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money payment was continued for a few years by the legislature of Maine after the separation of the state from Massachusetts. The college is built on a plain near the Androscoggin. It is under the legislative government of a board of 24 trustees, and the executive government of 58 overseers. The number of professors in 1834 was 10, 717. The Maine medical school in connexion with the college was established in 1820, and in 1833 contained 103 students. The college possesses a good philosophical and a chemical apparatus, a cabinet of minerals, and a library of about 8000 volumes, in addition to libraries belonging to the students containing 6000 volumes. A weekly paper called the Escritoire was established by the students in 1826, and has since been regularly published. The town has the advantage of a considerable water-power, owing to its position near the falls of the Androscoggin, which is employed in some mills and manufacturing establishments. The pop. of the town in 1820 was 2954, and at the census of 1830 was 3747.

dominions until the Russian campaign shook Napoleon's power. The retreat of the French armies from the N. of Germany in 1813 enabled the duke to recover possession of his Brunswick sovereignty in December of that year. But little time was afforded him to set it in order, for the renewal of hostilities with France in 1815 calling him into the field. he put himself at the head of his gallant fellow-besides a president; of undergraduates, 155; of Alumni, country men, joined the Prussian and other allied forces in Belgium, and bravely fell in the conflict at Ligny on the 16th of June. From that day until his son Charles came of age, George IV. of England, (who had married Caroline of Brunswick, the sister of William Frederick), then princeregent, administered the affairs of Brunswick as his appointed guardian. Charles, after a transient misrule of about âve years, was forced in September, 1830, by an insurrection in the city of Brunswick, to seek safety by a precipitate flight from his capital; and under a resolution of the Diet of the German Confederation on the 2nd December following, he was succeeded by his brother, William prince of Oels, who assumed the government on the 20th April, 1831.

BRUNSWICK, the capital of the Duchy, which lies upon both banks of the Ocker, was known long before the times of Henry the Lion as a mere farm called Brunswick, belonging to the incumbency of St. Magnus. That prince, who was its real founder, divided the town into three quarters. It became one of the Hanse towns in the 13th century, and until the middle of the 15th, was accounted the chief town in Lower Saxony; but its prosperity declined with that of the Hanse towns. It is at present the residence of the Brunswick sovereigns and their seat of government. The fortifications were levelled in 1794, and converted into pleasure grounds and walks. Its area, which includes Richmond, the duke's country seat, Eisenbüttel, and the Münzberg, occupies about eight sq. m.; the town itself is divided into 6 districts, contains about 101 streets, 3400 houses, and 36,000 inh. Among its 10 churches are the cathedral, in which are monuments to Henry the Lion and Matilda his consort, and the vault of the ducal family; and St. Andrew's, the steeple of which is 316 ft. high. The chief public buildings are the duke's palace (a new structure in course of completion), the old palace, now used for barracks, near which is a bronze statue of Henry the Lion, the chapter-house, chancery, house of legislative assembly, mint, arsenal, ducal exchequer, opera-house, town-hall, tradeshall, old Altdorf town-hall, pack-house, Collegium-Carolinum, and general and lying-in hospital. Between two of the gates (the Augustus and Steinthore) a handsome obelisk 60 ft. high, was erected in 1822 to the memory of the two dukes who fell in the campaigns of 1806 and 1815. The establishments for education consist of the college, founded in 1745; a gymnasium, and seminary for teachers; a college of anatomy and surgery; a school for practical acquirements (Real-schule); several elementary schools, two orphan asylums with schools attached, and a deaf and dumb asylum. There is a good museum of works of art, &c. in the second story of the arsenal, besides a number of private collections. Brunswick has 7 gates and 12 squares or open spaces; the park and gardens of the palace are thrown open to the public, and a fine avenue of linden trees leads from the town to the duke's seat, Richmond, the grounds of which are laid out in imitation of Richmond Park near London. The manufactures are of importance and in repute; the principal are woollens, linen, lackered and hard ware, tobacco, chicory, glauber-salts, mineral colours, china, papier maché, leather, coloured papers, brandy, and liqueurs. But the chief source of wealth is its trade, two great fairs, a woolmarket, and six cattle-markets in the year. Brunswick is full of charitable institutions, among which are a general establishment for the relief of the poor, 14 almshouses, 3 hospitals, a house of industry, and St. Leonard's, a spacious infirmary outside the gates.-52° 15′ N. lat., 10° 32′ E. long. BRUNSWICK, a town in Cumberland County, state of Maine, in N. America, situated on the riv. Androscoggin at the falls, 26 m. N.N.E. of Portland, in 43° 57' N. lat., and 69° 52′ W. long.

Bowdoin college, established at this town, was incorporated in 1794; it derives its name from the Hon. James Bowdoin, who endowed it with 6000 acres of land in Lincoln County, in the same state, and with some other property. By the legislature of Massachusetts this college was further endowed with six townships of land, and an annual grant of 3000 dollars was made for its further support. This

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BRUNSWICK, NEW. [NEW BRUNSWICK.]
BRUNTISLAND. [FIFE]

BRUSSELS, called by the Flemings Brussel,' in Latin Bruxellæ,' and by the French Bruxelles,' the capital of the kingdom of Belgium, in the prov. of S. Brabant, is in 50° 50′ N. lat., and 4° 22′ E. long.

This city is built upon the Senne, a riv. which rises in the comm. of Naast, in Hainault, and, flowing to the N.W., passes through Soignies and Steenkerque. Changing its course to the N.E., it enters S. Brabant, and flows past Hal to Brussels and Vilvorde, enters the prov. of Antwerp, near Malines, and falls into the Dyle at Battenbroeck. The Senne enters the city of Brussels by two branches, one of which passes by the old market-place, and the other crosses the garden of the Chartreux. It forms four islands in the interior of the city, the two principal of which are called Saint Géry and Bon Secours. The width of the riv. where its different branches unite, at the fish-market, is about 30 ft., and its ordinary depth is 5 ft., which diminishes in summer, and increases considerably in winter. This riv. is not navigable in any part of its course. To remedy this disadvantage, the authorities of Brussels projected a canal in 1460, to follow the course of the riv.; but this project was successfully opposed after 70 years of litigation by the city of Malines. A new plan was then adopted, and a canal was begun in 1550, which proceeded parallel to the Senne from Brussels to Vilvorde, when its course was directed towards the Rupel, leaving Malines to the right, and continuing in a straight line to Willebroeck, where it joined the Rupel, opposite to Boom. This can., which was opened in 1561, cost nearly 2,000,000 of florins (166,000/). The city of Brussels is 50 ft. above the level of Willebroeck, which difficulty has been overcome by means of five locks.

Another canal has lately been constructed between Brussels and Charleroy; the fall from the latter town to Brussels is 360 ft., and there are 55 locks. This can. com. mences at the Sambre, about 1100 yards above Charleroy; near Hal it crosses the Senne by means of an aqueduct of three arches, and continues in a direct line towards Brussels, where, having repassed the Senne by another aqueduct of the same number of arches, it terminates in the ancient fossé of the city: this can. was finished in 1830.

The greatest extent of Brussels from N.N.E. to S.S.W. is about one mile and a quarter, and its breadth about fivesixths of a mile. In form it is pear-shaped, the smallest part being to the W. The town is partly built on the side of a hill, and when seen from the W., has the appearance of a fine amphitheatre. Owing to the inequalities of its surface, Brussels has been compared with Genoa and Naples. It is inclosed by a brick wall, which has eight gates, bearing respectively the names of the Antwerp, Schaerbeck, Louvain, Namur, Hal, Anderlecht, Flanders, and the Canal-gates. These gates communicate with high roads, leading to different parts of the kingdom, which centre in Brussels as the capital. The Antwerp gate conducts to Malines and Antwerp; Schaerbeck gate to the village of the same name and the castle of Lacken; Namur gate, through the forest of Soignies to Waterloo, Nivelle, and Charleroy. Anderlecht gate conducts to the high road to France; and Flanders gate to the city of Ghent.

The origin of Brussels reaches back to the seventh century. The first buildings were erected in the island of St.

C

Géry, so named after St. Géry, bishop of Cambray, who
built a chapel on the spot. It is said that the name of the
city is derived from the bridge (called in the Flemish
language brngh) which was thrown over the river. In the
tenth century the Emperor Otho the Second inhabited a
castle in the island of St. Géry. The city was inclosed
with walls in 1044 by Lambert Baldric, count of Louvain;
but the walls were removed and the city enlarged_in_1369.
Two dreadful fires occurred in 1326 and 1405. It is said
that, on the first occasion, 2400, and on the second 1400
houses were destroyed. If these numbers are at all correct,
the city must then have been of considerable size. The
prosperity of Brussels was greatly increased in the twelfth
century by the establishment of the manufactures of cloth
and fire-arms the former was introduced from Bruges and
Ghent, and the latter from Namur.

The first siege to which the city was exposed occurred in
1213, when it was taken by the English. In 1314, in con-
sequence of incessant and long-continued rains, a contagious
disorder carried off so many of the citizens that 60 were
buried in the same grave. În 1370 the Jews were banished
from the city and prov., and their property, amounting to
more than 12,000,000 of florins, was confiscated.

Brussels was taken by surprise in 1488 by Philip of Cleves. On regaining possession, the emperor Maximilian, suspecting the inh. of having been in league with Philip, deprived the city of various privileges, which were bestowed upon Malines. In 1489 Brussels was visited by the plague, which prevailed to such a degree that the people died in the streets. By a similar visitation in 1578, more than 27,000 inh. were carried off. The tyranny of the Spanish governor, the duke of Alba, occasioned about 10,000 artisans to leave Brussels in 1567, many of whom settled in England.

In 1695 this city was bombarded by Marshal Villeroi, who demolished upwards of 4000 buildings, including the stadthouse and 14 churches. In 1708 it was again be sieged by the elector of Bavaria, but was relieved by the army under the duke of Marlborough. In 1746 Brussels was taken by Marshal Saxe, who laid the inh. under heavy contributions: it was restored to Austria at the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The Austrian Netherlands having been conquered by the French in the early part of the war of the French revolution, Brussels was declared by the directory to be the chief place in the dep. of the Dyle. On the 1st of February, 1814, the Prussian army took possession of this city, which, under the provisions of the treaty of the same year, became one of the capitals of the newly-formed kingdom of the Netherlands. On the separation of Belgium from Holland at the revolution of 1830, the movements leading to which began in Brussels, this city became the capital of the new kingdom and the seat of government.

Brussels contains about 300 streets and squares, besides numerous lanes and courts. Several of the streets are wide and airy; the houses are lofty and well built, and great care is taken to preserve their external cleanliness and neatness. The square of the great market-place, called La Grande Place, situated in the centre of the city, is a regular parallelogram, surrounded on all sides by handsome buildings. The Hôtel de Ville and the halls of many trading companies occupy two of the sides. Some other squares, the Place Royale, Place du Grand Sablon, and the Place Saint Michel, are remarkable for the regularity and beauty of their buildings. Among the ornaments of the town are the public fountains, 29 in number, erected in different parts, which supply the inh. with water. One of these fountains, that in the Place du Grand Sablon, consisting of a beautiful group in statuary marble, was erected in 1751, under the will of the earl of Aylesbury, as an acknowledgment of the enjoyments he had experienced at Brussels during a residence of forty years.'

Churches.-The city contains twelve churches, eleven of which are appropriated to Catholic worship and one to the reformed religion: there is also a synagogue. Among the Catholic churches is the cathedral church of St. Gudule, a Gothic building in the form of a cross, with two large square towers at one end: the building of this church was begun in 1010; it contains a very remarkable pulpit, made of oak, and representing in bas relief the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. The tombs of several of the dukes of Brabant and numerous paintings are also in this church. The church of Notre Dame de la Chapelle was founded in 1134; it contains some fine statues by Du Quesnoy, and a marble altar designed by Rubens, besides several paintings

by eminent masters. The church of Notre Dame des Victoires, built in 1288 by the first duke of Brabant to commemorate a victory obtained over the bishop of Cologne, is an ornamented Gothic building with painted windows, and contains many valuable paintings and statues. The Protestant church formerly belonged to the convent of the Augustins.

Public Buildings.-The Hôtel de Ville, one of the finest Gothic buildings in the Netherlands, was begun in 1401, but was not finished till 1442. The tower, which is stated by several authorities to be 364 ft. high, is surmounted by a gilded colossal statue of St. Michael, 17 ft. high, which serves as a weathercock. The palace of the Fine Arts, situated in the Place Royale, was formerly the residence of the governors of Brabant; at present it contains a museum of paintings, the city library, and a cabinet of natural history. The library, which contains nearly 100,000 volumes, besides numerous manuscripts, is open to the public five days in every week.

The king's palace in the Place Royale, near the park, was built in 1784, for the residence of the governor of the Austrian Netherlands. Opposite to this palace is the hall of the Chamber of Deputies, which was formerly the palace of Justice. The palace of the prince of Orange is a modern building, which was finished for the residence of the prince in 1828; it is near the king's palace.

The most admired quarter of Brussels is called 'the Park. About a century ago this was really what its name denotes, being then stocked with deer and other animals. The area, about 17 acres, now consists of three wide parallel avenues of trees, the tops of which are kept constantly cut, in order that the walks may be always dry. In one of these avenues, which is opposite the king's palace and the hall of the Deputies, are several busts of Roman emperors, sculptured in blue stone; many of these were mutilated during the conflict which occurred in the park at the revolution in 1830. The city is lighted with gas.

In the year 1784 an order was given by the Emperor Joseph the Second, forbidding the burial of any persons within the city, and directing the formation of burialgrounds outside the walls. Three of these were accordingly established, one near the Hal' gate, another by the Flanders gate, and the third, which is the largest, by the Louvain gate. In addition to these, the English inh. of Brussels have established two cemeteries, one on the road leading to the vil. of Vecle, and the other on the Louvain road.

The manufacture of lace is carried on to a considerable extent; the quality is very superior, and large quantities were formerly used in England. Many other manufactures are also prosecuted, among which are hats, stockings, calicoes, gold and silver lace, paper hangings, porcelain, hardware, and various chemical preparations used in the arts.

The pop. of the city was 84,004 in 1825, and 98,279 in 1830. The revolution which occurred in the latter year caused many mercantile men and persons attached to the former government to remove their establishments from Brussels to the Dutch provs., so that the pop. of the city was temporarily diminished. Other causes have since brought a considerable influx of inh., so that in 1835, when a census was taken, the numbers were found to be augmented to 102,702. It appears from the following figures that this augmentation has not proceeded from the natural increase of the people, but is rather to be ascribed to the attractions which in every country invariably draw considerable numbers from the country to the capital.

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1834

4,230 ... 3,863 ...... 1,092

The ages of the persons who died in 1834 were as follows: 1116 under 1 year; 706 from 1 to 5 years; 183 from 5 to 14; 95 from 14 to 20; 283 from 20 to 30; 282 from 30 to 40; 245 from 40 to 50; 210 from 50 to 60; 292 from 60 to 70; 278 from 70 to 80; 156 from 80 to 90; 16 above 90 years; 1 age unknown; total, 3863. French is now the

VOL. V.-38

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645 cwt. 585,165 cubic feet. 134,912 bushels. 59,633 tons.

- Wood for fuel
Charcoal
Coal
Brussels contained, in 1832, eight communal, and 72
private schools in the former there were 1522 male, and
1215 female scholars; and in the latter, 929 male and 1405
female scholars. There are besides several establishments
for the instruction of poor children, which are supported by
private contributions. Among these are a Lancasterian
school, an infant school, and a Sunday school, conducted
like those in England.

The city supports several hospitals and charitable institu-
tions. One of these, the Hospital of Saint Peter, was ori-
ginally founded for the reception of crusaders returning
wounded from the Holy Land: it is now appropriated to
the care of persons suffering under dangerous complaints.
Ophthalmic patients are also received, and young children.
It is likewise used as a lying-in hospital, and one division is
allotted to the reception of sick persons who pay for their
support and attendance, and towards whom every possible
care is extended. Attached to this hospital are very
spacious and well-kept gardens and commodious baths.
There is an establishment for relieving distressed English-
men who may be at Brussels, and for providing the means,
when necessary, for conveying them to England. This in-
stitution was established in 1815, and is under the especial
patronage of King Leopold.

The mean temperature of Brussels throughout the year 1833, as ascertained by observation at the Royal Observatory, was 52° Fahr. The greatest heat occurred in June, when the centigrade thermometer stood at 24.73, equal to 763° Fahr.: the greatest cold occurred in January, when the centigrade thermometer stood at 3.23, or 26° Fahr. Observations on the atmospheric pressure during the same year at the same establishment give as the maximum (on the 8th January) 775.29 millimètres, or 30.523 inches. The minimum pressure was observed in September, when the mercury in the barometer stood at 726.10 millimètres, or 28.556 inches: the mean pressure for the year was 750.67 millimèties, or 29.554 inches. The number of days on which it rained was 180; there occurred 39 days of frost and 25 of fog; it hailed on 5 days and snowed 11, and there were 7 thunder-storms during the year: three of these occurred in June and the same number in July. The prevailing winds were from the W. and S.W., and occupied 182 days, or one-half the year. From the E., N.E., and S.E., it blew 104 days; from the N. 30; from the S. 25; and from the N. W. 24 days.

Brussels is the seat of the supreme court of justice and of the court of appeal. The assizes for the prov. of S. Brabant are held in the city four times in each year.

At the vil, of Lacken, 9 m. N.E. from Brussels, is the summer palace of the king, built in 1782, by the Archduke Albert. This palace stands in a fine situation, commanding fine views of Brussels and its environs. [BELGIUM, SOUTH BRABANT.]

(Gautier, Voyageur dans les Pays Bas; Vander Maelen, Recueil des Documens Statistiques; Staten Uitgegeven door de Commissie voor de Statistick, 1829; Official Papers laid before the Legislative Chambers of Belgium,

1834.)

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has sufficiently proved in opposition to the assertion of Moreri), having early lost his father and elder brother by the cruelty of Tarquin, feigned imbecility of intellect, in order to secure personal safety. A prodigy which had occurred at Rome, the appearance of a snake in a wooden pillar of the palace, occasioned great anxiety among the Tarquinii, and Titus and Aruns, sons of the tyrant, were deputed to obtain some explanation from the oracle of Del. phi. The journey at that time was considered eminently hazardous, through unknown lands, and seas yet more unknown, and Brutus, a name which Lucius Junius had received out of contempt, accompanied the young princes, more as a buffoon to assist in their amusement, than as a companion to share the perils of their journey. On his entrance into the temple the offering which he made to the god was a bar of gold enclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed for its reception, and intended to be emblematic of the votary's own situation. When the princes had finished their commission they inquired in the gaiety of youth which of them should reign at Rome hereafter. A voice from the adytum replied, That one of you shall obtain sovereignty at Rome who shall first kiss his mother.'

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Titus and Aruns, in order to deprive their brother Sextus of participation in the chance, agreed to mutual secrecy and to the decision by lot of their own precedence. Brutus with more sagacity affixing a different interpretation to the response of the oracle, pretended to stumble, and kissed the earth, when he had fallen, as the common mother of all mankind.

After the atrocious violence offered by Sextus Tarquinius to Lucretia, Brutus was one of her kinsfolk whom the injured matron summoned to hear her complaint, and to witness her suicide. He plucked the reeking dagger from her bosom, and to the astonishment of all present, throwing aside the semblance of fatuity which he had hitherto assumed, he solemnly devoted himself to the pur suit and punishment of the whole race of Tarquin, and the abolition of the regal name and power at Rome. The populace was easily excited to insurrection. Brutus carefully avoided any personal interview with Tarquinius Su perbus, who was dethroned and exiled, and on the change of government which followed, himself and Tarquinius Collatinus, widower of Lucretia, were made the chief magis trates under the title of consuls. This revolution occurred 245 years after the foundation of Rome, and 507 B.C.

Collatinus was speedily removed from his new office, on the ground that he bore the name of Tarquinius, and was connected with the expelled family. The latter of these objections applied also to Brutus, who was descended from the Tarquinii by the maternal side; but it does not appear that any difficulty was raised against him, and indeed it was chiefly through his agency, perhaps altogether at his suggestion, that the abdication of his colleague was procured. The place of Collatinus was supplied by P. Valerius. On the discovery of a plot for the restoration of the Tarquinii, their property was confiscated; their moveables were given up to plunder; their landed estate lying between the city and the Tiber was consecrated to the god of war, and became the celebrated Campus Martius. The conspiracy involved many of the noblest Roman youths, and among them Titus and Tiberius, sons of Brutus by a sister of the Vitellii, who were its principal leaders. The culprits were tried and condemned by their own father, who also witnessed their punishment. They were scourged and beheaded in his presence, not without his betraying some marks of paternal emotion during the execution of public duty. Livy seems unequivocally to applaud this unnatural act, but Plutarch more justly describes it by saying that he shut up his heart to his children with obdurate severity.'

Several Etruscan cities took arms under Porsenna in behalf of the Tarquinii, and Brutus headed the cavalry by which they were opposed. He was recognised by Aruns, who denouncing him with the bitterest animosity as the chief instrument which had occasioned the expulsion of his family, and as now braving it under borrowed ensigns of dignity which he had transferred to the consulate, clapped spurs to his horse and selected him as an opponent in single combat. Brutus eagerly met the defiance, and so great was the fury of the encounter, that each regardless of his own safety sought only the destruction of his adversary Their shields were mutually pierced, and each fell dead from his horse transfixed by the lance of his enemy.

Such is the story of Lucius Junius Brutus given by Livy (i. 56, &c. ii. 1-6). A public funeral was decreed to him; the matrons of Rome, in honour of the champion and avenger of Lucretia, wore mourning for him during a year; and, according to Plutarch, a brazen statue with a drawn sword in his hand was erected to his memory, and placed together with those of the kings. (See Niebuhr's Roman History, vol. i., Commentary on the Story of the last Tarquins.') Voltaire has written a tragedy on the history of Brutus, disfigured by the puling love of Tullia, a daughter of Tarquinius, for Titus, the son of the consul; and an earlier dramatist on the same subject, Madlle. Bernard, in a play under the same title, acted with great success in 1647, makes both the sons of Brutus in love with a daughter of one of the Aquilii, a leader of the conspiracy, and also introduces Valerie, a daughter of the Consul Valerius, as enamoured with Titus, who does not acknowledge any mutual flame. BRUTUS, DECIMUS JUNIUS, is believed to be the son of a father of the same name, who was consul A.U.C. 676. On his adoption by Aulus Postumius Albinus he took the name of the family into which he was received, so that he sometimes appears on medals as Albinus Bruti filius. Shakspeare has called him Decius, and both that poet and Voltaire in many particulars have confounded him with Marcus Junius. Of his early history nothing is known, but it is plain from the share which he took in the murder of the Dictator how deeply he enjoyed his confidence, and how extensive was the influence which he exercised. On the ides of March, when all things were prepared for the assassination, the plot was nearly frustrated by an announcement from Cæsar that he should not attend the meeting of the senate, being deterred by some evil dreams which had visited both himself and his wife Calpurnia, and by indisposition. D. Brutus was employed to dissuade him from this inopportune resolution, and he succeeded by ridiculing the soothsayers, by showing Cæsar that the senators assembled by his orders would think themselves insulted if they were dismissed on pretexts so frivolous, and above all by assuring him that it was intended on that day to nominate him king of all the provinces 'out of Italy, and to decree that he might wear a crown except within the limits of Italy. (Plutarch, Caesar, Ixiv.)

The affection which the murdered Dictator bore to Decimus Brutus was exhibited in his will, in which he named that false friend among other persons to inherit his fortune in case of the failure of direct heirs. Cæsar also had appointed him commander of his cavalry, consul for the succeeding year A.U.C. 711, and governor of Cisalpine Gaul, in which province Brutus attempted to maintain himself on the banishment of the conspirators. The newly-raised legions by which he hoped to support his authority were chiefly framed of gladiators, who gradually deserted; till Brutus, fearful of being left alone, after having been defeated at Mutina, endeavoured to make his way to the army in Greece. For this purpose he disguised himself in the habit of a Gaul, and attempted to pass through Aquileia to Illyricum. Although well acquainted with the language of the country which he traversed, he unfortunately fell into the hands of some banditti. Having inquired of his captors to which of the Gaulish petty princes the district in which he had been taken belonged, and having heard that it was ruled by Camillus, a chieftain whom he had formerly obliged, he entreated to be led to his presence. Camillus received him with apparent goodwill, and sternly rebuked the robbers for having injured so great a man; but to Antonius, whom he secretly informed of his capture, he employed far different language. Antonius, affecting compassion, refused to see the prisoner, and ordered Camillus to put him to death, and to send him his head. (Appian, de Bellis Civilibus, iii. ad fin.)

BRUTUS, MARCUS JUNIUS, son of Marcus Junius Brutus, by Servilia, sister of Cato of Utica, was born at Rome A.U.C. 668, B.C. 86. He was traditionally descended from Lucius Junius, the expeller of the Tarquins, a descent asserted by himself in a medal commemorating the assassination of Julius Cæsar, but which is denied by Dionysius of Halicarnassus. A passage in the 1st Philippic of Cicero (c. 6) corroborates this origin by stating that the expeller of kings, L. Brutus, has propagated his stock through 500 years, in order that a descendant might emulate his virtue by again freeing Rome from regal domination. But this allusion, which suited the purpose of Cicero, is only a rhe

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torical flourish. Plutarch, in the beginning of his life of M. J. Brutus, assumes his descent from the first Brutus, conformably to his practice in such cases, without troubling himself as to the credibility of the fact. He is sometimes called Q. Cæpio Brutus both by Cicero and Dion Cassius, and also on several of his medals, where Q. Caepio Brutus Procos. or Imp. occurs. He owed this name apparently to his adoption by his maternal uncle, Q. Servilius Cæpio. On an unjust divorce from his first wife, Appia Claudia, he married Portia, the widow of Bibulus, and daughter of his maternal uncle Cato, under whose inspection he had been most carefully educated in philosophy and letters, after the loss of his father, who was put to death by Pompey in the war between Marius and Sylla. Plutarch says that he was acquainted with all the Grecian systems of philosophy, but particularly attached to those of Plato's school. Afterwards, at least, he certainly adopted the Stoical tenets and discipline. When Cato, B.C. 59, was appointed under a law passed by the influence of Clodius to annex Cyprus to the Roman empire, Brutus accompanied his uncle, and during his residence in that island he appears to have been guilty of certain pecuniary extortions by no means consistent with integrity, but perhaps too much countenanced by the habits of the times.

When the civil war broke out between Julius Cæsar and Pompey, Brutus sacrificed his private resentments to that which he believed to be the better cause of the two, and appeared under the banners of the latter. After the defeat of Pompey at the battle of Pharsalia, Brutus was particularly distinguished by the clemency of the conqueror, who not only bestowed upon him personally his especial favour, but granted pardon through his interference both to Cassius, who had married his sister, and to Deiotarus, king of Galatia, for the latter of whom Brutus pleaded in a set oration. Scandal attributed these acts of grace to a remembrance which Julius Cæsar entertained of a youthful intrigue with Servilia; and a false report was circulated that Brutus was a son of the dictator. But the words which Suetonius has put into the mouth of Caesar when he perceived Brutus among his assassins, And are you among them, my son?" may be received as indicating affection and familiarity rather than as any acknowledgment of consanguinity. Brutus was only 15 years younger than Cæsar himself.

When Cæsar undertook his expedition into Africa against Cato, he committed to Brutus the government of Cisalpine Gaul, which was administered with wisdom and humanity, and he afterwards preferred him to Cassius in a rivalship for the post of Prætor Urbanus. Notwithstanding these distinguished favours, Brutus was one of the principal assagsins on the Ides of March. He retired to Athens, when Marcus Antonius had produced a re-action in the people of Rome, where he devoted himself partly to literature and partly to preparation for war. In the end Antonius and Octavianus on one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other, met at Philippi, in Macedonia. The battle was fiercely contested, but ended in the total rout of the exiles; and Cassius, unwilling to survive his defeat, fell upon his own sword, receiving as a eulogy from Brutus, when he heard of the deed, that he was the last of the Romans.'

Brutus, in a second battle fought not long afterwards near the same spot, obtained a partial victory; but perceiving himself surrounded by a detachment of his enemy's soldiers, and in danger of being made prisoner, he despaired of ultimate success, and after more than one of the friends about him had declined the painful duty, he delivered the hilt of his sword to Strato, and throwing himself on its point, expired in the 44th year of his age.

Of his works, which were much praised by contemporaries, it is not certain that any have descended to us. His eulogy on Cato is certainly lost; some few letters in Greek, which are probably not genuine, have been printed in the collections of Aldus, Cujacius, and H. Stephens. He is also said to have made a kind of abstract or epitome of the history of Polybius, of the annals of C. Fannius, and of the history of L. Coelius Antipater. His Latin letters to Cicero have been characterised by Markland as silly barbarous stuff, which he cannot read without astonishment and indignation. Their authenticity on the other hand is strongly supported by Conyers Middleton in answer to an attack by Tunstall. But Ruhnken expressed his opinion against them, and also F. A. Wolff.

When Brutus and Cassius were about to leave Asia for their Macedonian campaign, it is said that an apparition

admonished Brutus of his approaching fate. Brutus was of a spare habit, abstemious in diet and in sleep. One night, when he was overcome by watching, and was reading alone in his tent by a dim light at a late hour, while the whole army around him lay wrapped in sleep and silence, he thought he perceived something enter his tent and saw ' a horrible and monstrous spectre standing silently by his side. "What art thou?" said he boldly; "art thou God or man, and what is thy business with me?" The spectre answered, "I am thy evil genius, Brutus. Thou wilt see me at Philippi!" to which he calmly replied, "I'll meet thee there." When the apparition was gone he called his servants, who told him that they had neither heard any noise nor seen any vision. He communicated his adventure on the next morning to Cassius, who professed the philosophy of Epicurus, and argued on the principles of his sect against the existence of such beings as demons and spirits; or, admitting their existence, denied that it was probable they should assume a human shape or voice, or have any power to affect us; in fine, he attributed the whole incident to sleeplessness and fatigue, which, as he justly remarked, suspend and pervert the regular functions of the mind. On the night before the second battle, they say,' continues Plutarch, that the spectre again appeared and assumed its former figure, but vanished without speaking.'

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in the delightful gardens of Versailles, and represent with striking effect the imperturbable and acute La Bruyère archly smiling at the impatience, passion, and intellectual despotism of his companion. It was, no doubt, gratitude to his friend that betrayed him into the weakness of using his pen in favour of the Bishop of Méaux against Fénélon in the absurd affair of Quietism. Upon this theological controversy, the ridiculousness of which could not fail to be apparent to a man like La Bruyère, he left some dialogues; and if we cannot wholly excuse him for having written them, we must admit that he showed his good sense by not publishing them.* Among the somewhat large sacrifices which he thought it expedient to make to the prevailing opinions of the day, his work frequently gives indications of a bolder manner of thinking-the precursor of the philosophy of the succeeding century. It even appears to have been his wish to let posterity into the secret of his prudent dissimulation. 'Satire,' says he, is shackled in him who is born a Christian and a Frenchman. Great topics are interdicted him. He enters upon them now and then, but soon turns aside to minor subjects, to which he imparts an interest and an importance by his genius and his style."

Since it was this twofold relation of subject of Louis XIV. and of Christian (he ought rather to have said Papist) that imposed upon La Bruyère the trammels of which he complains, it may be inferred, that notwithstanding his cold eulogies of the absolute monarch and his gloomy theology, he by no means participated in that respect for despotism and for the abuses of Popery which so strongly characterized the age of Louis XIV. The persecutions which rewarded the generous and liberal principles advocated, in his 'Telemachus, by the amiable Archbishop of Cambray, whose domains were respected even by invading enemies, as well as those suffered by Molière, the inimitable delineator of the Tartuffe, turned La Bruyère aside to less dangerous sub

Plutarch also remarks that there is a diversity in the state-jects, to the details of social, and the follies of private life. ments respecting the death of Portia; that Nicolaus the philosopher and Valerius Maximus affirm, that being prevented from suicide by the constant vigilance of friends who sur rounded her couch, she snatched some burning embers from the fire and held them in her mouth till she was suffocated. If however we admit the authenticity of a letter attributed to Brutus, this account must be a fabrication; for he laments in it the death of Portia during his own lifetime, describes her distemper, and praises her conjugal affection. (Plutarch, Brutus, cap. 53.)

Voltaire wrote a tragedy, 'La Mort de César, from which, contrary to the usage of the stage, he excluded all female characters. His plot is founded on an hypothesis which we have shown to be false, that Brutus was the son of Cæsar; and although the play abounds in fine lines, it does not appear to have been by any means successful. (Plutarch's Brutus; Appian, lib. 15, 16; Cicero's Letters and Orations;

Dion Cassius.)

BRUYERE, JEAN LA. Notwithstanding the wellmerited popularity of La Bruyère's works, scarcely any thing is known of his private life. No greater eulogium, perhaps, can be passed upon philosophy than that he who had so acutely observed the inconsistencies, foibles, and passions of mankind, should have left few or no traces of them in himself. La Bruyère was born in 1644, near Dourdon in Normandy. After filling the office of treasurer of France at Caen he removed to Paris. He was appointed teacher of history to the Duke de Bourgogne, under the direction of Bossuet, and passed the remainder of his life in the service of his pupil, in the quality of homme de lettres. In 1687 he published his work entitled Characters *,' was admitted into the French Academy on the 15th June, 1693, and died of apoplexy at Versailles on the 10th of May, 1696. He is represented by the Abbé d'Olivet as a philosopher whose happiness consisted in passing a life of tranquillity, surrounded by his friends and his books, in the choice of both of which he showed considerable judgment. He was polished in his manners, but reserved in his conversation, and free from pretension of every kind.

Of all La Bruyère's friends, Bossuet, to whom he had attached himself from a sense of gratitude, sympathized with him the least in character. Several anecdotes connected with those times give a faithful picture of their walks Numerous editions of the Characters' of La Bruyère have appeared since 1687; but the best is that of 1827, 2 vols. 8vo, with a life of La Bruyère, by Monsieur Sicard, a prefatory notice and original notes by Monsieur Auger, to which are aanexed the 'Characters' of Theophrastus, with additions and notes by M. Schweighaeuser, and an analytical table.

Malignity, however, assailed him, even within the narrow limits to which he had confined himself, of criticism on the morals and the habits of his times. Upon completing his 'Characters,' he showed the book to M. de Malézieux, who said this will procure you many readers and many ene mies,' a prediction which was fully accomplished, for while the book was read with avidity the moment it appeared, intentions were attributed to the author of which he was certainly innocent. The originals of La Bruyère's portraits were discovered, as it was impudently pretended, and their names were published in a key to the Characters, which thus formed a kind of scandalous commentary, in which the persons designated could not complain that they were calumniated, though they were held up to public ridicule.

La Bruyère is, perhaps, the only French moralist fami liarly read in his own country. His observation, though rarely profound, is always judicious, natural, and nicely discriminative; and if his views of human nature are not very extensive, he amply compensates for the deficiency by the closeness of his inspection. He places the most trite and common characters in a new and unexpected light which strikes the imagination, and keeps attention alive. Perhaps he too often affects strong contrasts and violent antitheses, and in wishing to avoid sameness he falls into the error of attempting too much variety, in which he loses his individuality. His style is characterised by strong powers of delineation, and the talent of a great painter must undoubtedly be conceded to him, though he is not altogether free from the charge of occasional affectation.

If it be true, as has been remarked, that Theophrastus,† whose work was studied and translated by our author, may be said to have formed La Bruyère, it must be admitted that this is the highest praise that we can give to the Greek author. But to compare, as some have done, the characters of the Greek with those of the French philosopher, is the height of absurdity: nothing is more false than this manner of drawing parallels.

It is impossible to judge rightly or even to understand the Characters of Theophrastus, without possessing accurate notions of the political, moral, and social condition of the

Sieur de la Bruyère's posthumous Dialogues upon Quietism' continued and published by Louis Ellias Dupin, Paris, 1699, 12mo.

+Hieronymus of Benevento published in France the first translation of the 'Characters' of Theophrastus (1613) in a small volume in 12mo. This translation has been forgotten since the appearance of that by La Bruyère in 1688. There are three other French translations of Theophrastus, one by P. C. Lesveque, 1782; another by Belin De Ballu, 1790; another by Carey 1799.

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