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BRISACH-BRISTOL.

merly a very strong place, and has sustained several sieges.-New B. is in the department of the Upper Rhine, in France, on the west side of the river. Vauban fortified it in 1699, and it is considered one of his master-pieces. It is 30 miles south of Strasburg.

BRISEIS. (See Achilles.)

BRISGAU, also BREISGAU, with the district of Ortenau, formerly constituted a landgraviate in the south-western part of Suabia, between the Schwartzwald and the Rhine. This is one of the most fertile parts of Germany, containing 1,272 square miles, and 140,000 inhabitants. Though chiefly in possession of Austria since the 15th century, it was governed by its own laws. At the peace of Luneville, 1801, Austria ceded B., one of the oldest possessions of the house of Hapsburg, to the duke of Modena, after whose death it fell to his son-in-law, the archduke Ferdinand of Austria, as duke of Brisgau. By the peace of Presburg, 1805, it was assigned to Baden, with the exception of a small part, and still belongs to the grand-duchy.

BRISSAC. (See Cosse.)

BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, Jean Pierre; born in 1754, at Ouarville, a village in the vicinity of Chartres, where his father, a pastry-cook, and keeper of an ordinary, possessed a small estate. This circumstance led him to assume the surname d'Ouarville, which he afterwards, while in England, changed into de Warville. At the age of 20, he had already published several works, for one of which he was thrown into the Bastile, in 1784. Madame de Genlis, in her memoirs, says, that she procured his liberty through her influence with the duke of Chartres. He married one of the household of madame d'Orleans, and went to England, where he was in the pay of the lieutenant of the police in Paris. At the same time, he was engaged in literary pursuits, and attempted to establish a lyceum in London; but, being disappointed in his plans, he returned to France. In 1788, he travelled in America, as it is asserted, to study he principles of democracy. After his return, he published, in 1791, a work on the United States. On the convocation of the states general, he published several pamphlets in Paris, and afterwards a journal-the French Patriot. When the municipal government of Paris was established, July, 1789, he was one of the members, and was one of the principal instigators of the revolt of the Champ de Mars, where the dethronement of

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Louis XVI and the establishment of a republican constitution were demanded. He constantly displayed a hostile disposition towards foreign powers, and the first declaration of war against Austria was owing to him. On the 10th of August, the new ministry was almost entirely composed of his partisans. In the convention, he was at the head of the diplomatic committee, in the name of which he made a motion for war against England and Holland. On the trial of Louis XVI, he endeavored to refer the sentence to the decision of the people, and voted for the king's death, proposing, at the same time, that the execution should be deferred till the constitution should be sanctioned by the whole people in primary assemblies. In the midst of the revolutionary ferment, the ground whereon his party stood was insensibly undermined. After several charges had been brought against him, Robespierre accused him, May 28, 1793, of favoring a federative constitution, with two parliaments, &c., and demanded that he should be brought before the revolutionary tribunal. The 31st of May completed his ruin. He endeavored to reach Switzerland in the disguise of a merchant of Neufchatel, but was arrested at Moulins, and led to the guillotine, in Paris, October 31, at the age of 39. He was a great admirer of the Americans, assumed the habits of the Quakers, and introduced the fashion of wearing the hair without powder. His personal qualities were below his fame: he was indeed a leader among the Girondists, but many others of this party were far superior to him in courage and talents.

BRISSOTINS, or BRISSOTISTS; a name sometimes given to the Girondists (q. v.), from the subject of the preceding article.

BRISTOL; a city and county of England, situated on the Avon. The river is here deep and rapid, and the tide flows to the height of 40 feet, so that a vessel of 1000 tons can come up to the city. It was constituted a bishop's see by Henry VIII, and part of a monastery founded by Stephen, in 1140, has been converted into a cathedral. The church of St. Mary's, Redcliffe, is one of the finest Gothic structures in the kingdom. The city has long been distinguished for its well conducted and extensive charities, and is adorned with many handsome public buildings. Manufactories of glass and sugar, distilleries and brass-works, the largest in England, give employment to many of its inhabitants. Its foreign trade is also considerable, principally to the

West Indies. It returns 2 members to parliament, and is governed by a mayor, 2 sheriffs, 12 aldermen, and 28 common councilmen. Here the famous Chatterton was born his father was sexton of St. Mary's. About a mile from B. stands the village of the Hot-Wells, famous for its medicinal spring, the temperature of which is from 72° to 76°: it discharges 60 gallons a minute. The Hot-Wells, and the village of Clifton, on the hill above, are fashionable resorts. At the time of the earthquake at Lisbon, in 1755, the water of the spring became red and turbid, the tide of the Avon flowed back, and the water in the vicinity turned black, and was unfit for use for a fortnight. The extensive commerce and fine harbor of B. rendered it desirable to obviate the inconvenience attending ships lying aground at every tide. By constructing extensive works, and opening a new channel for the Avon, the flux and reflux of the tide at the quays have been prevented, and merchant-ships of any burden may now constantly lie afloat. B. is very ancient. Gildas mentions it, in 430, as a fortified city. By the Britons it was called C'aer Brito, and by the Saxons Brightstowe, or Pleasant Place. It was erected into an independent county by Edward III, in 1372, and has since been endowed with various privileges. All persons are free to trade here, and the markets are unequalled in plenty and variety by any in England. Many of the houses in the older part of the town are built of wood, and crowded together in narrow streets, but those of more recent erection are of brick and stone, and disposed in spacious streets and squares. The common sewers, which run through the town, render it remarkably clean. Carts are not admitted into the city for fear of damaging the arches of vaults and gutters under the streets, and every thing is conveyed by sledges. The population, in 1821, including the suburbs, was 52,889. It is 117 miles west from London; lon. 2° 46′ W.; lat. 51° 30′ N.

BRISTOL (Indian names, Pocanocket and Sowam); a seaport town, and capital of a county of the same name in Rhode Island. on the continent; 15 miles S. Providence, 15 N. Newport, 56 S. S. W. Boston; lon. 71° 12′ W.; lat. 41° 38′ N.; population, in 1820, 3197. It is a very pleasant town, finely situated, and handsomely built, has a safe and commodious harbor, and is a place of considerable trade. The shipping belonging to this port in 1820 amounted to 10,701 tons.

The trade is chiefly to the West Indies and to Europe. It contains a courthouse, a jail, à market-house, a masonic hall, an academy, a public library, containing about 1400 volumes, and four houses of public worship. Great quantities of onions are raised here for exportation. Mount Hope, which lies two miles N. E. of Bristol, within the township, is a pleasant hill of a conical form, and is famous for having been the residence of the Indian king Philip.

BRISTOL CHANNEL; an arm of the Irish sea, extending between the southern shores of Wales and the western peninsula of England, and terminating in the estuary of the Severn. It is about 90 miles long, and from 15 to 50 miles wide. It is remarkable for its high tides and the rapidity with which they rise. (See Bridgewater.)

BRITAIN, according to Aristotle, was the name which the Romans gave to modern England and Scotland. This appellation is, perhaps, derived from the old word brit, party-colored, it having been customary with the inhabitants to paint their bodies with various colors. According to the testimony of Pliny and Aristotle, the island, in the remotest times, also bore the name of Albion. (q. v.) The sea, by which B. is surrounded, was generally called the Western, the Atlantic, or the Hesperian ocean. Until the time of Cæsar, B. was totally unknown to the Romans.. But the Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians, especially the first, were acquainted with it from the earliest period, being accustomed to obtain thi there. On this account, they called it Tin island, as Herodotus informs us. Cæsar undertook two expeditions to B. He defeated the inhabitants, whom he found entirely savage, and continued a short time on the island. It was not, however, until the time of Claudius, that the Romans gained a firm footing there. At that period, they extended their possessions in the country, and called the territory under their dominion Britannia Romana. The most important acquisitions were afterwards made under Adrian and Constantine. At last, the inhabitants assumed the manners of their conquerors. The country was very populous in the time of Cæsar, and, according to the testimony of Tacitus, fertile. It was divided into Britannia Romana and B. Barbara. The Romans, from the time of Adrian, anxiously endeavored to secure the former against the invasions of the barbarians, by a wall or rampart of earth fortified

BRITAIN-BRITANNICUS CÆSAR.

with turrets and bulwarks. Lollius Urbicus, in the reign of Antoninus, extended this wall; but Septimius Severus restored its former limits. In his time, the Roman province was divided into the eastern (prima, or inferior) and the western part (secunda, or superior). Two provinces were added by Constantine. The inhabitants of ancient B. derived their origin partly from an original colony of Celta, partly from a mixed body of Gauls and Germans. The Celtic colonists, or the Britons, properly so called, living in the interior of the country, had less intercourse with foreign merchants than the Gauls, who lived along the coasts. They are therefore represented by the Romans as less civilized. The Gallic inhabitants, who had settled nearer the sea-coast, possessed some property, and were therefore more easily intimidated than those tribes that were dispersed through the forests. None of them cultivated the ground: they all lived by raising cattle and hunting. Their dress consisted of skins. Their habitations were huts made of wicker-work and covered with rushes. Their priests, the Druids, together with the sacred women, exercised a kind of authority over them. (For the modern kingdom of Great Britain, see Great Britain.)

BRITAIN, New; a group of islands belonging to Australia (q. v.), and separated by Dampier's strait from New Guinea. The situation of these islands has not been very exactly ascertained; but they stretch from about 1° 30′ to 6° S. lat., and from 148° to 153° E. lon. Their extent is equally uncertain. Some geographers include in this group the island of the same name, New Ireland, New Hanover, Admiralty islands, and some smaller ones. Some of the group are volcanic. The natives are Papuas, and manage their canoes, some of which are 80 feet long, with great skill. They are black; their hair is curled and woolly; but they have neither the thick lips nor the flat noses of the Negroes. Those of the Admiralty islands are gentle and peaceful; those of New Holland are warlike. The islands contain some high mountains, covered with lofty trees to their summits. The bread-fruit-tree, the fig-tree, pepper, aloes, nutineg, &c., are found here. The seas abound in coral reefs, which often render the navigation dangerous. Dampier first discovered that this archipelago was separate from New Guinea. Carteret first showed that New Ireland was separated from New Britain by the strait which he

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called St. George's channel. These islands have been also visited by d'Entrecasteaux, Bougainville, Hunter, &c. (See Labillardière's Voyage, 2 vols., 4to., 1798.)

BRITAIN, New; a vast country of North America, lying round Hudson's bay, north and north-west of Upper and Lower Canada, comprehending Labrador, New North Wales and New South Wales, attached to the government of Lower Canada, and belonging to Great Britain.-The face of the country is various. On the southwest of Hudson's bay, from Moose river to Churchill's river, in some parts, for the distance of 600 miles inland, the country is flat, marshy, and wooded, in many parts, with pines, birch, larch and willows. North of Churchill's river, and on the eastern coast, it is high, rocky and barren, every where unfit for cultivation, covered with masses of rock of amazing size, composed of fruitless valleys and frightful mountains, some of them of great height. The valleys are full of lakes formed by rain and snow, and are covered with stunted trees, pines, fir, birch and cedar, or juniper. The mountains have here and there a blighted shrub, or a little moss. The climate is extremely severe, and, in lat. 60., on the coast, vegetation ceases.—' -The principal rivers are Mackenzie's river, Copper-Mine river Nelson's, Churchill's, Albany, Moose, Seal, Severn, Rupert and Pokerekesko. The most considerable lakes are Winnipeg, Slave lake, Great Bear lake, and Athapescow.-The principal article of trade is fur. The trade is carried on by two companies, who have several forts, viz. forts Prince of Wales, Chippeyan, Alexandria, Churchill, Albany, Nelson, Severn, &c.—The wild animals are numerous, such as bears, beavers, deer, raccoons, &c. The Esquimaux Indians occupy the coasts of Labrador: the interior is inhabited by various tribes of a diminutive and miserable race.

BRITANNICUS CESAR (Tiberius Claudius Germanicus), son of the emperor Claudius and Messalina, was born a few days after the accession of Claudius to the throne. After the return of the emperor from his expedition to Britain, the surname Britannicus was bestowed on the father and son. As the eldest son of the emperor, B. was the legitimate heir to the throne; but Claudius was prevailed upon by his second wife, the ambitious Agrippina, to adopt Domitius Nero, her son by a former marriage, who was three years older than B., and declare him his successor. The venal senate gave its

consent. In the mean time, Agrippina, under the pretext of motherly tenderness, strove to keep B., as much as possible, in a state of imbecility. She removed his servants, and substituted her own creatures. Sosibius, his tutor, was murdered by her contrivance. She did not permit him to appear beyond the precincts of the palace, and even kept him out of his father's sight, under the pretence that he was insane and epileptic. Although the weak emperor showed that he penetrated the artifices of Agrippina, yet his death, of which she was the author, prevented him from retrieving his error. Nero was proclaimed emperor, while B. continued in close confinement. In a dispute with Nero, Agrippina threatened to place B., who was then 14 years old, on the throne, upon which Nero caused him to be poisoned.

BRITINIANS; a body of monks of the order of St. Augustine, who received their name from Britini, in Ancona, which was the place of their institution. Their manner of living was very austere. They abstained from all kinds of ineat, and fasted from the festival of the Exaltation of the Cross to Easter, besides observing the fasts prescribed by the church, which they were strictly enjoined to do by the rules of their order. Their dress was gray; and, to distinguish themselves from the Minorites, they wore no girdle. When Alexander IV, in 1256, effected the union of the different congregations of the order of St. Augustine, the Britinians became members of this union.

BRITISH AMERICA. Under the general name of British America is comprehended all that part of the continent of North America which lies to the north of the U. States, with the exception of the Russian possessions in the north-west, and Greenland in the north-east. It consists of four provinces: 1. Lower Canada, to which is annexed New Britain; 2. Upper Canada; 3. New Brunswick; 4. Nova Scotia; together with the island of Newfoundland. The whole country is under a governorgeneral, whose residence is at Quebec. Each of the four provinces has also a lieutenant-governor; and Newfoundland is governed by an admiral.

BRITISH CHANNEL. (See English Channel.)

BRITISH MUSEUM was founded by sir Hans Sloane, who, in 1753, bequeathed his collection of natural and artificial curiosities, and his library, consisting of 50,000 volumes of books and MSS., to the nation. on condition of the payment

of £20,000 to his heirs. Montague-house, one of the largest mansions in the metropolis, was appropriated to its recep tion, and it has since been gradually increased by gifts, bequests, and purchases of every species of curiosity-animals, vegetables, minerals, sculptures, books, MSS., &c. The main building is 216 feet long and 57 high; the wings are occupied by the officers of the establishment. The library of printed books occupies 16 rooms. The upper floor is composed of 11 rooms, 2 of which contain miscellaneous collections, 4 contain collections of natural history, and 5 the library of MSS., which is extremely valuable, besides the saloon, containing the minerals. The Lansdowne library of MSS. consists of 1245 volumes, exclusive of rolls and charters, and contains the Burleigh, Cæsar and Kennet papers. (Catalogue of Lansdowne MSS., folic, 1819.) The Sloane and Birch MSS., consisting of 4437 volumes, are valuable. (See Ayscough's Undescribed MSS., 2 vols., 4to., 1782.) The Harleian MSS. were collected by Harley, lord Oxford, and form 7639 volumes, containing 40,000 documents. (Catalogue of Harleian MSS., 4 vols., folio, 1809.) The Cottonian collection was injured by fire in 1751. The number of articles is upwards of 20,000, among which is the original of the Magna Charta, and original documents connected with it. (Catalogue, folio, 1802.) There are many other very valuable collections, which we cannot enumerate. The gallery, or department of antiquities, is distributed in 15 rooms; 6 of which contain Greek and Roman sculptures and antiquities, and 2 are occupied with Egyptian sculptures and antiquities, many of which were collected by the French, and fell into the hands of the English at the capture of Alexandria, September, 1801. Salt's Egyptian antiquities have also been lately added. The famous Rosetta stone belongs to the collection. Other rooms are occupied by terracottas, the Hamilton vases, coins and medals, prints and drawings, the Phigalian marbles, and the Elgin marbles. The anteroom contains the famous Barberini vase, or, as it is generally called, the Portland vase.

BRITTANY, OF BRETAGNE; formerly one of the largest provinces of France, being a peninsula washed by the Atlantic on all sides except the east, where it joined Poitou, Anjou, Maine and Normandy. It now forms five departments (q. v.), containing 2,532,500 inhabitants, on 1775 square miles. It is supposed to have

BRITTANY-BROEKHUIZEN.

received its name from the Britons, who were expelled from England, and took refuge here in the fifth century. It formed one of the duchies of France, till it was united to the crown by Francis I, in 1532. The province was divided into Upper and Lower B. Agriculture, in this territory, is very backward, and it is estimated, that about one half of the surface lies waste. Corn and wine are produced in small quantities. Flax and hemp, apples and pears, are abundant, and of good quality. Cider is the principal drink. Salt is made on the coast, and coals, lead and iron are found in various parts. There are manufactures of hemp, flax and iron. The fisheries, also, employ many of the inhabitants. The Bas-Bretons speak a dialect of the Celtic. There is also a patois among them, called Lucache, of which the words are principally Greek. The lower classes are poor and ignorant.

BRIZARD. (See French Theatre.) BROACH; a large, ruinous town in Guzerat, Hindostan, on the Nerbuddah. It contains a Hindoo hospital for sick and infirm beasts, birds and insects, which has considerable endowments in land, and accommodates not only animals considered sacred by the Hindoos, such as monkeys, peacocks, &c., but horses, dogs and cats: it has, also, in little boxes, an assortment of lice and fleas. These animals are fed only on vegetable food, and are, generally, in a miserable condition. Near B. is the celebrated banian-tree, which has been renowned ever since the first arrival of the Portuguese in India, and which, according to the natives, was capable of sheltering 10,000 horsemen under its shade. Part of it has been washed away by the river, but enough yet remains to make it one of the noblest groves in the world. B. was captured by the English in 1803. Lon. 73° 6 E.; lat. 21° 41' N.

BROACH; any thing which will pierce through; a pin; that part of certain ornaments by which they are stuck on; the ornament itself. Among the Highlanders of Scotland, there are preserved, in several families, ancient broaches of rich workmanship, and highly ornamented. Some of them are inscribed with characters to which particular virtues were attributed, and seem to have been used as a sort of amulet or talisman.

BROACH-TO; to incline suddenly to windward of the ship's course when she sails with a large wind; or, when she sails directly before the wind, to deviate

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from her line of course with such rapidity as to bring her side to windward, and expose her to the danger of oversetting. The masts act like levers on the ship, sideways, so as to overturn her, unless she is relieved by the rending of the sails, or the carrying away of the masts.

BROAD PIECE; a denomination that has been given to some English gold pieces broader than a guinea, particularly Caroluses and Jacobuses.

BROADSIDE, in a naval engagement ; the whole discharge of the artillery on one side of a ship of war, above and below.-A squall of wind is said to throw a ship on her broadside, when it presses her down in the water, so as nearly to overset her.

BROAD-SWORD; a sword with a broad blade, designed chiefly for cutting, used by some regiments of cavalry and Highland infantry in the British service. It has, in general, given place to the sabre, among the cavalry. The claymore or broad-sword was formerly the national weapon of the Highlanders.

BROCADE; a stuff of gold, silver or silk, raised and enriched with flowers, foliage and other ornaments. Formerly, it signified only a stuff wove all of gold or silver, or in which silk was mixed; at present, all stuffs, grograms, satins, taffetas and lustrings are so called, if they are worked with flowers or other figures.

BROCKEN. (See Hartz.)

BRODY, a town in Austrian Gallicia, situated in the circle of Zloczow, bordering on the Russian frontier, includes 2600 houses, and 16,500 inhabitants, half of whom are Jews, who have a college and a school for the instruction of artists and mechanics. The commerce, carried on principally by Jews, is important, the town being very favorably situated for the exchange of the products of Poland for the horses, black cattle, wax, honey, tallow, skins, furs, anise, preserved fruits, &c., of Walachia, the Crimea, &c. B. belongs to count Potocki.

BROEKHUIZEN, Jan van (better known as Janus Broukhusius); born at Amsterdam in 1649. When young, he lost his father, a hatter, and was put under the guardianship of one of his relations, who placed him with an apothecary, though he desired to study a learned profession. While in this situation, he wrote verses, and was encouraged by the applause of the public. He subsequently entered the military service of his native country. In. 1674, he embarked under the command of the famous admiral de Ruyter, as a marine, on an expedition to the West

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