662 



BK AN TOME BRAZIL. 



noted for giving name to a Iwttle fought near it, Sept. 

 11, 1777, Between the British and Amerieans, m \vliidi 

 the latter were defeated, with the loss of about 300 

 men killed and 600 wounded. 



BRANTOME, Pierre de Bourdeilles, lord of the abbey 

 of, was born at Perigord, about 1527, died in 1614. 

 In his epitaph, composed by himself, lie relates in a 

 vaunting manner, how he first Imre arms under the 

 great trancis of Guise, and afterwards served the 

 king, his master. After the drath of Charles IX., he 

 withdrew to his estates, and wrote his memoirs, which 

 ha\e a great deal of vanity and self-complacency, 

 mingle*! with much that is interesting. They are a 

 living picture of his age ; for B. was personally 

 acquainted with all the great characters of the time, 

 and an eye- witness of all the important events which 

 then took place, and, in some, was an actor. B.'s 

 character was that of his birth-place (Gascouy) and 

 of his rank. He was a courtier, regardless of right 

 or wrong ; who does not blame the great, but observes 

 and relates their faults and crimes as ingenuously as 

 if he were uncertain whether they deserve praise or 

 blame; as indifferent about honour and chastity in 

 women as about integrity in men. He describes a 

 scandalous act without being sensible of its offensive- 

 ness. He speaks of the good king Louis XI. who 

 ordered his brother to be poisoned, and of the virtuous 

 ladies, whose adventures no pen but his own could 

 describe. He places us in the middle of that century, 

 when expiring chivalry was contending with the 

 forming, and, as yet, unsettled manners of later times. 

 B., in the midst of his wandering life, had acquired 

 more learning than most of his fellow soldiers. He 

 has left fie des Hommes illustres et des grands Capi- 

 f dines Francaise ; Vie des grand Capitaines Etran- 

 gers ; fie des Dames illustres ; Vie des Dames 

 galantes ; Anecdotes touchant les Duels ; Rodomon- 

 tades et Jurements des Espagnols. Twelve editions 

 of his works were published from 1676 to 1740, 

 sometimes entire, sometimes in selections. 



BRASIL. See Brazil. 



BRASS. See Copper. 



BRATTLEBOROUGH ; a post town of the United States, 

 in Windham county, Vermont, on the Connecticut ; 

 population in 1820, 2,017. It is one of the most 

 considerable and flourishing towns in Vermont, and 

 contains two parishes, in each of which there is a 

 handsome village. The village in the west parish 

 contains an academy ; that in the east parish has a 

 large printing establishment, various manufactures, 

 and a flourishing trade. In the south-east corner of 

 B. was fort Drummer, which was established in 1724, 

 and was the first settlement formed by Anglo- Ameri- 

 cans in Vermont. 



BRAUWER, BRAUR, or BROUWER, Adrian, a cele- 

 brated painter, of the Dutch school, was born at 

 Haerlam, in 1608, or, more probably, at Oudenarde, 

 where his father was a painter of common paper hang- 

 ings. Poverty contributed, perhaps, to form his 

 talents. When a child, he painted flowers and birds 

 to be stitched on caps, which were sold by his 

 mother. Francis Hals, a skilful painter, expecting 

 to profit by the talents of the young artist, took him 

 to Haerlem. Here, amidst wearisome labours and 

 poor diet, B. spent the greater part of his time in a 

 garret, occupied in making little paintings, of the 

 value of which he was ignorant, while Hals kept the 

 profits of them for himself. Two pretty paintings of 

 his, The Five Senses and The Twelve Months, are 

 mentioned as belonging to that period. By the ad- 

 vice of Adrian of Ostade, his fellow pupil, he escaped 

 to Amsterdam, where he was surprised to hear, that 

 his paintings were esteemed. He now gained con- 

 siderable sums by his labours ; but, instead of devoting 

 himself to his art, he made the inn his workshop, 



never exerting himself till the hostess insisted upon 

 payment He threw into the fire a painting for 

 which he did not receive the price demanded, and 

 began a new one with more care. Having gone to 

 Antwerp during the wars of the Low Countries, he 

 was thrown into prison as a spy. He declared that 

 he was a painter, appealing to the duke of Alirem- 

 berg, who was likewise imprisoned there; and. at 

 the prince's intercession, having been provided with 

 materials, he painted his guards playing at cards, 

 with so much expression and truth, that Rubens, at the 

 sight of the picture, exclaimed, " This is B.'s work ; 

 none but he can succeed so well in such subjects." Ru- 

 bens effected his release by standing bail for him, 

 clothed him, and received him into his house and at 

 his table. B., however, instead of being grateful fur 

 this generosity, escaped secretly, to plunge into still 

 greater extravagances. He took lodgings with a 

 baker, Craesbeke, who became a skilful painter by 

 his instructions. This man, whose inclinations agreed 

 with those of B., had a handsome wife, and the 

 connexion between these three persons became so in- 

 timate, that they were obliged to flee from justice. 

 B. went to Paris, but, finding no employment there, 

 returned to Antwerp, where he died in the hospital, 

 in 1640. Rubens, who remembered only his talents, 

 caused him to be honourably buried in the church 

 of the Carmelites. All the pictures of B. show what 

 sort of places and company this artist frequented. 

 He did not, however, like Teniers, understand how 

 to give to mean objects the variety of which they are 

 susceptible. Nevertheless, his paintings command 

 high prices from amateurs. It would indeed lie 

 difficult to excel B. in power and harmony of colour- 

 ing, in the management of the chiaro-oscuro, and in 

 truth of expression. 



BRAVURA AIR ; an air so composed as to enable the 

 singer to show his skill in execution by the addition 

 of embellishments, striking cadences, &c. It is 

 sometimes used for the style of execution. 



BRAY ; a small village in the county of Berks. The 

 church is a vicarage in the gift of the bishop of Ox- 

 ford. The vicar or Bray lived in the reigns of Henry 

 VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, and was first a 

 Papist, then a Protestant, then a Papist, and finally a 

 Protestant again. Being accused of inconstancy, "It 

 is not so," he replied ; " for I always keep to my prin- 

 ciple, which is this to live and die vicar of Bray." 

 A well-known song is founded on this incident. 



BRAZIL ; a country of vast extent, and one of the 

 richest regions of the earth, comprising the eastern 

 and central parts of South America ; bounded N. by 

 Colombia, Guiana, and the Atlantic ocean., E. and S. 

 E. by the Atlantic ocean, and W. by Buenos Ayres, 

 or the United Provinces of La Plata, Bolivia, and 

 Peru. The following table exhibits the population 

 of the several capitanias, or provinces, as stated by 

 Mr Brackenridge, who visited South America in the 

 years 1817 and 1818. 



Total, 3,000,000 



In 1826, the country was divided anew, so as to 

 constitute nineteen provinces. Of the population, as 

 stated by Mr Brackenridge, 1,000,000 are supposed 

 to be of European origin or descent, 1,200,000 Ne- 



\ 



