B R E 



455 



B R E 



several of which are adorned with fine paintings and 

 ' statues ; 30 convents, a general hospital, a lyceum, 

 and several charitable houses ; a palace of justice, 

 which is a magnificent stone building, constructed 

 from the ruins of a temple of Vulcan, and remarka- 

 ble for its fine architecture and paintings in fresco ; 

 and a cathedral, which is a modern edifice, and in 

 which is shewn the famous cross or standard of Coi.- 

 stantine. To Cardinal Ouirini, who was once bi- 

 shop of Brescia, and who, besides, contributing li- 

 berally to the building of the cathedral, also present- 

 ed the city with a library, the magistracy, in 1750, 

 erected two marble statues, one of which is placed 

 in the church, and the other in the library. It is 

 the see of a bishop, suffragan of Milan, who used 

 formerly to bear the title of Duke, Marquis, or 

 Earl j and its magistracy, before the revolution, con- 

 jisted of 600 citizens, divided into several councils, 

 under a noble Venetian, who presided in quality of 

 governor, or Podesta, a designation, which seems to 

 have been applied to chief magistrates, even in the 

 time of the Romans, as in the following line of Juve- 

 nal : 



Fidenarum, Gabtorvmve esse poteitas. 

 Bishop Burnet speaks of Brescia as in his time, " a 

 great town, full of trade and wealth." The inhabi- 

 tants are very ingenious and industrious, and carry on 

 several flourishing manufactures. It has long been 

 famed especially tor its pistol and musket barrels, 

 swords, knives, and other articles of armoury; and, 

 n it neighbourhood are considerable iron mines and 

 forges, in one of which 300 workmen are employed. 

 In the valleys in its environs, are found also copper, 

 jasper, alabaster, touch-stones as black as ebony, and 

 capable of receiving a polish like mirrors ; and a pe- 

 culiar stone, which resists' the influence of fire, and from 

 a single block of which they cut a number of pots or 

 vessels, always taking the smaller out of the heart 

 of the larger. There are made also at this place 

 great numbers of mill-stones ; the smaller of a soft 

 grey stone, very easily cut* but quickly hardening 

 in the air; and the larger of a kind of granite stud- 

 ded with calcareous substances. Lintseed oil, but es- 

 pecially grape-stone oil, is made at Brescia in consi- 

 derable quantities; in preparing the last of which, the 

 following process is followed : The mass, which re- 

 mains in the wine press, is beaten, kneaded, and sift- 

 ed, till the stones be separated from the adhering 

 substances j they are then winnowed, bybeing thrown 

 into the air by a shovel, and left to dry during the 

 space of a month ; they are next bruised under a 

 stone; roasted in a copper over the fire, wrapped in 

 a piece of woollen cloth, and, lastly put into the oil- 

 press. The fisheries on the lakes of Esco and Guar- 

 da, furnish considerable employment, as well as an 

 important article of traffic to the inhabitants of Bres- 

 cia and its neighbourhood. In the rivers Adige and 

 Oglio, besides excellent fish, there is found also 

 quantities of gold ; and one person, by washing the 

 sand, will gain, ordinarily 12, and sometimes 50 sols 

 a day. The trade in linen and woollen cloths is con- 

 siderable. That in iron yields 170,000 francs per 

 annum ; in flax, 360,000; and in silk, which is the 

 principal manufacture of the place, two millions and 

 a half. The Brescian territories abound in excellent 



pasturage ; and cheese is exported by the peasant! to Brflau. 

 the amount of 130,000 livres annually. To thee v~~ 

 pastures the people around Lodi, who make the 

 .ter part of what is called Parmesan cheese, bring 

 their herds of cows, during the winter half year. 

 One of the peculiar productions of the vicinity of 

 Brescia is a wine called Sfiit/n, which is of a golden 

 colour, and an agreeable sweetness. In making this 

 wniL', the grapes are kept till the month of February, 

 and put into the press when the weather is cold. It 

 is afterwards exposed to a strong degree of cold, 

 tliat it may not ferment much; and is then sealed up 

 for the space of three or four years. The commerce 

 of Brescia and the fertility of its soil are greatly 

 promoted by the numerous rivers in its vicinity, the 

 waters of which are distributed with the utmost care 

 and economy in all directions ; and give motion to 

 an infinity of mills and machinery for spinning silk, 

 manufacturing paper, hammering iron and copper, 

 sawing wood, and boring cannon, &c. These streams 

 are farmed at a high rent ; and one proprietor is said 

 to draw 40,000 francs annually for the water on his 

 domains. From the land, through which those ca- 

 nals and rivulets pass, it is common to raise a crop of 

 flax or millet, after one of wheat in the same year ; 

 the fields are frequently manured by a crop of lu- 

 pins, being raised and left to rot on the ground. 

 Its population is about 42,000; its distance from 

 Milan 44 miles, from Mantua 32, from Crema 30; 

 its N. Lat. 45 31', and E. Long. 10 5'. See Bi- 

 shop Burnet's Travels p. 96 ; Scott's Itinerario 

 d' Italia, p. 96. ; and Tynna's Almanack du Com- 

 merce pour 1811, p. 919. (q) 



BRESLAU, or BRESLAW, the capital of Prus- 

 sian Silesia, is one of the largest cities of Germany. 

 Its origin is very uncertain, but it is known to have 

 been a bishop's see in 1033, and to have been burned 

 by the Tartars in 1241. In 1335 it was united to 

 the crown of Bohemia, and its chief magistrates were 

 constituted governors of the whole principality, of 

 which it is the capital. The Emperor Charles IV. 

 shewed great favour to the city, and, in 1348 espe- 

 cially, conferred upon its inhabitants many important 

 privileges, which were still farther augmented by his 

 son Vonceslaus. In 1635 its government was surren- 

 dered to the Emperor Ferdinand II. and it conti- 

 nued subject to his successors till the year 1741, 

 when it was united to the Prussian dominions. In 

 1757, a small Prussian army, under the command of 

 Augustus William, Duke of Brunswick Bevern, was 

 driven from the neighbourhood of Breslau, after a 

 vigorous resistance, and the city compelled to sur- 

 render to the victorious Austrians ; but, in the space 

 of four weeks, it was recovered by the king of Prus- 

 sia, and the Austrian garrison, to the amount of 

 18,000, were made prisoners of war. In this last siege 

 several of its churches were greatly damaged, the li- 

 brary of St Mary Magdalen destroyed by the falling 

 of a bomb, and the greater part of the suburbs burnt 

 to the ground. 



Breslau is situated on the south side of the Oder, 

 where that river receives the waters of the Ohlau, and 

 was formerly surrounded by the latter as by a moat. 

 AH that part of the town which stands between this 

 stream and the present walls, was added by the Em- 



