(i74 



BllliNTKOKD 13REST. 



n dreadful slaughter among them. By this victory. 

 the courage of tli Romans, who had fled from their 

 city, was revived : they rallied a Ixxly of 40,000 men, 

 chose < auiillus their leader, and the senate, being 1 se- 

 cretly apprized of it, named him dictator. Mean- 

 while, the garrison of the capitol was in great dist re**. 

 B. attempted a suqirise by night, in which he would 

 liave succeeded, had not the cackling of the geese, 

 sacred to Juno, awakened the Romans. Maul in*, the 

 former consul, alarmed the garrison, and the Gauls 

 were repulsed. As it was not known in the capitol 

 that (.'amillusuas approaching, or that the Gauls were 

 iliMressed for \\ant of provisions (Camillus having cut. 

 off their supplies), the garrison was inclined to enter 

 into a treaty. H. promised to raise the siege, and 

 leave the Roman territory, for 1 000 pounds of gold. 

 The gold wus weighed, but the Gauls made use of 

 false weight* ; and when the Romans complained of 

 the fraiui, B. threw his sword into the scale, and cried 

 out, " Woe to the vanquished !" The Romans were 

 about to submit to tin's injustice, when Camillus ap- 

 pears! with his army, ami declared the treaty void. 

 A battle ensued : after having sustained an inconsi- 

 derable loss, the Gauls retreated, and, in the succeed- 

 ing night, abandoned their camp. On the following 

 day, Camillus pursued and defeated them. Those who 

 escaped death in battle were slain by the inhabitants 

 of the country, so that not one of them returned to his 

 native land. Another B., likewise a leader of the 

 Gauls, invaded Macedonia, about 100 years later, 

 with an immense army (150,000 foot and 3040,000 

 horse), and, after having defeated Sosthenes, directed 

 his march through Thessaly and Greece, towards 

 Delphi, where he plundered, or was on the point of 

 plundering, both city and temple ; but, as several 

 writers assert, he was repelled by a terrible storm, ac- 

 companied by lightning and earthquakes : a Greek 

 army drew near, and a general defeat of the Gauls 

 ensued. B. himself put an end to his life. 



BRENTFORD ; a town in Middlesex, England, seven 

 miles west of London. It has a weekly market and 

 two annual fairs. Here Edmund Ironside defeated 

 the Danes, under Canute, in 1016 ; and Charles I. a 

 part of the parliamentary forces, in 1642. The mag- 

 nificent edifice of the duke of Somerset, where lady 

 Jane Grey resided, now belonging to the duke of 

 Northumberland, was built here, on the site of a sup- 

 pressed nunnery. Population of Old and New B. in 

 1831, 4359. 



BRESCIA ; capital of adelegation comprising 314,000 

 inhabitants, and 1200 square miles, in the Milanese, 

 at the foot of a mountain rising between the lakes 

 Guarda and Iseo, on the rivers Mella and Garza. This 

 latter river divides the city into two parts, in which 

 respect it resembles most of the cities of Lombardy. 

 It is a manufacturing place, containing 3438 houses 

 and 31,000 inhabitants. It is commanded by a cita- 

 del, elevated on a rocky height, and is adorned with a 

 magnificent cathedral. This, as well as the splendid 

 library in the episcopal palace, it owes to cardinal 

 Quirini. It has also a philharmonic society, a cabinet 

 of medals, and a theatre. This last is to be found in 

 almost all Italian cities of equal importance, because, 

 in Italy, many possessors of landed estates, having no 

 other pursuit than pleasure, spend their income in the 

 cities. In this city (for many centuries called Armata) 

 and in Bergamo were the chief manufactories of arms 

 of every description, to answer the demand of the Le- 

 vant, where much luxury is displayed in this article. 

 Venice, for a long time, sent thither supplies of beau- 

 tiful and costly arms. The guns of B., and the steel 

 prepared there, are celebrated in the East. B. has 

 also manufactures of oil, fustian, linen, silk, paper, 

 and hardware. Much silk, wine, flax, and cloth is 

 conveyed into the interior ; for the artificial irrigation, 



by the aid of Alpine streams and the abundance of 

 lakes, together with the southern exposure of the ter- 

 ritory of B., impart to the fertile soil ot this delegation 

 a great richness of vegetation, which is increased by 

 the industry of the tenants, assisted by the advances 

 of funds on the part of the wealthy proprietors. Un- 

 der the government of Venice, the taxes were very 

 light ; nevertheless, the inhabitants ot'H. and its ter- 

 ritory were very unruly subjects of the republic, whose 

 police was so lax, as scarcely to punish those who un- 

 dertook to revenge themselves. An end has been put 

 to the disorders, caused by banditti in the territory of 

 Venice, by the French and Austrian government, in 

 Italy. In 1826, a number of remarkable antiquities 

 were found buried in a vault near B. 



BRESUAU, capital of Silesia, on the river Ohlau, at 

 its junction with the Oder, has 78,860 inhabitants, 

 among whom are 4600 Jews. B. is the residence of 

 both the military and civil governors of Silesia, and 

 the seat of a superior council of administration, a su- 

 perior court of justice, &c. It contains more than 

 twenty Catholic churches, of which the cathedral of 

 St John on the Dominsel (island of the cathedral) is 

 the seat of the bishop of B. Among eighty-four li- 

 terary institutions, there are four distinguished gym- 

 nasia ; two Lutheran, one Reformed, and one Catholic. 

 Among the libraries worthy of notice are the royal 

 library, the library of the university, and the library 

 of Rhediger, which belongs to the city, and is re- 

 markable for its rich collection of manuscripts. The 

 city possesses, in its senate-house, and in the church of 

 the cross, standing on Sandinsel (Sandy island) two 

 magnificent monuments of ancient German architec- 

 ture, and, in public places as well as private collec- 

 tions, contains many exquisite works of art. It has 

 also a theatre. B. carries on a considerable com- 

 merce, which has, however, been diminished by late 

 events. The two annual fairs of wool are numerously 

 attended. Among the misfortunes that have befallen 

 the city in modern times, the siege in 180C and 1807, 

 by the French and the troops of the confederation of 

 the Rhine, must be noticed. After the capture, the 

 French began to destroy the fortifications, which have 

 since been entirely demolished. The spacious walks 

 and new buildings, which occupy the place of the 

 works, have very much contributed to embellish B. 

 The Catholic university was established under Leo- 

 pold II., in 1702, by the Jesuits, and, in 1811, com- 

 bined with the Protestant university of Frankfort on 

 the Oder. In 1826, it contained more than 850 stu- 

 dents. The Prussian government has done much for 

 this institution, as well as for the other new universi- 

 ties in Berlin and Bonn. 



BREST (anciently, Brivates Portus, and Gesobri- 

 vate) ; a seaport in France, and principal place of a 

 district in the department of Finisterre, in the former 

 province of Brittany, 23 posts N. W. Vannes, 69| 

 W. Paris ; Ion. 4 29' W. ; lat. 48 23' N. ; pop., 

 25,865 ; houses, 2600. It has one of the best har- 

 bours in France, and a safe road, capable of contain- 

 ing 500 men-of-war, in eight, ten, and fifteen fathoms 

 at low water, and it is the chief station of the French 

 marine. The harbour and magazines were constructed 

 in 1631, by Richelieu. The coast, on both sides, is 

 well fortified. The entrance is narrow^nd difficult, 

 with covered rocks, that make it dangerous to those 

 not well acquainted with it. It contains two parishes 

 and a marine seminary. The arsenal is an immense 

 and superb building, and the dock-yards are well con- 

 structed. It is the seat of a governor, of an admiralty 

 board, and a municipality. The climate of B. is wet 

 and uncomfortable, and the sky is almost always ob- 

 scured. June 1, 1794, the French fleet jsras beaten 

 off Brest by the British, under Howe, who took from 

 them six ships of the line, and sunk a seventh. 



