in a darker-coloured serpentine. This rock when cut and polished makes an
effective decorative stone, although little used for that purpose.
(L. J. S.)
BROOCH, or BROACH (from the Fr. _broche_, originally an awl or bodkin; a
spit is sometimes called a broach, and hence the phrase "to broach a
barrel"; see BROKER), a term now used to denote a clasp or fastener for the
dress, provided with a pin, having a hinge or spring at one end, and a
catch or loop at the other.
Brooches of the safety-pin type (_fibulae_) were extensively used in
antiquity, but only within definite limits of time and place. They seem to
have been unknown to the Egyptians, and to the oriental nations untouched
by Greek influence. In lands adjacent to Greece, they do not occur in Crete
or at Hissarlik. The place of origin cannot as yet be exactly determined,
but it would seem to have been in central Europe, towards the close of the
Bronze Age, somewhat before 1000 B.C. The earliest form is little more than
a pin, bent round for security, with the point caught against the head. One
such actual pin has been found. In its next simplest form, very similar to
that of the modern safety-pin (in which the coiled spring forces the point
against the catch), it occurs in the lower city of Mycenae, and in late
deposits of the Mycenaean Age, such as at Enkomi in Cyprus. It occurs also
(though rarely) in the "terramare" deposits of the Po valley, in the Swiss
lake-dwellings of the later Bronze Age, in central Italy, in Hungary and in
Bosnia. (fig. 1).[1]
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Early type from Peschiera.]
From the comparatively simple initial form, the fibula developed in
different lines of descent, into different shapes, varying according to the
structural feature which was emphasized. On account of the number of local
variations, the subject is extremely complex, but the main lines of
development were approximately as follows.
Towards the end of the Bronze Age the safety-pin was arched into a bow, so
as to include a greater amount of stuff in its compass.
In the older Iron Age or "Hallstatt period" the bow and its accessories are
thickened and modified in various directions, so as to give greater
rigidity, and prominences or surfaces for decoration. The chief types have
been conveniently classed by [v.04 p.0642] Montelius in four main groups,
according to the characteristic forms:--
I. The wire of the catch-plate is hammered into a flat disk, on which the
pin rests (fig. 2)
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Type I. with disk for catch-plate.]
II. The bow is thickened towards the middle, so as to assume the "leech"
shape, or it is hollowed out underneath, into the "boat" form. The
catch-plate is only slightly turned up, but it becomes elongated, in order
to mask the end of a long pin (fig. 3).
III. The catch-plate is flattened out as in group I., but additional
convolutions are added to the bow (fig. 4).
IV. The bow is convoluted (but the convolutions are sometimes represented
by knobs); the catch-plate develops as in group II. (fig. 5). For further
examples of the four types, see _Antiquities of Early Iron Age in British
Museum_, p. 32.
Among the special variations of the early form, mention should be made of
the fibulae of the geometric age of Greece, with an exaggerated development
of the vertical portion of the catch-plate (fig. 6).
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Type II. with turned-up and elongated catch-plate.
a, "Leech" fibula; b, "Boat" fibula; c. variation of "Boat" fibula.]
The example shown in fig. 7 is an ornate development of type II. above.
In the later Iron Age (or early La Tène period) the prolongation of the
catch-plate described in the second and fourth groups above has a terminal
knob ornament, which is reflexed upwards, at first slightly (fig. 8), and
then to a marked extent, turning back towards the bow.
A far-reaching change in the design was at the same time brought about by a
simple improvement in principle, apparently introduced within the area of
the La Tène culture. Instead of a unilateral spring--that is, of one coiled
on one side only of the bow as commonly in the modern safety-pin--the
brooch became bilateral. The spring was coiled on one side of the axis of
the bow, and thence the wire was taken to the other side of the axis, and
again coiled in a corresponding manner before starting in a straight line
to form the pin. Once invented, the bilateral spring became almost
universal, and its introduction serves to divide the whole mass of ancient
fibulae into an older and a younger group.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Type III with disk for catch-plate, and convoluted
bow.]
With the progress of the La Tène period (300-1 B.C.) the reflection of the
catch-plate terminal became yet more marked, until it became practically
merged in the bow (fig. 9). Meanwhile, the bilateral spring described above
was developing into two marked projections on each side of the axis. In
order to give the double spring strength and protection it was given a
metal core, and a containing tube. When the core had been provided the pin
was no longer necessarily a continuation of the bow, and it became in fact
a separate member, as in a modern brooch of a non-safety-pin type, and was
no longer actuated by its own spring.
The T-shaped or "cross-bow" fibula was thus developed. During the first
centuries of the Empire it attained great size and importance (figs.
10-12). The form is conveniently dated at its highest development by its
occurrence on the ivory diptych of Stilicho at Monza (c. A.D. 400).
In the tombs of the Frankish and kindred Teutonic tribes between the 5th
and 9th centuries the crossbar of the T becomes a yet more elaborately
decorated semicircle, often surrounded by radial knobs and a chased
surface. The base of the shaft is flattened out, and is no less ornate
(fig. 13). At the beginning of this period the fibula of King Childeric
(A.D. 481) has a singularly complicated pin-fastening.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Type IV. with turned-up catch-plate and convoluted
bow.]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Greek geometric fibula.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Gold fibula from Naples.]
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Early La Tène period. Reflexed terminal ornament.]
So far we have traced the history of the safety-pin form of brooch.
Concurrently with it, other forms of brooch were developed in which the
safety-pin principle is either absent or effectually disguised. One such
form is that of the circular medallion brooch. It is found in Etruscan
deposits of a fully developed style, and is commonly represented in Greek
and Roman sculptures as a stud to fasten the cloak on the shoulder. In the
Roman provinces the circular brooches are very numerous, and are frequently
decorated with inlaid stone, paste or enamel. Another kind of brooch, also
known from early times, is in the form of an animal. In the early types the
animal is a decorative appendage, but in later examples it forms the body
of the brooch, to which a pin like the modern brooch-pin is attached
underneath. Both of these shapes, namely the medallion and the animal form,
are found in Frankish cemeteries, together with the later variations of the
T-shaped brooch described above. Such brooches were made in gold, silver or
bronze, adorned with precious stones, filigree work, or enamel; but
whatever the richness of the material, the pin was nearly always of iron.
The Scandinavian or northern group of T-shaped brooches are in their early
forms indistinguishable from those of the Frankish tombs, but as time went
on they became more massive, and richly decorated with intricate devices
(perhaps brought in by Irish missionary influence), into which animal forms
were introduced. The period covered is from the 5th to the 8th centuries.
[Illustration: FIG. 9, a-d.--Fibula of the La Tène period, showing the
development of the reflexed terminal, and the bilateral spring.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Military Fibula. 3rd century A.D.]
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Fibula with niello work. 3rd century A.D.]
The T-form, the medallion-form, and (occasionally) the animal forms occur
in Anglo-Saxon graves in England. In Kent the medallion-form predominates.
The Anglo-Saxon brooches [v.04 p.0643] were exquisite works of art,
ingeniously and tastefully constructed. They are often of gold, with a
central boss, exquisitely decorated, the flat part of the brooch being a
mosaic of turquoises, garnets on gold foil, mother of pearl, &c. arranged
in geometric patterns, and the gold work enriched with filigree or
decorated with dragonesque engravings.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Gold Fibula. 4th century A.D.]
The Scandinavian brooches of the Viking period (A.D. 800-1050) were oval
and convex, somewhat in the form of a tortoise. In their earliest form they
occur in the form of a frog-like animal, itself developed from the previous
Teutonic T-shaped type. With the introduction of the intricate system of
ornament described above, the frog-like animal is gradually superseded by
purely decorative lines. The convex bowls are then worked _à jour_ with a
perforated upper shell of chased work over an under shell of impure bronze,
gilt on the convex side. These outer cases are at last decorated with open
crown-like ornament and massive projecting bosses. The geographical
distribution of these peculiar brooches indicates the extent of the
conquests of the Northmen. They occur in northern Scotland, England,
Ireland, Iceland, Normandy and Livonia.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Fibula of the Frankish period.]
The Celtic group is characterized by the penannular form of the ring of the
brooch and the greater length of the pin. The penannular ring, inserted
through a hole at the head of the long pin, could be partially turned when
the pin had been thrust through the material in such a way that the brooch
became in effect a buckle. These brooches are usually of bronze or silver,
chased or engraved with intricate designs of interlaced or dragonesque work
in the style of the illuminated Celtic manuscripts of the 7th, 8th and 9th
centuries. The Hunterston brooch, which was found at Hawking Craig in
Ayrshire, is a well-known example of this style. Silver brooches of immense
size, some having pins 15 in. in length, and the penannular ring of the
brooch terminating in large knobs resembling thistle heads, are
occasionally found in Viking hoards of this period, consisting of bullion,
brooches and Cufic and Anglo-Saxon coins buried on Scottish soil. In
medieval times the form of the brooch was usually a simple, flat circular
disk, with open centre, the pin being equal in length to the diameter of
the brooch. They were often inscribed with religious and talismanic
_formulae_. The Highland brooches were commonly of this form, but the disk
was broader, and the central opening smaller in proportion to the size of
the brooch. They were ornamented in the style so common on Highland
powder-horns, with engraved patterns of interlacing work and foliage,
arranged in geometrical spaces, and sometimes mingled with figures of
animals.
(A. H. SM.)
[1] The illustrations of this article are from Dr Robert Forrer's
_Reallexikon_, by permission of W. Spemann, Berlin and Stuttgart.
BROOKE, FRANCES (1724-1789), English novelist and dramatist, whose maiden
name was Moore, was born in 1724. Of her novels, some of which enjoyed
considerable popularity in their day, the most important were _The History
of Lady Julia Mandeville_ (1763), _Emily Montague_ (1769) and _The
Excursion_ (1777). Her dramatic pieces and translations from the French are
now forgotten. She died in January 1789.
BROOKE, FULKE GREVILLE, 1ST BARON (1554-1628), English poet, only son of
Sir Fulke Greville, was born at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire. He was sent
in 1564, on the same day as his life-long friend, Philip Sidney, to
Shrewsbury school. He matriculated at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1568.
Sir Henry Sidney, president of Wales, gave him in 1576 a post connected
with the court of the Marches, but he resigned it in 1577 to go to court
with Philip Sidney. Young Greville became a great favourite with Queen
Elizabeth, who treated him with less than her usual caprice, but he was
more than once disgraced for leaving the country against her wishes. Philip
Sidney, Sir Edward Dyer and Greville were members of the "Areopagus," the
literary clique which, under the leadership of Gabriel Harvey, supported
the introduction of classical metres into English verse. Sidney and
Greville arranged to sail with Sir Francis Drake in 1585 in his expedition
against the Spanish West Indies, but Elizabeth peremptorily forbade Drake
to take them with him, and also refused Greville's request to be allowed to
join Leicester's army in the Netherlands. Philip Sidney, who took part in
the campaign, was killed on the 17th of October 1586, and Greville shared
with Dyer the legacy of his books, while in his _Life of the Renowned Sir
Philip Sidney_ he raised an enduring monument to his friend's memory. About
1591 Greville served for a short time in Normandy under Henry of Navarre.
This was his last experience of war. In 1583 he became secretary to the
principality of Wales, and he represented Warwickshire in parliament in
1592-1593, 1597, 1601 and 1620. In 1598 he was made treasurer of the navy,
and he retained the office through the early years of the reign of James I.
In 1614 he became chancellor and under-treasurer of the exchequer, and
throughout the reign he was a valued supporter of the king's party,
although in 1615 he advocated the summoning of a parliament. In 1618 he
became commissioner of the treasury, and in 1621 he was raised to the
peerage with the title of Baron Brooke, a title which had belonged to the
family of his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Willoughby. He received from
James I. the grant of Warwick Castle, in the restoration of which he is
said to have spent £20,000. He died on the 30th of September 1628 in
consequence of a wound inflicted by a servant who was disappointed at not
being named in his master's will. Brooke was buried in St Mary's church,
Warwick, and on his tomb was inscribed the epitaph he had composed for
himself: "Folk Grevill Servant to Queene Elizabeth Conceller to King James
Frend to Sir Philip Sidney. Trophaeum Peccati."
A rhyming elegy on Brooke, published in Huth's _Inedited Poetical
Miscellanies_, brings charges of extreme penuriousness against him, but of
his generous treatment of contemporary writers there is abundant testimony.
His only works published during his lifetime were four poems, one of which
is the elegy on Sidney which appeared in _The Phoenix Nest_ (1593), and the
_Tragedy of Mustapha_. A volume of his works appeared in 1633, another of
_Remains_ in 1670, and his biography of Sidney in 1652. He wrote two
tragedies on the Senecan model, _Alaham_ and _Mustapha_. The scene of
Alaham is laid in Ormuz. The development of the piece fully bears out the
gloom of the prologue, in which the ghost of a former king of Ormuz reveals
the magnitude of the curse about to descend on the doomed family. The theme
of _Mustapha_ is borrowed from Madeleine de Scudéry's _Ibrahim ou
l'illustre Bassa_, and turns on the ambition of the sultana Rossa. The
choruses of these plays are really philosophical dissertations, and the
connexion with the rest of the drama is often very slight. In _Mustapha_,
for instance, the third chorus is a dialogue between Time and Eternity,
while the fifth consists of an invective against the evils of superstition,
followed by a chorus of priests that does nothing to dispel [v.04 p.0644]
the impression of scepticism contained in the first part. He tells us
himself that the tragedies were not intended for the stage. Charles Lamb
says they should rather be called political treatises. Of Brooke Lamb says,
"He is nine parts Machiavel and Tacitus, for one of Sophocles and
Seneca.... Whether we look into his plays or his most passionate
love-poems, we shall find all frozen and made rigid with intellect." He
goes on to speak of the obscurity of expression that runs through all
Brooke's poetry, an obscurity which is, however, due more to the intensity
and subtlety of the thought than to any lack of mere verbal lucidity.
It is by his biography of Sidney that Fulke Greville is best known. The
full title expresses the scope of the work. It runs: _The Life of the
Renowned Sr. Philip Sidney. With the true Interest of England as it then
stood in relation to all Forrain Princes: And particularly for suppressing
the power of Spain Stated by Him: His principall Actions, Counsels,
Designes, and Death. Together with a short account of the Maximes and
Policies used by Queen Elizabeth in her Government_. He includes some
autobiographical matter in what amounts to a treatise on government. He had
intended to write a history of England under the Tudors, but Robert Cecil
refused him access to the necessary state papers.
Brooke left no sons, and his barony passed to his cousin, Robert Greville
(c. 1608-1643), who thus became 2nd Lord Brooke. This nobleman was
imprisoned by Charles I. at York in 1639 for refusing to take the oath to
fight for the king, and soon became an active member of the parliamentary
party; taking part in the Civil War he defeated the Royalists in a skirmish
at Kineton in August 1642. He was soon given a command in the midland
counties, and having seized Lichfield he was killed there on the 2nd of
March 1643. Brooke, who is eulogized as a friend of toleration by Milton,
wrote on philosophical, theological and current political topics. In 1746
his descendant, Francis Greville, the 8th baron (1710-1773), was created
earl of Warwick, a title still in his family.
Dr A.B. Grosart edited the complete works of Fulke Greville for the _Fuller
Worthies Library_ in 1870, and made a small selection, published in the
_Elizabethan Library_ (1894). Besides the works above mentioned, the
volumes include _Poems of Monarchy, A Treatise of Religion, A Treatie of
Humane Learning, An Inquisition upon Fame and Honour, A Treatie of Warres,
Caelica in CX Sonnets_, a collection of lyrics in various forms, a letter
to an "Honourable Lady," a letter to Grevill Varney in France, and a short
speech delivered on behalf of Francis Bacon, some minor poems, and an
introduction including some of the author's letters. The life of Sidney was
reprinted by Sir S. Egerton Brydges in 1816; and with an introduction by N.
Smith in the "Tudor and Stuart Library" in 1907; _Caelica_ was reprinted in
M.F. Crow's "Elizabethan Sonnet Cycles" in 1898. See also an essay in Mrs.
C.C. Stopes's _Shakespeare's Warwickshire Contemporaries_ (1907).
BROOKE, HENRY (c. 1703-1783), Irish author, son of William Brooke, rector
of Killinkere, Co. Cavan, was born at Rantavan in the same county, about
1703. His mother was a daughter of Simon Digby, bishop of Elphin. Dr Thomas
Sheridan was one of his schoolmasters, and he was entered at Trinity
College, Dublin, in 1720; in 1724 he was sent to London to study law. He
married his cousin and ward, Catherine Meares, before she was fourteen.
Returning to London he published a philosophical poem in six books entitled
_Universal Beauty_ (1735). He attached himself to the party of the prince
of Wales, and took a small house at Twickenham near to Alexander Pope. In
1738 he translated the first and second books of Tasso's _Gerusalemme
liberata_, and in the next year he produced a tragedy, _Gustavas Vasa, the
Deliverer of his Country_. This play had been rehearsed for five weeks at
Drury Lane, but at the last moment the performance was forbidden. The
reason of this prohibition was a supposed portrait of Sir Robert Walpole in
the part of Trollio. In any case the spirit of fervent patriotism which
pervaded the play was probably disliked by the government. The piece was
printed and sold largely, being afterwards put on the Irish stage under the
title of _The Patriot_. This affair provoked a satirical pamphlet from
Samuel Johnson, entitled "A Complete Vindication of the Licensers of the
Stage from the malicious and scandalous Aspersions of Mr Brooke" (1739).
His wife feared that his connexion with the opposition was imprudent, and
induced him to return to Ireland. He interested himself in Irish history
and literature, but a projected collection of Irish stories and a history
of Ireland from the earliest times were abandoned in consequence of
disputes about the ownership of the materials. During the Jacobite
rebellion of 1745 Brooke issued his _Farmer's Six Letters to the
Protestants of Ireland_ (collected 1746) the form of which was suggested by
Swift's _Drapier's Letters_. For this service he received from the
government the post of barrack-master at Mullingar, which he held till his
death. He wrote other pamphlets on the Protestant side, and was secretary
to an association for promoting projects of national utility. About 1760 he
entered into negotiations with leading Roman Catholics, and in 1761 he
wrote a pamphlet advocating alleviation of the penal laws against them. He
is said to have been the first editor of the _Freeman's Journal_,
established at Dublin in 1763. Meanwhile he had been obliged to mortgage
his property in Cavan, and had removed to Co. Kildare. Subsequently a
bequest from Colonel Robert Brooke enabled him to purchase an estate near
his old home, and he spent large sums in attempting to reclaim the
waste-land. His best-known work is the novel entitled _The Fool of Quality;
or the History of Henry Earl of Moreland_, the first part of which was
published in 1765; and the fifth and last in 1770. The characters of this
book, which relates the education of an ideal nobleman by an ideal
merchant-prince, are gifted with a "passionate and tearful sensibility,"
and reflect the real humour and tenderness of the writer. Brooke's
religious and philanthropic temper recommended the book to John Wesley, who
edited (1780) an abridged edition, and to Charles Kingsley, who published
it with a eulogistic notice in 1859. Brooke had a large family, but only
two children survived him. His wife's death seriously affected him, and he
died at Dublin in a state of mental infirmity on the 10th of October 1783.
His daughter, Charlotte Brooke, published _The Poetical Works of Henry
Brooke_ in 1792, but was able to supply very little biographical material.
Other sources for Brooke's biography are C. H. Wilson, _Brookiana_ (2
vols., 1804), and a biographical preface by E. A. Baker prefixed to a new
edition (1906) of _The Fool of Quality_. Brooke's other works include
several tragedies, only some of which were actually staged. He also wrote:
_Jack the Giant Queller_ (1748), an operatic satire, the repetition of
which was forbidden on account of its political allusions; "Constantia, or
the Man of Lawe's Tale" (1741), contributed to George Ogle's _Canterbury
Tales modernized; Juliet Grenville; or the History of the Human Heart_
(1773), a novel; and some fables contributed to Edward Moore's _Fables for
the Female Sex_ (1744).
BROOKE, SIR JAMES (1803-1868), English soldier, traveller and raja of
Sarawak, was born at Coombe Grove near Bath, on the 29th of April 1803. His
father, a member of the civil service of the East India Company, had long
lived in Bengal. His mother was a woman of superior mind, and to her care
he owed his careful early training. He received the ordinary school
education, entered the service of the East India Company, and was sent out
to India about 1825. On the outbreak of the Burmese War he was despatched
with his regiment to the valley of the Brahmaputra; and, being dangerously
wounded in an engagement near Rungpore, was compelled to return home
(1826). After his recovery he travelled on the continent before going to
India, and circumstances led him soon after to leave the service of the
company. In 1830 he made a voyage to China, and during his passage among
the islands of the Indian Archipelago, so rich in natural beauty,
magnificence and fertility, but occupied by a population of savage tribes,
continually at war with each other, and carrying on a system of piracy on a
vast scale and with relentless ferocity, he conceived the great design of
rescuing them from barbarism and bringing them within the pale of
civilization. His purpose was confirmed by observations made during a
second visit to China, and on his return to England he applied himself in
earnest to making the necessary preparations. Having succeeded on the death
of his father to a large property, he bought and equipped a yacht, the
"Royalist," of 140 tons burden, and for three years tested its capacities
and trained his crew of [v.04 p.0645] twenty men, chiefly in the
Mediterranean. At length, on the 27th of October 1838, he sailed from the
Thames on his great adventure. On reaching Borneo, after various delays, he
found the raja Muda Hassim, uncle of the reigning sultan, engaged in war in
the province of Sarawak with several of the Dyak tribes, who had revolted
against the sultan. He offered his aid to the raja; and with his crew, and
some Javanese who had joined them, he took part in a battle with the
insurgents, and they were defeated. For his services the title of raja of
Sarawak was conferred on him by Muda Hassim, the former raja being deprived
in his favour. It was, however, some time before the sultan could be
induced to confirm his title (September 1841). During the next five years
Raja Brooke was engaged in establishing his power, in making just reforms
in administration, preparing a code of laws and introducing just and humane
modes of dealing with the degraded subjects of his rule. But this was not
all. He looked forward to the development of commerce as the most effective
means of putting an end to the worst evils that afflicted the archipelago;
and in order to make this possible, the way must first be cleared by the
suppression, or a considerable diminution, of the prevailing piracy, which
was not only a curse to the savage tribes engaged in it, but a standing
danger to European and American traders in those seas. Various expeditions
were therefore organized and sent out against the marauders, Dyaks and
Malays, and sometimes even Arabs. Captain (afterwards Admiral Sir Harry)
Keppel, and other commanders of British ships of war, received permission
to co-operate with Raja Brooke in these expeditions. The pirates were
attacked in their strongholds, they fought desperately, and the slaughter
was immense. Negotiations with the chiefs had been tried, and tried in
vain. The capital of the sultan of Borneo was bombarded and stormed, and
the sultan with his army routed. He was, however, soon after restored to
his dominion. So large was the number of natives, pirates and others, slain
in these expeditions, that the "head-money" awarded by the British
government to those who had taken part in them amounted to no less than
£20,000. In October 1847 Raja Brooke returned to England, where he was well
received by the government; and the corporation of London conferred on him
the freedom of the city. The island of Labuan, with its dependencies,
having been acquired by purchase from the sultan of Borneo, was erected
into a British colony, and Raja Brooke was appointed governor and
commander-in-chief. He was also named consul-general in Borneo. These
appointments had been made before his arrival in England. The university of
Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of D.C.L., and in 1848 he was
created K.C.B. He soon after returned to Sarawak, and was carried thither
by a British man-of-war. In the summer of 1849 he led an expedition against
the Seribas and Sakuran Dyaks, who still persisted in their piratical
practices and refused to submit to British authority. Their defeat and
wholesale slaughter was a matter of course. At the time of this engagement
Sir James Brooke was lying ill with dysentery. He visited twice the capital
of the sultan of Sala, and concluded a treaty with him, which had for one
of its objects the expulsion of the sea-gypsies and other tribes from his
dominions. In 1851 grave charges with respect to the operations in Borneo
were brought against Sir James Brooke in the House of Commons by Joseph
Hume and other members, especially as to the "head-money" received. To meet
these accusations, and to vindicate his proceedings, he came to England.
The evidence adduced was so conflicting that the matter was at length
referred to a royal commission, to sit at Singapore. As the result of its
investigation the charges were declared to be "not proven." Sir James,
however, was soon after deprived of the governorship of Labuan, and the
head-money was abolished. In 1867 his house in Sarawak was attacked and
burnt by Chinese pirates, and he had to fly from the capital, Kuching. With
a small force he attacked the Chinese, recovered the town, made a great
slaughter of them, and drove away the rest. In the following year he came
to England, and remained there for three years. During this time he was
attacked by paralysis, a public subscription was raised, and an estate in
Devonshire was bought and presented to him. He made two more visits to
Sarawak, and on each occasion had a rebellion to suppress. He spent his
last days on his estate at Burrator in Devonshire, and died there, on the
11th of June 1868, being succeeded as raja of Sarawak by his nephew. Sir
James Brooke was a man of the highest personal character, and he displayed
rare courage both in his conflicts in the East and under the charges
advanced against him in England.
His _Private Letters_ (1838 to 1853) were published in 1853. Portions of
his _Journal_ were edited by Captains Munday and Keppel. (See also
SARAWAK.)
BROOKE, STOPFORD AUGUSTUS (1832- ), English divine and man of letters, born
at Letterkenny, Donegal, Ireland, in 1832, was educated at Trinity College,
Dublin. He was ordained in the Church of England in 1857, and held various
charges in London. From 1863 to 1865 he was chaplain to the empress
Frederick in Berlin, and in 1872 he became chaplain in ordinary to Queen
Victoria. But in 1880 he seceded from the Church, being no longer able to
accept its leading dogmas, and officiated as a Unitarian minister for some
years at Bedford chapel, Bloomsbury. Bedford chapel was pulled down about
1894, and from that time he had no church of his own, but his eloquence and
powerful religious personality continued to make themselves felt among a
wide circle. A man of independent means, he was always keenly interested in
literature and art, and a fine critic of both. He published in 1865 his
_Life and Letters of F. W. Robertson_ (of Brighton), and in 1876 wrote an
admirable primer of _English Literature_ (new and revised ed., 1900),
followed in 1892 by _The History of Early English Literature_ (2 vols.,
1892) down to the accession of Alfred, and _English Literature from the
Beginnings to the Norman Conquest_ (1898). His other works include various
volumes of sermons; _Poems_ (1888); _Dove Cottage_ (1890); _Theology in the
English Poets--Cowper, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Burns_ (1874); _Tennyson, his
Art and Relation to Modern Life_ (1894); _The Poetry of Robert Browning_
(1902); _On Ten Plays of Shakespeare_ (1905); and _The Life Superlative_
(1906).
BROOK FARM, the name applied to a tract of land in West Roxbury,
Massachusetts, on which in 1841-1847 a communistic experiment was
unsuccessfully tried. The experiment was one of the practical
manifestations of the spirit of "Transcendentalism," in New England, though
many of the more prominent transcendentalists took no direct part in it.
The project was originated by George Ripley, who also virtually directed it
throughout. In his words it was intended "to insure a more natural union
between intellectual and manual labour than now exists; to combine the
thinker and the worker, as far as possible, in the same individual; to
guarantee the highest mental freedom by providing all with labour adapted
to their tastes and talents, and securing to them the fruits of their
industry; to do away with the necessity of menial services by opening the
benefits of education and the profits of labour to all; and thus to prepare
a society of liberal, intelligent and cultivated persons whose relations
with each other would permit a more simple and wholesome life than can be
led amidst the pressure of our competitive institutions." In short, its aim
was to bring about the best conditions for an ideal civilization, reducing
to a minimum the labour necessary for mere existence, and by this and by
the simplicity of its social machinery saving the maximum of time for
mental and spiritual education and development. At a time when Ralph Waldo
Emerson could write to Thomas Carlyle, "We are all a little wild here with
numberless projects of social reform; not a reading man but has a draft of
a new community in his waistcoat pocket,"--the Brook Farm project certainly
did not appear as impossible a scheme as many others that were in the air.
At all events it enlisted the co-operation of men whose subsequent careers
show them to have been something more than visionaries. The association
bought a tract of land about 10 m. from Boston, and in the summer of 1841
began its enterprise with about twenty members. In September the "Brook
Farm Institute of Agriculture and Education" was formally organized, the
members [v.04 p.0646] signing the Articles of Association and forming an
unincorporated joint-stock company. The farm was assiduously, if not very
skilfully, cultivated, and other industries were established--most of the
members paying by labour for their board--but nearly all of the income, and
sometimes all of it, was derived from the school, which deservedly took
high rank and attracted many pupils. Among these were included George
William Curtis and his brother James Burrill Curtis, Father Isaac Thomas
Hecker (1819-1888), General Francis C. Barlow (1834-1896), who as
attorney-general of New York in 1871-1873 took a leading part in the
prosecution of the "Tweed Ring." For three years the undertaking went on
quietly and simply, subject to few outward troubles other than financial,
the number of associates increasing to seventy or eighty. It was during
this period that Nathaniel Hawthorne had his short experience of Brook
Farm, of which so many suggestions appear in the _Blithedale Romance_,
though his preface to later editions effectually disposed of the
idea--which gave him great pain--that he had either drawn his characters
from persons there, or had meant to give any actual description of the
colony. Emerson refused, in a kind and characteristic letter, to join the
undertaking, and though he afterwards wrote of Brook Farm with not
uncharitable humour as "a perpetual picnic, a French Revolution in small,
an age of reason in a patty-pan," among its founders were many of his near
friends. In 1844 the growing need of a more scientific organization, and
the influence which F.M.C. Fourier's doctrines, as modified by Albert
Brisbane (1809-1890), had gained in the minds of Ripley and many of his
associates, combined to change the whole plan of the community. It was
transformed, with the strong approval of all its chief members and the
consent of the rest, into a Fourierist "phalanx" in 1845. There was an
accession of new members, a momentary increase of prosperity, a brilliant
new undertaking in the publication of a weekly journal, the _Harbinger_, in
which Ripley, Charles A. Dana, Francis G. Shaw and John S. Dwight were the
chief writers, and to which James Russell Lowell, J.G. Whittier, George
William Curtis, Parke Godwin, T.W. Higginson, Horace Greeley and many more
now and then contributed. But the individuality of the old Brook Farm was
gone. The association was not rescued even from financial troubles by the
change. With increasing difficulty it kept on till the spring of 1846, when
a fire which destroyed its nearly completed "phalanstery" brought losses
which caused, or certainly gave the final ostensible reason for, its
dissolution. The experiment was abandoned in the autumn of 1847. Besides
Ripley and Hawthorne, the principal members of the community were Charles
A. Dana, John S. Dwight, Minot Pratt (c. 1805-1878), the head farmer, who,
like George Partridge Bradford (1808-1890), left in 1845, and Warren Burton
(1810-1866) a preacher and, later, a writer on educational subjects.
Indirectly connected with the experiment, also, as visitors for longer or
shorter periods but never as regular members, were Emerson, Amos Bronson
Alcott, Orestes A. Brownson, Theodore Parker and William Henry Channing,
Margaret Fuller and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody. The estate itself, after
passing through various hands, came in 1870 into the possession of the
"Association of the Evangelical Lutheran Church for Works of Mercy," which
established here an orphanage, known as the "Martin Luther Orphan Home."
The best account of Brook Farm is Lindsay Swift's _Brook Farm, Its Members,
Scholars and Visitors_ (New York, 1900). _Brook Farm: Historic and Personal
Memoirs_ (Boston, 1894), is by Dr J.T. Codman, one of the pupils in the
school. See also Morris Hillquit's _History of Socialism in the United
States_ (New York, 1903).
(E. L. B.)
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--_Pellia epiphylla_. Group of plants bearing mature
sporogonia.