Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/500

* BBAZZA. 440 BBEACH. route by way of the Niari River which connected the village Ntambo with the const. In 1882 he returned to Europe, but went back to Africa the following year, with the rank of lieutenant-com- mander. He then delinitely undertook to make jiractical this route from the Congo to the .sea l)y means of the Ogowai and Alima. lie estab- lished a series of stations, completed his e.vplora- tions of the rivers, and won over the natives to French allegiance. In 1S8G he was made Com- missioner-General of the Govemment in French East Africa. Reappointed in 1SS7, he inau- gurated various reforms and introduced steam- launches on the Congo and the Ogowai. Illness compelled him to return to France, but in 1890 he accepted the appointment of Commissioner- General of the entire French Congo, with Gabun under his direct authority. In 1891 he made further explorntions of the interior; and from then until 1897, when he went back to France, he was most active in the sup]iort of the French colonies, which he, more than any one else, had been instrumental in founding. BBEACH (JIE. ircche, fracture, from break, AS. brccan, just as speech is from spenl-). In military siege operations, a gap made in any of the defensive works of a fortified position or in- trenchments, or in the walls or gates of a city. Before the introduction of modern high-power guns the most elaborate tactics were employed to obtain this result. Breaching batteries were used to destroy walls by directing and lodging the shot or cannon-balls in two vertical lines, from the parapet of the wall downward, and in a horizontal line, connecting the lower ends of those vertical lines, thus overturning the weak- ened part and enabling the besiegers to attempt an entrance by the breach so made. Notable and historic e.vamples are to be found in the Peninsular War (1808-14), when at Badajoz 14,000 shot, fired from a distance of 450 yards, brought down 180 feet of wall in 104 hours. At Ciudad Rodrigo, 6700 balls, from a dis- tance of 560 yards, reduced 105 feet of wall in 32 hours. At San Sebastian 13,000 shot brought down 100 feet of waU in 02 days from a distance of 620 yards. At Fort Pulaski (1862), in the Civil War, it is estimated that in breach- ing the brick wall of the fort, 110,600 pounds of metal from 3G guns struck it in the course of a two days' bombardment from an average distance of 1687 yards, making an average of 2500 pounds to the square foot. See Siege and Siege- WoKK; and Fortification. BREACH. A legal term which signifies the violation of an obligation, whether voluntarily assumed or imposed by law. Breach of close is any unwarrantable entry upon another's land, and is synonymous with trespass to real estate. See Tkespass. For Prison Breach, see that title. Breach of Contract is a failure to do any- thing which one is bound by contract to do. In every case it subjects the party who breaks the contract to an action for damages ; and if it goes to the essence of the contract, that is, if it is a failure to perform some fundamental term or condition of the contract, it gives to the other party the right to be exonerated from perform- ance on his part. In some eases, comparatively rare, it renders the party guilty of the breach liable to an equity action for specific perform- ance (q.v.). It is not necessary to a breach of contract, it will be observed, that a demand be made for performance after it is dU' and such per- formance has been formally refused. Indeed, it is now settled both in England and in the United States that one may be guilty of a breach of contract before the time for the performance of the terms of the contract arrives. For example: A person contracts to sell and convey certain property at a future time. Before that date, he notifies the other party that he will not carry out llie contract, or he sells and conveys the property to a third person. lie is liable for an 'antici- patory breach,' as it is called. This doctrine pro- ceeds uiion the theory that the [)arties to a con- tract have the right to the maintenance of it up to the time of performance, as well as to its per- formance when due. Consult the authorities referred to under Contract. Breach of the Peace. In early English law, this phrase appears to have been sjTionymous with breach of law or custom. If the act com- plained of violated a law or custom of the entire realm it constituted a breacli of the King's peace ; if a law or custom of a county, a breach of the sherill's peace; if of a manor, a breach of the peace of the lord of the manor. In modern usage it signifies any act violative of public order, such as the disturbance of a lawful meeting; a riot; taking part in an unlawful assembly; engaging in a ])rize-fight; unlawful intrusion xipon the lands of another; unlawfully discharging firearms in a pulilic jjlacc; going .nrmcd in an imlawful manner, etc. .Many acts otherwise innocent and lawful can be condenmed by the law because of their tendency to ]>roduce disturbances of the public i)eace. A person who is shown to be likely to conunit a breach of the peace may often be put under bonds to keep the peace. Breach of Projiise to Marry. Either party to a valid contract to marry can maintain an action for damages against the other party for an inexcusable breach of the engagement. If the contract is between a minor (q.v.) and an adtilt, the former may recover for its breach, but the latter cannot; because a minor's contracts are voidable by him. It ajjpcars to be settled in Eng- land that bodily infirmity or unfitness of the de- fendant will not excuse his or her breach of this contract, although it will warrant the other party in refusing to perform the contract. In the United Stales it has been held that in- curable physical unfitness for tlu^ marital rela- tion, arising subsequent to the betrothment, is a legal excuse for refusing to marry. If one party induces the other to enter into a contract to marry by fratidulent representations, the party defrauded may maintain an action in tort for the damages sustained. But ordinarily an action for breach of promise is a contract action, although it has many of the characteristics of a tort action. For example: at common law. the right of action does not survive the death of cither party to the contract, in the absence of special damage to the personal estate of the de- ceased, such as expenditures made in contempla- tion of marriage and lost by reason of the breach ; the plaintifT may recover punitive damages (see DAMA(iE.s) ; under many .statutes, the de- fendant is liable to arrest (q.v.) as though he were charged with fraud, and if a judgmient is recovered against him, execution (q.v.) may issue agiiinst his body. Lord ilanslield was of the