B R E 
4o'be fold, under any colour or pretence whatfoever; on 
pain that every perfon who (hall beconvifted thereof, (hall 
•forfeit not more than iol. nor lefs than 40s. or fhall be 
committed to the ho life of correction,' and kept to hard 
labour, for any time not exceeding one month, nor lefs 
than ten days. And the offender’s name and place of abode 
(hall be pub!iffied in fome newfpaper printed in or near the 
place where the offence (hall have .been committed. And 
every perfon who (hall make for fale any fort of bread 
wharfoever, (hall caufe to be fairly marked on every loaf 
expofed to fale as wheaten bread a large Roman W ; and 
upon every loaf made and expofed to fale as houfehold or 
brown bread, a large-Roman H .; .on pain of forfeiting for 
every loaf not fo marked, not more than 20s. nor lefs than 
5s. (except as to fuch loaves which (balk be rafped after 
the befpeaking or purchaling therepf, by the particular de¬ 
fire of any perfon who (hall order the fame to be rafped for 
his ownarfe.) And, if any baker (hall confpire not to fell 
bread but at certain prices, every fuch perfon (hall forfeit 
xol. for the firft offence; and, if not paid in fix days, he 
fhall be imprifonfed twenty days, and have only bread and 
water for his fuftenance ; for the fecond offence 20I. or the 
pillory ; and for the third offence 40I. or the pillory, and 
lofe of an ear, and to become infamous. Stat. 2 and 3 Ed¬ 
ward VI. c. 15. It (hall alfo be lawful for any magiftrate, 
or any peace-officer authorifed by warrant, at feafonable 
times in the day-time, to enter into any houfe, (hop, flail, 
bakehoufe, warehoufe, or outhoufe, of or belonging to any 
baker or feller of bread, to fearch for, view, weigh, and 
try, all or any the bread which fhall be there found. And, 
if any bread, on any fuch fearch, (hall be found wanting 
either in the goodnefs of the fluff whereof it (hall be made, 
or to be deficient in the due baking or working thereof, 
or (hall be wanting in the due weight, or not truly mark¬ 
ed; or (hall be of any other fort .of bread than (hall be 
allowed to be made, any fuch magiftrate or peace-officer 
may feize the fame ; and difpofe thereof, as he in his dif- 
cretion (hall think’fit. And the weight of every fort of 
bread made for fale (hall be in avoirdupois weight as fol¬ 
lows : Every peck loaf, x7lb. 6 oz. half-peck loaf, 8lb. 
noz. quarter-of-a-peck loaf, 4.1b. sh az - half-quarter-of- 
a-peck loaf, alb. z\ oz. on pain of forfeiting for every 
ounce .wanting not exceeding 5s. nor lefs than is. and for 
lefs than an ounce not exceeding 2s'. 6d. nor lefs than 6d. 
fo as the fame in any city, town corporate, or within the 
bills of mortality, be brought before a juftice and weighed 
before him within twenty-four hours after the fame (hall 
have been baked or found in any perfon’s cuftody for fale, 
and elfewhere within three days. And whereas by the 31 
Geo. II. c. 29, and 3-Geo. III. c.,13, only two forts of 
bread made of wheat are allowed to be made-for fale, that 
is to fay, wheaten and houfehold ; and whereas, according 
to the ancient order and cuftom of the realm, there hath 
been from time immemorial a ftandard wheaten bread, be¬ 
ing .the whole produce of the wheat whereof it was made : 
it is therefore enabled, 13 Geo. III. c. 62, that from hence¬ 
forth a bread made of the flour of wheat, which flour, 
without any mixture or divifion, (hall be the whole pro¬ 
duce of the grain, the bran or hull thereof only excepted, 
and which (hall weigh three fourth parts of the weight of 
the wheat whereof it fhall be made, may be made and 
fold, and (hall be called and underftood to be a ftandard 
wheaten bread. And the maker (hall mark every loaf 
thereof with the capital letters S W, and the fame may 
b.e.made and fold, although no affize be fet, of the weight 
and in the proportions following, viz. That every ftandard 
wheaten peck loaf (hall weigh 171b. 6 oz. avoirdupois; 
every half-peek loaf 8lb. n oz. and every quartern loaf 
4lb. $h °Z- And.every peck loaf, half-peck loaf, and quar¬ 
tern loaf, fhall always be fold as to price in proportion to 
each other Tefpeiflively ; and that, when wheaten and 
houfehold bread, made as the law direfls, (hall be fold at 
the fame time, together with this ftandard wheaten bread, 
they be fold in refpedt of, and in proportion to, each other 
as folloiveth; namely, that the fame weight of wheaten 
B R E 367 
bread which cofts 8d. the fame weight of this ftandard 
wheaten bread fhall coll yd. and the fame weight of hou(e- 
hold bread (hall- coft 6d. or feven ftandard wheaten affized 
loaves dial! weigh equal to eight Wheaten affized loaves, 
or to (ix houfehold affized loaves of-the fame price as near . 
as may be. And the inagiftrates may, whenever they 
think proper, fix the affize of this ftandard wheaten bread. 
And whereas in many places the inferior daffies of people 
are tiled to be fupplied with bread made of wheat, of a 
coarfer and cheaper fort than the ftandard wheaten bread 
aforefaid, therefore it (hall be lawful for the baker to make 
and (ell fuch inferior and coarfer bread, provided lie fells 
the fame at a price under that of houfehold bread, as di¬ 
rected by the faid a< 5 t of 31 George II. But, if he fells 
fuch inferior or coarfer bread by weights and prices where¬ 
at the houfehold bread aforefaid.is at that time affized, he 
(hall be liable to the fame penalties as bakers for any mif- 
demeanour in making and felling any other fort of bread, 
BRE AD'ALB ANE, a dilfrifl of Scotland, in the weft- 
ern part, of the county of Perth, bordering on the county 
of Argyle. 
BREAD-CHIP'PER, f. [from bread and chip.'] One 
that chips bread ; a baker’s fervant ; an under butler. 
BREAD-CORN, f. [from bread and corn. 3 Corn of 
which bread is made. 
BREAD-FRUIT TREE. See xArtocarpus. 
BREAD-NUT TREE. See Brosimum. 
BRE AD-ROOM, f. in a (hip, that part of the hold fe- 
parated by a bulk-head from the reft, where the bread and 
bifeuit for the men are kept. 
BREADTH,yi [from brad, broad, Sax.] The meafure 
of any plain fuperficies from fide to fide.—-In our Gothic 
cathedrals, the narrownefs of tire arch makes it rife in 
height; the lownefs opens it in breadth. Addifon. 
7 b BREAK, a. pret. I broke, or brake-, part, paffi, 
broke, or broken ; [breccan , Sax.] To part by violence.— 
Let us break them bands afunder, and caft away their cords 
from us. Pfalms. —To burft, or open by force.— IVIofes 
tells us, that the fountains of the earth were broke open, 
or clove afunder. Burnet.-— To pierce; to divide, as light 
divides darknefs: 
By a dim winking lamp, which feebly broke 
The gloomy vapour, he lay ftretch’d along. Dry den. 
To deft-roy -by violence.—This is the fabric, which, when 
God breaketk down, none can build up again. Burnet. —To 
batter; to make breaches or gaps in. To crtilh or deftroy 
the ftrength of the body : 
An old man, broken with the (forms of ftate, 
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ; 
Give him a little earth for charity. Skakefpeare. 
To fink or appal the fpirit.—The defeat was much greater 
than it appeared to be; it even broke the heart of his ar¬ 
my. Clarendon.—To cru(h ; to (hatter : 
Your hopes without are vaniftt’d into fmoke; 
Your captains taken, .and your' armies broke. Dryden. 
To weaken the mental faculties : 
Oppreffed naUn*e deeps: 
This reft might yet have balm’.d thy broken fenfes. Shah]', 
To tame; to train to obedience ; to enure to docility ; 
Virtues like thefe 
Make human nature (bine, reform the foul, 
And break our fierce barbarians into men. Addifon ., 
To make bankrupt.—A command or call to be liberal to 
•the poor, all of a hidden impoverifhes the rich, breaks the 
merchant, and (huts up every private man’s exchequer. 
South .—To difeard ; to difmifs.—I fee a great officer bro¬ 
ken. Swift. —To crack or open the (kin, fo as that the 
blood comes: 
Weak foul! and blindly to deftr-iuftion led : 
She break her heart I (he’ll fooner break your head. Dryd. 
To 
