Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 26 - AUS-CHI.pdf/395

 BRAZIL — BRECON ballot, those who do so only coming forward because of influence brought to bear upon them, and not of their own free will. The great mass of the population is not at present capable of understanding the meaning of political freedom, and of the responsibility which such a state of affairs entails upon the inhabitants of any country where universal suffrage is granted. (c. E. A.) Brazil, capital of Clay county, Indiana, U.S.A., situated in the western part of the state, 16 miles E. of Terre Haute, at an altitude of 648 feet. It is a coalmining town of some importance, and the point of intersection of four railways. Population (1880), 3441 ; (1890), 5905 ; (1900), 7786. Brazza, an island in the Adriatic, off the coast of Dalmatia. Population (1900), 24,465. It is the largest of the Dalmatian islands as well as the most thickly populated and fertile. The port of MilnA is now a station of the Austrian Lloyd, and is provided with shipwrights’ wharves. There are some twenty-five hamlets in the island. The cultivation of the silkworm is now included among the resources of the inhabitants. Brazza, Pierre Paul Fran9ois Camille de, Count de Savorgnan (1852 ), French explorer and administrator, of Italian extraction, was born on 26th January 1852, on board a vessel in the harbour of Rio de Janeiro. He was educated at the Jesuits’ College at Paris, and, although a foreigner, served in the French navy. In 1874 he was naturalized as a Frenchman, and in 1875 was sent on a mission to explore the basin of the river Ogowe, in the neighbourhood of the French colony of the Gaboon river in Western Africa. The exploration occupied him three years, in which, notwithstanding his success in conciliating the natives, he underwent great hardships. He nevertheless proved the practicability of penetrating into Central Africa by way of the Ogowe, and in 1879 was despatched on another expedition by the African Association of France. In the course of this exploration M. de Brazza and his companions established twenty-seven posts, including the towns of Francheville and Brazzaville, and greatly extended the sphere of French influence by treaties with the native chiefs. He returned in 1882, and in 1883 was despatched by the French Government with a commission to consolidate French authority in the country. Having organized the administration as well as circumstances permitted, he returned to France and was made commissary-general of the new settlements in 1886. In 1887 he departed to assume the government, found the colony suffering from discord, and was obliged by sickness to return for a time. Upon his recovery he went out again, and organized another important expedition in 1891. He finally returned to France in 1897. Brazzaville. See French Congo. Brechin, a royal and parliamentary burgh (Montrose group) of Forfarshire, Scotland, 84 miles W.N.W. of Montrose by road; now the terminus of two branches of the Caledonian railway. Recent erections are Episcopal, United Free, and Established churches, a public library, new municipal buildings, new post office, and new railway station. The ancient cathedral is to be restored. Population (1881), 9031 ; (1901), 8941. Breckinridge, John Cabell (1821 1875), American soldier and statesman, was born near Lexington, Kentucky, on 21st January 1821. He graduated at Centre College, and for many years was a successful lawyer in Lexington. He was major of a regiment of Kentucky volunteers in the Mexican war. Subsequently he became a member of the Kentucky House

355

of Representatives, and then for two terms was a representative in Congress. From 1857 to 1861 he was vicepresident of the United States. He belonged to the pro-slavery branch of the Democratic party, and was its candidate for the presidency in 1860, in opposition to Stephen A. Douglas. In the electoral college 72 votes were cast for him, 180 for Lincoln, 39 for Bell, and 12 for Douglas. He became United States senator from Kentucky in March 1861, but soon joined the Confederate army, and was expelled from the United States Senate. As major-general in the Confederate service he achieved much distinction. He was secretary of war of the Confederacy from January to April 1865, when that government collapsed. He escaped to Cuba and went to Europe, but in 1868 he returned to his practice as a lawyer. He died at Lexington, 17th May 1875. Brecon, Brecknock, or Brecknockshire, a county of South Wales, bounded on the 1ST.W. by Cardigan, on the N. and N.E. by Radnor, on the E. by Hereford and Monmouth, on the S. by Monmouth and Glamorgan, and on the W. by Carmarthen. Area and Population. — The area of the ancient county is 475,224 acres, or 743 square miles ; population (1881), 57,746 ; (1891), 57,031 (of whom 28,509 were males, and 28,522 females, the number of persons per square mile being 77, and of acres to a person 8'33) ; (1901), 59,906. The area of the administrative county is 469,894 acres, with a population in 1891 of 51,393. The area of the registration county is 458,652 acres, with a population in 1891 of 52,872. Within the registration area-there was between 1881 and 1891 a decrease in the population of 2 34 per cent. The excess of births over deaths between 1881 and 1891 was 5691, but the resident population decreased by 1268. The following table gives the numbers of births, deaths, and marriages, with the number and percentage of illegitimate births for 1880, 1890, and 1898 :— Illegitimate Births. Year. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Number. Per Cent. 1880 370 1126 1627 116 7-1 1890 422 1534 1018 89 5'8 1898 345 1574 919 84 5-3 There were in the county (in 1891) 203 natives of Scotland, 308 natives of Ireland, and 122 foreigners, while 31,086 of the population could speak English, 5228 Welsh, and 13,699 English and Welsh. Constitution and Government. —The county returns one member to parliament, and also contains part of the parliamentary borough of Merthyr Tydfil. There is one municipal borough, Brecon. The urban districts are Brynmawr, Builth, and Hay. Brecknock is in the South Wales circuit, and assizes are held at Brecon, which has also a separate commission of the peace. The ancient county, which is partly in the diocese of Llandaff and partly in that of St. Davids, contains sixty-six entire parishes and districts, and parts of three others. Education.—The number of elementary schools on 31st August 1899 was 87, of which 42 were board and 45 voluntary schools, 37 of the latter being Rational Church of England schools, and 8 “British and other.” The average attendance at voluntary schools was 3268, and at board schools 5134. The total school board receipts for the year ending 29th September 1899 were nearly £19,863. The income under the Agricultural Rates Act was £980. Agriculture.—Only a little more than five-twelfths of the county is under cultivation, and of this about three-fourths is in permanent pasture. There are also nearly 205,000 acres in hill pasture, and about 14,000 acres under woods. Oats occupy more than half the acreage under corn crops, barley more than onefifth, and wheat about one-sixth. About four-fifths of the green crop area is under turnips, and less than one-seventh under potatoes. The following table gives the larger main divisions of the cultivated area at intervals of five years from 1880 :— Total Area Corn Green Clover. Permanent Year. under Pasture. Cultivation. Crops. Crops. 1880 200,205 30,292 6817 22,428 136,442 4226 1885 204,483 27,455 7138 23,498 143,170 3072 1890 206,464 25,709 7517 19,555 151,203 2467 1895 202,345 22,866 7129 19,714 151,456 1149 1900 203,406 21,422 6903 20,893 153,208 969