B R E 



B R E 



their brelion law ; fo that both Henry III. (A. R. JO.) anj 

 Edward I. { A.R.j.) were obliged to renew the injunction ; 

 3»nd Ht length, in a parliament holden at Kilkenny, 40 lid- 

 ward III. under Lionel duke of Clarence, the then lieute- 

 nant of Ireland, the brehon law was formally aboliihtd ; it 

 'being unanimoudy declared to be indeed no law, but a lewd 

 ■cullom crept in of later times ; and it was enatled, that no 

 Englidi Inbjeft {hall fubmit to a trial by this law, on tiic 

 penalty ot high treafon. And yet, even in the reign of 

 queen Elizabeth, the wild natives Hill preferred their brehon 

 law, which is defcribed by Edm. .Spenfer (State of Ireland), 

 to have been " a rule of right tin written, but delivered by tradi- 

 tion from one to another, in which oltentimes there appeared 

 a great Ihew of equity in determining the right between party 

 and party, but in many things repugnant quite both to God's 

 laws and man's." As to the prevalence of this law among 

 the Irifli, this writer further obferves, that " dwelling as 

 they do, who'e nations and fepts of the Irifh together, 

 without any Englifhman amongll them, they may do what 

 they lilt, and compound, or altogether conceal, amoiigtl 

 themfelves, their own crimes." Some writers have fpoken of 

 ■thefe laws, as if they were peculiar to the Irifli, and an evi- 

 dence of their barbarity ; not duly coniidering, that wlun 

 they were ellablilhed, many otlicr nations had limilar laws ; 

 and that if the Englidi had taken proper pains to introduce 

 itheir improved inilitutions, and to fettle the country under 

 any kind of regular goveniment, they would, in all probabi- 

 ■lity, have been able, though not without difficulty, to effeft 

 it. The civilization and improvement of Ireland fecm, 

 however, to have engaged little attention till the reign of 

 James I. ; who " proceeded in this work," fays Hume 

 (Hill, of Great Britain, vol. vi. p. 5S.), " by a fieady, re- 

 gular, and well-concerted plan ; and in the fpace of nine 

 years, according to lir Jolin Davies, he made greater ad- 

 vances towards the reformation of that kingdom, than had 

 been made in the 4+0 years which hadelapfcd hnce the con- 

 queil was firll attempted." Tlie legiflative union, refcrvcd 

 for the reign of George III. afloids a profpefl, under regu- 

 lations prelcribtd by wiic, moderate, and falutary counfcis, 

 and enforced by fuitable lanftions, of further improvements, 

 conducive to the remedy of the peculiar diforders of Ireland, 

 and to the promotion of the real interells of both countries. 

 See Union. 



BREIDDYN-HiLL, in Geography, lies on the border of 

 Shroplhire, and occupies a large fpace between Montgomery 

 and the vale of Severn. It conlllls principally of a coarle 

 argillaceous fchiftus, blended in fome places with fniall 

 rhomboidal cryftals and a calcareous fpar. The fummit of 

 this hill, near the pillar erefled in honojir of admiral Rod- 

 ney, affords a very extenfive and delightful profpet\, extend- 

 ing over the vales of tiie Severn, Fyrnwy, and Taued, as 

 far as Plinlimmon, Cadcr-idris, and Aran-ben-llyn, whofe 

 pointed tops agreeably diverfify the line of the horizon. 

 This was a favourite htuation of Llewelyn the Gre.it, about 

 the year 1 240. 



BREIDEMBACH, a town of Erancc, in the depart- 

 ment of the Mofcllt, 5 miles north of Bitche. 



BREISCH, a town of Germany, in the circle of I'^pper 

 Saxony, and duchy of Crofien ; 8 miles S. ol Croffen. 



BREITENBACH, a town of Germany, in the circle 

 of Upper Saxony, and county of Schwartzburg, feated on a 

 fmall river of the fame name, in the niidll of 'woods, fields, 

 hills, and vallics, with tv.-o churclics and 4C0 lioufes ; 14 

 miles S. of Erfurt. On tlie river, in its vicinity, is a mii.e 

 yielding fulphnr, alum, and vitriol. 



BREITENBURG, a lorddiip and parochial village of 

 Germany, in the duchy of HoUlein, and circle of Itzehoe, 

 feated on the river Stor, 'z miles S. of Itzehoe. 



BR.EITENECK, a town of Germany, in the circle of 



Bavaria, wliich gives nar:ic to a lordfhip, filuate in the v^' 

 [)i.r palatinate, and contrilinting to each Roman month -' 

 florins, and to each chaiubtr term ij rix doll.us. The i'ef 

 c(hite5 of this feignory belong to the elcdlor of Bavaria, and 

 the allodial to tlie counts of Montlort, in whieli is the 

 town, vi'hieh has & citadel, and is dillaul j nnles N.E. Iron. 

 Dictfurt. 



BREITHORN, and Brei ti.auinen, peaks of tie 

 Jungfrau, or Virgin, in the canton of Bern, in Swifi'irl uid. 



BREITKOI'F, John (,OTri.oii Immanuei., in Bn- 

 grnp/jy, an ingcTiions printer, lettt r-founder, and booklcllerof 

 Leiplic, was born in thatcity, Nov. 2;, 1719. In early life 

 he manifelled a llrong attachment to thcfcicnces, and acquired 

 a confiderable acquaintance with the languages, particularly 

 the modern ones. When he joined liis fatlier in bufincfs, !.e 

 commenced the iludy of mathematics ; and after the peruLil 

 of a work of Albert Durir, in which the (liape of the let- 

 ters is deduced from mathematical priiK:ip!es, according to 

 which the firll printing types were formed, he made the im- 

 provement of the art of printing a principal objcift of his at- 

 tention. Accordingly, he began with delineating tlic turrei 

 of types mathematically ; and he endeavoured to fafliion 

 tkcm according to the moll beantifid models, whieli hs 

 could procure by an extenfive refeareh among the Engiilh, 

 French, Dutch, Flemifh, and Itahans. By his ingenuity 

 and diligence, employed in tiiis way, he obtained nev/ aiid 

 improved figures of charadlcrs, and had them call in ma- 

 trices cut for the purpofe. Thus his printing-office and 

 lettcr-foundcry acquired very high repalatiwii, as being the 

 moll complete in tlie world, not excepting thofe of the fo- 

 ciety " de propaganda" at Rome, and containing punches 

 for 400 alphabets, with an equal number of matrices, and 

 a very copious alTortmeiit of ornaments. Whilll he was alTi- 

 duous in profecuting every niude of improvement, he in- 

 dulged no mean jealoufy in contemplating the inventions of 

 others in a fimilar way ; but, on the contrary, he employed 

 the types of Balkerville, and duly appreciated the value of 

 thofe of Didot. Breitkopf found by his virious and exten. 

 five refearches, that engraving in woud iir.d given birth to 

 printing ; and that the latter had contributed to the improve- 

 ment of engraving. He was tluis led to transfer fome par- 

 tieulars, in the province ofthe engraver, to that of the printer; 

 and with this view he made his tiril experiment on mufical 

 notes, and contrived to reprefent, by the typograpliic art, all 

 the marks and lines which occur in the inoelcni mufic, with 

 no lefs accuracy than that with which they are reprefent cd 

 by engraving. Recuning to mathematical principles, he 

 fucceeded, in 1 755, in bringing this art to its prefent degree 

 of perfection. He proceeded to print maps with niovcabls 

 types, and, in 1776, aceomplifhed, after encountering many 

 difficulties, the objeft at which lie aimed. This, however, 

 he confidered as a matter of mere curiol-'ty ; and fuch was 

 alfo another attempt, which was that of copying portraits 

 by moveable types. In 1793, he directed his attention to 

 another objetl of greater utility ; v hich had long been con- 

 fidered as impiafticable, and on which large funis had be-in 

 expended without avail. This was that of priming, with 

 moveable types, the Chinefe chaiatiers, w/.ich are, in gene- 

 ral, cut in pieces of wood, fo that a whole iioufe is often nc- 

 ceiTary to contain the blocks employed for a fingle book. 

 After fome trials lie at length luccteded; and having fenl 

 Ipecimens to the pope, he returned him thanks in the po- 

 litell manner by cardinal Borgia. His next attempt was 

 that of printing mathematical figures in the fame manner ; 

 but though he Inrniounted all obllacijes by hit perfeveriiig 

 exertions, his numerous tiigagemente prevented the comple- 

 tion of his defign. Breitkopf direfted his allenlion to the 

 improvement ol type-metal, particula>!y by giving ii that 

 degree of harduefs, which has been a defideratum 111 founde- 

 N n 2 rie» 



