Part 46

_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is 475,224 acres, with a population in 1891 of 57,031 and in 1901 of 59,907. The area of the administrative county is 469,301 acres. The only municipal borough is Brecon, which is the county town, and had in 1901 a population of 5741. The other urban districts are Brynmawr, Builth Wells and Hay, with populations of 6833, of 1805 and of 1680 respectively in 1901. Crickhowell and Talgarth are market towns, while Llanwrtyd Wells is a rapidly developing health resort. The county forms part of the South Wales circuit, and the assizes are held at Brecon. It had one court of quarter sessions, and is divided into ten petty sessional divisions. The borough of Brecon has a separate commission of the peace, but no separate court of quarter sessions. There are 94 civil parishes, while the ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part within the county number 70, of which 67 are in the diocese of St David's and the archdeaconry of Brecon, the remaining 3 being in the diocese of Llandaff. The county is not divided for parliamentary purposes, and returns one member to parliament. It contains a small part of the parliamentary borough of Merthyr Tydfil.

In the eastern parts and along the Wye valley, English has become the predominant language, but in the rest of the county, especially north of the Eppynt range, Welsh occupies that position. In 1901 about 51% of the population above three years could speak both English and Welsh, 38% could speak English only and 11% Welsh only. The majority of the population is Nonconformist in religion, the chief denominations being the Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists and Congregationalists. Besides an endowed grammar-school (Christ College) at Brecon, there are in the county four secondary schools, established under the Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1899, viz. separate schools for boys and girls at Brecon, and dual schools at Builth and Brynmawr. Most of the county institutions are in the town of Brecon, but the joint asylum for the counties of Brecon and Radnor is at Talgarth. It was opened in February 1903. At Trevecca, near the same town, was a theological college for ministerial students attached to the Calvinistic Methodist body, but in October 1906 the institution was removed to Aberystwyth, and the buildings have since been utilized for a preparatory school belonging to the same body.

_History._--There are no traces or record of Breconshire being inhabited before the Neolithic period, but to that period may be ascribed a number of cairns, menhirs and one cromlech (near Glanusk). In Roman times the eastern half of the county formed part of the territory of the Silures, a pre-Celtic race, whose governing class at that time probably consisted of Brythonic Celts. But an earlier wave of Celtic invasion represented by the Goidels had passed westwards along the valleys of the Usk and Wye, leaving traces in place-names (_e.g. llwch_, lake), and in the Ogham inscribed stones found at Glanusk, Trallwng and Trecastle, and probably surviving into historic times around the Beacon range and farther south even to Gower and Kidwelly. The conquest of the district by the Romans was effected between about A.D. 75 and 80, and they established a frontier fort (which some have called Caer Bannau, identifying it as Bannium) some 3 m. out of the present town of Brecon, with smaller stations on roads leading thereto at Y Gaer near Crickhowell, and at Capel Colbren in the direction of Neath. On the departure of the Romans, the Goidelic hill-tribes, probably with help from Gower and Ireland, seem to have regained possession of the Usk valley under the leadership of a chieftain of their own race, Brychan, who became the ancestor of one of the three chief tribes of hereditary Welsh saints. His territory (named after him Brycheiniog, whence Brecknock) lay wholly east of the Eppynt range, for the lordship of Buallt, corresponding to the modern hundred of Builth, to the west, remained independent, probably till the Norman invasion. Most of the older churches of central Brecknockshire and east Carmarthenshire were founded by or dedicated to members of Brychan's family.

From the middle of the 8th century to the 10th, Brycheiniog proper often bore the brunt of Mercian attacks, and many of the castles on its eastern border had their origin in that period. Subsequently, when Bernard de Newmarch and his Norman followers obtained possession of the country in the last quarter of the 11th century, these were converted into regular fortresses. Bernard himself initiated this policy by building a castle at Talgarth on the Upper Wye, but in 1091 he moved southwards, defeated the regulus of Brycheiniog, Bleddyn ab Maenarch, and his brother-in-law Rhys ap Tewdwr, the prince of south-west Wales, and with materials obtained from the Roman fort of Caer Bannau, built a castle at Brecon, which he made his _caput baroniae_. Brycheiniog was then converted into a lordship marcher and passed to the Fitzwalter, de Breos, the Bohun and the Stafford families in succession, remaining unaffected by the Statute of Rhuddlan (1282), as it formed part of the marches, and not of the principality of Wales.

The Irfon valley, near Builth, was, however, the scene of the last struggle between the English and Llewelyn, who in 1282 fell in a petty skirmish in that district. The old spirit of independence flickered once again when Owen Glendower marched to Brecon in 1403. Upon the attainder of Edward, duke of Buckingham, in 1521, the lordship of Brecon with its dependencies became vested in the crown. In 1536 it was grouped with a whole series of petty lordships marcher and the lordship of Builth to form the county of Brecknock with Brecon as the county town, and the place for holding the county court. The county returns one member to parliament, and has done so since 1536; the borough of Brecon, with the town of Llywel, had also a separate representative from the same date till 1885, when it became merged in the county.

BREDA, a fortified town in the province of North Brabant, Holland, at the confluence of the canalized rivers Merk and Aa, 15 m. by rail E.N.E. of Roozendaal. Pop. (1900) 26,296. It is connected by steam tramway with Antwerp (30 m. S.S.W.), and with Geertruidenberg in the north, and the island of Duiveland on the west. The fortress of Breda, which was once considered impregnable, has been dismantled, but the town is still protected by extensive lines of fortification and lies in the midst of a district which can be readily laid under water. It has a fine quay, town-hall and park. There are several Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. The principal Protestant church is a Gothic building dating from the end of the 13th century, with a fine tower, and a choir of later date (1410). Among the many interesting monuments is the imposing tomb of the stadtholder Count Engelbert II. of Nassau and his wife. This is the work of Tomasino Vincenz of Bologna, who, though a pupil of Raphael in painting, in sculpture followed Michelangelo, to whom the work is sometimes ascribed. Since 1828 Breda has been the seat of a royal military academy for all arms of the service. It also possesses a Latin school, an arsenal, and a modern prison built on the isolated-cell principle. The prison is in the form of a rotunda, 58 yds. in diameter, and covered by a high dome. In the middle is the office of the administration, and on the top of this a small watch-tower. Round the walls of the rotunda are the cells, 208 in number, and arranged in four tiers with balconies reached by iron staircases. Each cell measures 35 cub. yds., is provided with an electric bell communicating with the warder in the tower, heated by hot-air pipes, and lighted by day through a window on the outer wall of the rotunda, and from sunset till ten o'clock by electric light. The industries of Breda comprise the manufacture of linen and woollen goods, carpets, hats, beer and musical instruments. In the neighbourhood of the town are the villages of Ginneken and Prinsenhage, situated in the midst of pretty pine woods. They form favourite places of excursion, and in the woods at Ginneken is a Kneipp sanatorium.

_History._--Breda was in the 11th century a direct fief of the Holy Roman Empire, its earliest known lord being Henry I. (1098-1125), in whose family it continued, though, from the latter part of the 13th century, in the female line, until Alix, heiress of Philip (d. 1323), sold it to Brabant. In 1350 the fief was resold to John (Jan) of Polanen (d. 1377), the heiress of whose line, Joanna (d. 1445), married Engelbert of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1442). Henceforth it remained in the house of Nassau, passing ultimately to William I. (1533-1584), the first stadtholder of the Netherlands. Breda obtained municipal rights in 1252, but was first surrounded with walls in 1534 by Count Henry of Nassau, who also restored the old castle, originally built by John of Polanen in 1350. From this period until late in the 19th century it remained the most important of the line of fortresses along the Meuse. Breda was captured by surprise by the Spaniards in 1581; but in 1590 it fell again into the hands of Maurice of Nassau, 68 picked men contriving to get into the town concealed under the turf in a peat-boat. The so-called "Spaniard's Hole" still marks the spot where the peat-boat lay. Its surrender in 1625, after a ten months' siege, to the Spaniards under Spinola is the subject of the famous picture by Velasquez in the Museo del Prado in Madrid. In 1637 Breda was recaptured by Frederick Henry of Orange after a four months' siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to Holland by the treaty of Westphalia. During the wars of the French Revolution, it was taken by Dumouriez in 1793, evacuated soon after and retaken by Pichegru in 1795, after the whole of Holland had already succumbed to the French. In 1813, a sally being made by the French garrison on an advance-guard of the Russians under Benckendorff, the citizens of Breda again made themselves masters of the town.

Breda was the residence, during his exile, of Charles II., who, by the declaration of Breda (1660), made known the conditions of his acceptance of the crown of England. In 1696 William, prince of Orange and king of England, built the new castle, one of the finest buildings of the period, which now serves as the military academy. Breda also derives some celebrity from the various political congresses of which it has been the scene. In 1575 a conference was held here between the ambassadors of Spain and those of the United Provinces; in 1667 a peace was signed between England, Holland, France and Denmark; and in 1746-1747 the representatives of the same powers met in the town to discuss the terms of another treaty.

BREDAEL, JAN FRANS VAN (1683-1750), Flemish painter, son of Alexander van Bredael (d. 1720), who was also an artist, was born in Antwerp. He imitated the style of Wouverman and Breughel with such dexterity that even connoisseurs are often unable to distinguish his copies of their pictures from the originals. He visited England, where he was so well employed that in a few years he was able to retire to his native country with a competency. The earl of Derwentwater was one of his chief patrons. There were several other van Bredaels, who won honour as artists--notably PIETER (1622-1719), Alexander's father, and JOZEF (1688-1739). They were formerly known as "Breda," but this apparently is incorrect, though it occurs as a signature on a picture by Jan Frans in the Amsterdam gallery.

BREDERODE, HENRY, COUNT OF (1531-1568), was born at Brussels in 1531. He was the descendant of an ancient race, which had for some centuries been settled in Holland, and had taken an active part in the affairs of war and peace. Count Henry became a convert to the Reformed faith and placed himself at the side of the prince of Orange and Count Egmont in resisting the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition and Spanish despotism into the Netherlands. In 1566 he was one of the founders of the confederacy of nobles who bound themselves to maintain the rights and liberties of the country by signing a document known as "the Compromise." On the 5th of April of that year Brederode accompanied to the palace a body of 250 confederates, of whom he acted as the spokesman, to present to the regent, Margaret of Parma, a petition setting forth their grievances, called "the Request." It was at a banquet at the Hotel Culemburg on the 8th of April, presided over by Brederode, that the sobriquet of _les Gueux_, or "the Beggars," was first given to the opponents of Spanish rule. Brederode was banished from the Netherlands by Alva, and died in exile shortly afterwards at the early age of thirty-six.

BREDOW, GOTTFRIED GABRIEL (1773-1814), German historian, was born at Berlin on the 14th of December 1773, and became successively professor at the universities of Helmstadt, Frankfort-on-Oder and Breslau. He died at Breslau on the 5th of September 1814. Bredow's principal works are _Handbuch der alien Geschichte, Geographic und Chronologie_ (Eutin, 1799; English trans., London, 1827); _Chronik des 19. Jahrhunderts_ (Altona, 1801); _Entwurf der Weltkunde der Alten_ (Altona, 1816); _Weltgeschichte in Tabellen_ (Altona, 1801; English trans, by J. Bell, London, 1820); _Grundriss einer Geschichte der merkwurdigsten Welthandel von 1796-1810_ (Hamburg, 1810).

Bredow's posthumous writings were edited by J.G. Kunisch (Breslau, 1823), who added a biography of the author.

BREDOW, a village of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, immediately north of Stettin, of which it forms a suburb. Here are the Vulcan iron-works and shipbuilding yards, where the liners "Deutschland" (1900), the "Kaiserin Augusta Victoria" (1906), and the "George Washington" (1908), the largest vessel (722 ft. long, 27,000 tons) in the German mercantile marine, were built; and also sugar, cement and other factories.

BREECH (common in early forms to Teutonic languages), a covering for the lower part of the body and legs. The Latin _braca_ or _bracca_ is a Celtic word, probably cognate with the Teutonic. The word in its proper meaning is used in the plural, and, strictly, is confined to a garment reaching to the knees only. The meaning of "the hinder part of the body" is later than, and derived from, its first meaning; this sense appears in the "breech" or hinder part of a gun. The word is also found in "breeches buoy," a sling life-saving apparatus, consisting of a support of canvas breeches. The "Breeches Bible," a name for the Geneva Bible of 1560, is so called because "breeches" is used for the aprons of fig-leaves made by Adam and Eve. On the stage the phrase a "breeches"

## part is used when a woman plays in male costume. "Breeching" is a strap

passed round the breech of a harnessed horse and joined to the shafts to allow a vehicle to be backed.

BREEDS AND BREEDING. Breeds may be defined as domestic varieties of animals or plants which man has been able to bring into existence and to maintain in existence. The process of breeding includes all the modifying influences which man may bring to bear on a wild stock for the purpose, conscious or unconscious, of establishing and maintaining breeds. Charles Darwin's _Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication_ (1868) was the starting-point of exact knowledge on this subject; when it appeared, it contained not only the best collection of empirical facts, but the only rational theory of the facts. The first relations between man and domesticated animals and plants were due to unconscious or accidental selection of wild stocks that tolerated the vicinity of man and that were useful or attractive to him. The new conditions must have produced modifications in these stocks, whether these were caused by a survival in each generation of individuals with the power of response to the new environment, or were due to a conscious selection of individuals capable of such favourable response. The essence of the process, however, came to be a conscious selection in each generation of the best individuals, that is to say, of those individuals that seemed to man to be most adapted to his wants. The possibility of establishing a breed depended, therefore, in the first place on the natural variability of wild animals and plants, then on the variations induced in animals and plants under subjection to the new conditions brought about by man's interference, next on the extent to which these variations, natural or artificial, persisted through the series of generations, and finally on man's intelligence in altering or maintaining the conditions of the environment, and in selective mating. The theory of breeds and breeding depends, in fact, on knowledge of variation, of modification by the environment, and of heredity. Any attempt to give an account of what actually has been done by man in establishing breeds would be little more than an imperfect summary of Darwin's work. The articles HEREDITY, MENDELISM and VARIATION AND SELECTION show that what may be called the theoretical and experimental knowledge of variation and heredity is far in advance of the practical art of breeding. Even horticulturists, who have been much more successful than those who deal with animals, are still far from being able to predict the result of their selections and crossings. None the less it may be stated definitely that such prediction is already so nearly within the power of the practical breeder that it would be a waste of time to give a summary of the existing rule-of-thumb methods. The art of breeding is so immediately destined to become a science of breeding that existing knowledge and conceptions must be dismissed as of no more than historical interest. (P. C. M.)

BREEZE, (1) A current of air generally taken as somewhat less than a "wind," which in turn is less than a "gale." The term is particularly applied to the light wind blowing landwards by day, "sea-breeze," and the counter wind, blowing off the land at night, "land-breeze." The word appears in Fr. _brise_ (admitted by the Academy in 1762). The Span, _brisa_, Port. _briza_, and Ital. _brezza_ are used for a wind blowing from the north or north-east. According to Cotgrave, Rabelais uses _brize_ in the sense of _bise_, the name of a dry north or north-east wind prevalent in Switzerland and the bordering parts of France, Italy and Germany. The word is first used in English as applied to the cool sea-breeze blowing usually from the east or north-east in the West Indies and Atlantic sea-coast of Central America. It was then applied to sea-breezes from any quarter, and also to the land-breeze, and so to any light wind or current of air. (2) Fine ashes or cinders, the refuse of coal, coke and charcoal burning. This is probably from the O. Fr. _brese_, modern _braise_, a word connected with _braser_, whence Eng. _brazier_, a pan for burning coals, charcoal, &c.

BREGENZ (anc. _Brigantium_), the capital of the Austrian, province of Vorarlberg, as well as of the administrative district of Bregenz. In 1900 its population was 7595, German-speaking and Roman Catholic. It is situated at the south-east angle of the Lake of Constance, and, besides communications by water with the other towns on the shores of that lake, is connected by: rail with Feldkirch on the Arlberg line (24 m.) and with Munich. The old town is on a hillock, crowned by the ancient castle, while the new town is built on the level ground at the foot of the hill. The fine parish church (dedicated to St Gall) stands on another mound more to the south. In the local museum are collections of various kinds, especially of the Roman antiquities which have been dug up on the site of the old town. The position of the town on the lake has always made it an important port and commercial centre. Nowadays the main trade is in grain, but much is done also in cattle and in the products of the cotton-spinning factories of Vorarlberg.

We hear of counts of Bregenz as early as the 10th century, their heirs in the early 13th century being the counts of Montfort (a castle north of Feldkirch), who gradually acquired most of the surrounding country (including Feldkirch and Bludenz). But little by little the Habsburgers, counts of Tirol since 1363 bought from them most of their domains--first Feldkirch in 1375, next Bludenz and the Montafon valley in 1394, finally the county of Bregenz in two parts, acquired in 1451 and 1523. In 1408 the Appenzellers were defeated before Bregenz, while in 1647, during the Thirty Years' War, the town was sacked by the Swedes under Wrangel. (W. A. B. C.)

BREHON LAWS, the English but incorrect appellation of the ancient laws of Ireland, the proper name for which is _Feineachas_, meaning the laws of the Feine or Feini (fainyeh), who were the free Gaelic farmers. _Dlighthe Feine_ is another name for the laws, with the same meaning. Laws of universal application which could be administered only by duly qualified judges were called _Cain_ law, while minor laws administered by nobles and magistrates were called _Urradhus_ law. Regular courts and judges existed in Ireland from prehistoric times. The Anglo-Irish word "Brehon" is derived from the Gaelic word _Brethem_ (= judge).

The extant remains of these laws are manuscript transcripts from earlier copies made on vellum from the 8th to the 13th century, now preserved with other Gaelic manuscripts in Trinity College and the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, the British Museum, Oxford University, some private collections and several libraries on the continent of Europe. The largest and most important of these documents is the _Senchus Mor_ or "Great Old Law Book." No copy of it now existing is complete, and some portions are missing from all. What remains of it occupies the first, second, and a portion of the third of the volumes produced by the Brehon Law Commission, which was appointed in 1852.

In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ it is said: "The age of Christ 438, the tenth year of King Laeghaire (Lairy), the _Senchus Mor_ and _Feineachas_ of Ireland were purified and written." This entry has ample historical corroboration. Of many separate treatises dealing with special branches of the law, the _Book of Aicill_, composed of opinions or placita of King Cormac Mac Art, otherwise Cormac ua Quim, Ard-Rig of Erinn from A.D. 227 until 266, and Cennfaeladh the Learned, who lived in the first part of the 7th century, is the most important.

The text and earlier commentaries are in the _Bearla Feini_--the most archaic form of the Celtic or Gaelic language. From gradual changes in the living tongue through a long expanse of time many words, phrases and idioms in the _Bearla Feini_ became obsolete, and are so difficult to translate that the official translations are to some extent confessedly conjectural. In many cases only opening words of the original text remain. Wherever the text is whole, it is curt, elliptical, and yet rhythmical to a degree attainable only through long use. The rigorously authentic character of these laws, relating to, and dealing with, the actual realities of life, and with institutions and a state of society nowhere else revealed to the same extent, the extreme antiquity both of the provisions and of the language, and the meagreness of continental material illustrative of the same things, endow them with exceptional archaic, archaeological and philological interest.