the Prussian kingdom; most
of it a sandy plain, with fertile districts and woodlands here and there.

BRANDENBURG, THE HOUSE OF, an illustrious German family dating from
the 10th century, from which descended the kings of Prussia.

BRANDES, GEORGE, a literary critic, born at Copenhagen, of Jewish
parents; his views of the present tendency of literature in Europe
provoked at first much opposition in Denmark, though they were received
with more favour afterwards; the opposition to his views were such that
he was forced to leave Copenhagen, but, after a stay in Berlin, he
returned to it in 1862, with the support of a strong party in his favour.

BRANDT, a Swedish chemist; chanced on the discovery in 1669 of
phosphorus while in quest of a solvent to transmute metals, such as
silver, into gold; _d_. 1692.

BRANDT, SEBASTIAN, a satirical writer, born at Strassburg; author of
the "Narrenschiff" or "Ship of Fools," of which there have been many
translations and not a few imitations (1458-1521).

BRANDY NAN, a nickname for Queen Anne, from her fondness for brandy.

BRANDYWINE CREEK, a small river in Delaware; scene of a victory of
the British over the Americans in 1777.

BRANGTONS, THE, a vulgar, evil-spoken family in Miss Burney's
"Evelina."

BRANT, JOSEPH, Indian chief who sided with the British in the
American war; a brave and good man; _d_. 1807.

BRANTOME, PIERRE DE BOURDEILLES, a French chronicler, contemporary
of Montaigne, born in Perigord; led the life of a knight-errant, and
wrote Memoirs remarkable for the free-and-easy, faithful, and vivid
delineations of the characters of the most celebrated of his
contemporaries (1527-1614).

BRASIDAS, a Spartan general, distinguished in the Peloponnesian war;
his most celebrated action, the defeat at the expense of his life, in 422
B.C., of the flower of the Athenian army at Amphipolis, with a small
body of helots and mercenaries.

BRASS, SAMPSON, a knavish attorney in "Old Curiosity Shop"; affected
feeling for his clients, whom he fleeced.

BRASSES, sepulchral tablets of a mixed metal, called latten, inlaid
in a slab of stone, and insculpt with figures and inscriptions of a
monumental character; the oldest in England is at Stoke d'Abernon, in
Surrey.

BRASSEY, THOMAS, a great railway contractor, born in Cheshire;
contracted for the construction of railways in all parts of the world
(1805-1870).

BRAUN, AUGUSTE EMIL, German archaeologi