B R E 



452 



B R E 



Breda. cd under planks and turf in a small trading vessel, by 

 ' whose means he 1 was admitted during the night, and 

 received the submission of the garrison. It is rela- 

 ted, that one of these adventurers being unable to re- 

 frain from coughing while concealed in the boat, re- 

 quested one of his companions to put him to death, 

 lest the noise, which he made, should occasion the 

 discovery and defeat of their enterprise. In 1625, it 

 was invested by Spinola the Spanish general, with an 

 army of 30,000 men, who being well aware of its great 

 strength, made his approaches with the utmost cau- 

 tion, and confined his operations chiefly to a blockade, 

 in the hope of reducing it by famine. The garrison, 

 which consisted of French, Dutch, and English 

 troops, under their respective officers, colonels Haute- 

 rive, Lohre. and Morgan, and which amounted only 

 to 7000 infantry, with a few troops of horse, made a 

 most vigorous and gallant defence under the able di- 

 rection of their commandant Justin of Nassau, natu- 

 ral son of William, Prince of Orange. Besides main- 

 taining an incessant and spirited fire upon their assail- 

 ants, they had recourse to various other modes of an- 

 noyance ; collected an immense bason of water, by 

 stopping the course of the river Mrrek, and direct- 

 ing it against the quarters of Spinola, swept away 

 numbers of his forces, covered the neighbouring coun- 

 try with water, and introduced BO great a mortality 

 into his camp, that there was scarcely 12,000 men 

 fit for service. The Spani-h commander, on his 

 part, though labouring under severe sickness, prose- 

 cuted the siege with extraordinary skill and perseve- 

 rance ; caused himself to be carried round his works 

 in a litter ; visited every post, and directed every ope- 

 ration in person ; and having received considerable 

 reinforcements to his army, reduced the besieged, on 

 the one hand, to the greatest extremity, and, on the 

 other hand, repulsed every attempt of the Prince of 

 Orange to raise the siege, or to throw relit! into the 

 place. Still the garrison and inhabitants, though se- 

 verely afflicted with disease and scarcity, as well as 

 hard pressed by the enemy, continued to make the 

 most obstinate resistance ; and, by the united good 

 conduct of the governor and magistrates, in the ma- 

 nagement of their provisions, were able to hold out 

 four months longer than had been calculated. Henry 

 Prince of Orange, seeing no prospect of relieving his 

 faithful subjects, sent a permission to the governor to 

 surrender upon the best terms that he might be able 

 to procure. This note, which had no signature, was 

 intercepted by Spinola, who took care that it should 

 be forwarded to the governor of Breda, and also ac- 

 companied it with the offer of an honourable capitu- 

 lation. Justin of Nassau, however, suspecting that 

 the whole might be a stratagem on the part of the 

 enemy, observed in reply, that a permission was not a 

 command to submit ; and though the garrison was 

 reduced to one half of its number, they all resolved to 

 continue the defence till they should receive from 

 1 heir prince a positive order to yield. Henry having 

 been made acquainted with their brave determination, 

 transmitted an express command, that they should 

 surrender to the Spaniards; but requested, at the 

 jame time, that he should be informed, by signal, how 

 many days they were still able to hold out ; and was 

 answered by eleven fires kindled in different parts of 



the city. A duplicate of these instructions fell into the Bred 

 hands of Spinola ; but though he was thus enabled to 

 understand, by the signals of the besieged, that they J^ 

 must necessarily surrender at discretion within the *""^* 

 space of eleven days, he generously resolved to testi- 

 fy his respect for their bravery, by -offering them in* 

 stantly the most honourable and advantageous condi- 

 tions. These having been accepted, and the garrison, 

 which had sustained a siege of 10 months, and lost 

 two-thirds of their number, having marched thrcugh 

 the gates, the Spanish general drew up his army to 

 receive them, complimented the governor and the offi- 

 cers upon their distinguished good conduct, comman- 

 ded the sick and wounded to be treated with the ut- 

 most tenderness, distributed money among the sol- 

 diers, and displayed all the sentiments of a hero, in the 

 testimony which he paid to the merit of the van- 

 quished. In 1637, it was recovered by Henry prince 

 of Orange, after a siege of four months, who requi- 

 ted the generosity of Spinola, by allowing the Spa- 

 nish garrison to march out with all the honours of war, 

 and loading their gallant commander, Omer de Four- 

 din, with distinguished praises and valuable presents. 

 In 1667, Breda was the seat of the famous confe- 

 rence, in which a general peace was established be- 

 tween Louis the XIV. of France, Charles II. of 

 England, Frederick III. of Denmark, and the go- 

 vernment of the United Provinces. In 1793, though 

 the fortifications had been greatly augmented by the 

 Dutch, this important place was surrendered to the 

 French after a siege of ten days ; but, in the same 

 year, was again delivered up by capitulation to the 

 States. 



Breda is situated at the confluence of the rivers Aa 

 and Merck, in a fertile but marshy country, and ca- 

 pable of being surrounded with water, so as to be al- 

 together inaccessible to an army. It is neatly built, 

 and regularly fortified, surrounded with a wall three 

 miles in circumference, and a ditch well filled with 

 water, protected by bastions and a strong citadel. 

 The whole city is of a triangular form, with a gate 

 built of brick at each angle ; and the ramparts are 

 adorned with rows of elm trees. It contains about 

 20 streets, 2200 houses, and 10,000 inhabitants. Its 

 principal structures are ; the castle, a magnificent 

 square building, surrounded by the waters of the 

 Merck ; the great church, which is a very handeome 

 edifice, with a remarkable spire 362 feet in height ; 

 and the mausoleum of Angelbert or Engelbert II. of 

 Nassau, adorned with various statues and inscriptions. 

 Its woollen manufactures were formerly in a prosper- 

 ous state, but have greatly declined since the revolu- 

 tion. It is 46 miles south of Amsterdam, and 22 

 south south-east of Rotterdam. North Lat. 51 37', 

 East Long. 4 45'. See Foster's Travels, (q) 



BREDEMEYERA.a genus of plants of the class 

 Diadelphia, and order Octandria. See BOTANY, p. 

 273. 



BREEZE. See METEOROLOGY. 



BREHONS. See IRELAND. 



BREMEN, the capital of a duchy of the same 

 name, is conjectured to have been anciently the I'/ia- 

 biranum of Ptolemy, and was known as the seat of 

 an archbishop in the time of Charlemagne. Its in- 

 habitants were among the most early antT zealous 



