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BRECHIN BRECKENRIDGE 241 of hardness, it is a difficult rock to polish, which prevents its coming into general use, as its beauty would render desirable. When brec- cias are produced from rocks originally strati- fied in their layers, it is curious to observe how the lines of these layers are preserved in the broken fragments, and may be traced in the various directions in which they are thrown together. Breccias are also prepared arti- ficially. (See CONCRETE.) BRECHIN, a royal burgh and parish of For- farshire, Scotland, on the S. Esk, 8 m. from its junction with the sea at Montrose, and 23 m. N. N. E. of Dundee; pop. in 1871, 7,933. It is the seat of a Scottish Episcopal bishop. The cathedral built in the 12th century is now the parish church. Near the church is an ancient round tower, 103 ft. in height, one of the only two in Scotland. Many of the inhabitants are employed in linen weaving. BKECKENRIDU:, a N. W. county of Ken tucky, bordering on Indiana, bounded N. W. by the Ohio river, and having Rough creek for its S. limit ; area, 450 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 13,440, of whom 1,682 were colored. The sur- face consists of undulating uplands. The soil has a basis of red clay and limestone, and is fertile and well watered. Sinking creek in this county plunges below the surface, and is lost for 5 or 6 m., when it emerges from the ground, and flows into the Ohio. Penitentiary cave, near this creek, is said to contain cham- bers of vast size. The Tar and Breckenridge White Sulphur Springs are in this county. The Breckenridge coal is found here. The chief productions in 1870 were 57,921 bushels of wheat, 526,080 of Indian corn, 129,703 of oats, 22,918 of potatoes, 3,476 tons of hay, 139,207 Ibs. of butter, 30,031 of wool, and 3,338,471 of tobacco. There were 3,672 horses, 2,565 milch cows, 4,115 other cattle, 13,525 sheep, and 25,- 386 swine. Capital, Hardinsburg. BRECKENRIDGE, John, D. D., a Presbyterian clergyman, born at Cabell's Dale, Ky., July 4, 1797, died there, Aug. 4, 1841. He graduated at Princeton college in 1818. While at college he joined the Presbyterian church, and though his father, United States attorney general under Jefferson, had designed him for the law, he pre- | ferred the ministry. In 1822 he was licensed by the presbytery of New Brunswick to preach, and shortly after served as chaplain to congress. Having been ordained to the ministry, he was installed pastor of a church in Lexington, Ky. After remaining in this charge four years, dur- ing which time he established a religious news- paper entitled "The Western Luminary," he was called to the second Presbyterian church in Baltimore, as colleague with the Rev. Dr. Glendy. Appointed in 1831 secretary and general agent of the Presbyterian board of education, he removed to Philadelphia, and occupied this post for six years, when he was elected by the general assembly professor in the Princeton theological seminary. During his connection with the seminary be engaged in two public controversies, one written and the other oral, with the Rev. John Hughes of Philadelphia (afterward archbishop of New York), which were published in book form. He took an active part in the controversies which agitated the Presbyterian church, as a leader of the Old School party. All his sermons, speeches, and arguments were extempore, yet correct and logical. In 1838, upon the organ- ization of the board of foreign missions, he was elected its secretary and general agent, and devoted his entire time and energy to the superintendence of its operations till 1840, when his health gave way. At the time of his death he was pastor elect of a Presbyterian church in New Orleans, and president elect of Oglethorpe university, Georgia. BRECKENRIDGE, John Cabell, an American politician and soldier, born near Lexington, Ky., Jan. 21, 1821. He was educated at Centre college, Danville, studied law at the Transyl- vania institute, and settled at Lexington. At the breaking out of the war with Mexico he was elected major of the third regiment of Kentucky volunteers, but had little opportunity for active service. After the war he was elected to the house of representatives of Ken- tucky, and in 1851 was chosen to congress, and in 1853 was reelected after a violent and pro tracted contest. During the first session of the 33d congress, in the course of the discus- sion of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he was in- volved in a personal altercation with Mr. F. B. Cutting, a member from New York, leading to the preliminaries for a duel, which, however, did not take place. Upon the accession of President Pierce he was offered the ministry to Spain, but declined it. In 1856 he was elected vice president, in conjunction with Buchanan as president. In 1860 the disunion delegates in the democratic national conven- tion, having separated from the supporters of S. A. Douglas, nominated Mr. Breckenridge for president, and he received the electoral votes of all the southern states except Virginia, Ken- tucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. In the same year he was elected United States senator. After defending the southern confederacy in the senate, he went south, entered the army, and rose to the rank of major general. He was repulsed in an attack on Baton Rouge in August, 1862 ; commanded a corps under Bragg at Stone river at the end of 1862, and at Chickamauga in September, 1863; defeated Sigel at Newmarket in May, 1864; participated in Early's advance on Washington in July of that year, and shared in his defeat near Win- chester in September. In January, 1865, he was appointed confederate secretary of war. After the surrender of Gen. Lee he went to Europe, whence he returned in 1868, and has since lived in Kentucky. BRECKENRIDGE, Robert Jefferson, D. D., LL. D., uncle of the preceding, and brother of the Rev. John Breckenridge, an American di- vine, born at Cabell's Dale, Ky., March 8, 1800,