BRBSON, BABNARl 



BRISSON, MATHUIUN JACQUES. 



Shortly altar thi* time, Brtadloy WM conaolted by the Duke of 

 Bridfawatar on th- practicability of cooetrootingaeanal from Worsley 

 to Manchester. Brindley ' suooeas in thi* undertaking was the mean* 

 of fully awak.iiiiiR public attention to the advantages of oanala. Had 

 a man of leas ability undertaken the work, it is not improbable that it 

 might have turned out a failure, and th* improvement of our inland 

 nawifation might have haw deferred some year* longer. Within 

 forty-two yean after th* duke'* canal was opened, application had been 

 mads to parliament for 166 Act. for cutting canals in Great Britain, at 

 aa expenae of above 18,000,000*. All the ingenuity and resources 

 which Brindley pcaiaaiii ware required hi accomplishing the Duke of 

 Bridgewater'a noble scheme; and it may be fairly said that where 

 there wen most difficulties in the way, there Brindley's geniu* was 

 displayed with tho gnat a* affect. But it was not only in his expe- 

 diorta for rrverenaiing diflcnlties that hi* talents were displayed ; he 

 made MO of many new and ingenious contrivances for conducting the 

 work with the utmost economy. 



In 1766 the Trent and Mersey Canal waa commenced under Brindley'* 

 BUperiateajdMO*. It is 98 mile* lone, and unites the navigation of the 

 Mersey with that of the Trent and the Humber. It was called by 

 Briadlvy the Grand Trunk Navigation, owing to the probability, from 

 it* gnat eoatsnrrcial importance, of many other canals being made to 

 join it The Grand Trunk Navigation, by means of a tunnel 2880 

 yards in length, passes through a hill at Harecastle in Staffordshire, 

 which bad previously been considered an insurmountable obstacle to 

 the completion of a canal : this tunnel is 70 yards below the surface. 

 The canal was not completed at Brindley's death, but his brother-in- 

 law, Mr. Henahall, successfully finished it Brindley next designed a 

 canal, 46 miles long, called the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, 

 for the purpose of connecting the Grand Trunk with the Severn. He 

 also planned the Coventry Canal, but owing to some dispute he did not 

 superintend Ha execution. He however superintended the execution 

 of the Oxford Canal, which connect* the Thames with the Grand 

 Trunk through the Coventry Canal. These undertakings opened an 

 internal water-communication between the Thames, the Hutubor, the 

 Severn, and the Mersey, and united the great ports of London, Liver- 

 pool, Bristol, and Hull, by canals which posted through the richest 

 and moat industrious districts of England. 



The canal from the Trent at Stockwith to Chesterfield, 46 miles 

 long, was Brindley's last public undertaking. He also surveyed and 

 gave his opinion on many other lines for navigable canals besides those 

 mentioned ; among others, on a canal from Liverpool to Runcorn, 

 where the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal locks into the Mersey. He 

 proposed carrying this canal over that river at a point where the tidal 

 water rises to the height of 14 feet He formed also a scheme for 

 uniting Great Britain and Ireland by a floating road and canal from 

 Port Patrick to Donaghadee ; and like most, other impracticable 

 scheme* of ingenious men, it became a favourite speculation. Phillips, 

 in his ' History of Inland Navigation,' says that Briudley pointed out 

 the method of building walls against the sea without mortar; that he 

 invented a mode of cleansing dockyards, and for drawing water out 

 of mine* by a losing and gaining bucket Phillips states that he had 

 been in the " employ of the great Brindley." 



Brindley'a designs were the resources of his own mind alone. When 

 he was beset with any difficulty he secluded himself, and worked oul 

 unaided the means of accomplishing his schemes. Sometimes he lay 

 in bod two or throe days ; but when be arose he proceeded at once to 

 carry hi* plans into effect, without the help of drawings or models. 

 A Baa like Brindley, who was so entirely absorbed in his own schemes, 

 i not likely to partake much of the pleasures of society. A hectic 

 r, which had hung about him for several years, at length terminated 

 hi* laborious and useful life. He died at Turnhurst, in Staffordshire, 

 September 27th, 1772, aged 56, and was buried at New Chapel in the 

 same county. 



The principal event* in Brindley's life were first communicated to 

 the public from materials furnished by Mr. Honsholl, his brother-in- 

 law, and other friends, who spoke highly of "the integrity of his 

 character, hi* devotion to the public interest*, and the vast compass 

 of U< understanding, which seemed to have an affinity for all great 

 object*, and likewise for many noble and beneficent designs which the 

 multiplicity of bis engagements and the shortness of his life prevented 

 him from bringing to maturity." No man was so entirely free from 

 j*alu fielings. The reply which Brindley is said to have given to a 

 committee of the House of Commons, when asked for what object rivers 

 wore created, namely, " To feed navigable canals," is characteristic, and 

 very probably authentic; but it was made public by an anonymous 

 writer In the 'Morning Post,' whose communications respecting Brindley 

 war* stated by some of his friends to contain many inaccuracies. 



BKISSO'lf, BARNABft, was born in 1531, at Kontenay-le Comte. 

 In th* province of Poitou, of a family several members of which had 

 dl*tmgnl*hrd themselves at the French bar. Briston applied to the 

 aam* profca<ion, in which he attained the highest honours. He was 

 ode king's advocate in 1576, afterwards councillor of state, and lastly 

 pramtdeot k mortier in 1583. King Henri III. u**d to say that no 

 king could boast of having in his service so learned a man as 

 >n. He sent him on several mission*, among others to Queeu 

 beth of England ; and be comtnU-ioned him to collect and edit 

 tho ordinance* of hi* pr*Joeams and his own, which appeared under 



the following title, ' Code de Henry III., Roy de France et de Polopne, 

 redlgtf en ordr* par Mearire BarnaM Briston,' fnl., 1587, afterward! 

 rrpnblished with additions under Henri I V. by Le Caron, 1609. and 

 commonly called ' Code Henri* Briason was well versed in the ancient 

 writers, and several valuable works were the result of his studies : 

 1. 'De verborum qua) ad jus pertinent signifioatione,' a useful glossary 

 of word* and sentences of th* Roman law. This work went through 

 several edition* ; the one by J. C. liter, foL, Frankfurt, 16S8, contains 

 many additions. 8. ' De foramlis et solemnibus Populi Roman! vcrbis,' 

 lib. viil, fol., 1583, a work of more general use to scholars. The author 

 explains the proper meaning and application of certain established 

 form* of word* which hsd a fixed meaning, and were used by the 

 Romans in their public acts, in their religious ceremonies, in the senate, 

 in the comitia, in the furum, in their contracts, testaments, funerals, to. 

 An improved edition of this work wa* published by F. C. Conrad, fob, 

 I-eiprig, 1781, with a life of Brisson prefixed to it 8. ' De regio 

 1'enarum principal!!,' lib. in., in which he treats of the ancient Persian 

 monarchy, its political institutions, its laws, the religion and habits of 

 the people, and their military establishment. An edition with notes 

 and corrections was published by Professor Lederlin, Strasburg, 1710. 

 Several other works of ISrisson, chiefly connected with the Roman laws 

 nnd institutions, are found in his ' Opera Varia,' Paris, 1607, rcpub- 

 lished at Leyden, 1749, with the title of ' Opera Minora,' which contain 

 ' Selectarum ex jure civil! antiquitatum,' lib. iv. ; ' De ritu nuptiarum ;' 

 'De jure connubiorum ;' 'Ad Legem Juliara de adulteriis ;' 'De 

 solutionibns et liberationibus;' 'Ad legem Dominico de spectaculis in 

 CodiceTheodosii;' ' Parergon liber singularis ;' all works of considerable 

 erudition. 



The end of Brisson's life was remarkably unfortunate. When 

 Henri III. was obliged to leave Paris on account of the factions of the 

 League in January 1588, Brisson stayed behind, in the hope, as it 

 would appear, of bringing about a reconciliation between the king and 

 the people of the capital. After the murder of the Guises, the 

 Leaguers being now in open revolt against the king, anvntol in 

 January 1S89 the President de Harlay, and put Brisson in his place 

 as first president of the parliament, which he accepted, as ho said to 

 his friends, in order to save his life and that of his wife, at the same 

 time protesting privately before two notaries against any intention on 

 his part of violating the king's prerogative. Henri III. having by an 

 edict of February 1589 transferred the parliament to Tours, Brisson 

 did not obey the summons, but remained in the capital. After Henri's 

 death in August of the same year, Brisson proclaimed the Duke of 

 Mayenne, the chief of the League, lieutenant-general of the kingdom ; 

 but he resisted the intrigues of Mencioza, the Spanish ambassador, who 

 wanted to obtain the regency for his master, as well aa the pretensions 

 of Cardinal Gaetano, the pope's legate, who on presenting to the 

 parliament his bull of credentials wished to take the seat reserved for 

 the king. However Brisson soon after became suspected by the faction 

 of the Sixteen who ruled in Paris, and who thought that he was favour- 

 able to Henri IV. Availing themselves of the absence of the Duke 

 of Mayenne, they arrested Brisson, with two other councillors, on the 

 15th of November 1591 at nine o'clock, and hanged them at eleven 

 o'clock the same morning. The Duke of Mayenne, on his return to 

 Paris, hanged four of the most violent of the faction of the Sixteen. 



(Ue Thou ; and Discoun tur la Mart dv Prdsidcnt Britton, par Denyse 

 de Vigny, sa veuve, Paris, 1595.) 



I'.HISSON, MATHtTRIN JACQUES, whose zoological and philo- 

 sophical works have rendered hi* name deservedly celebrated, was born 

 at Kontensy-le-Comte on the 30th of April, 1723. Educated, as he 

 may be said to have been, under Reaumur (for his youth was passed 

 in aiding the labours of that accurate observer of nature, and in super- 

 intending his cabinet), he imbibed at an early age a love for natural 

 science, which only left him with his life. His progress must have 

 been rapid ; for we find him selected as the tutor in physics and natural 

 history to the ' children of France,' aud filling the office of ' Censeur 

 Royal.' He became a member of tho Academy of Sciences, and after- 

 wards of the Institute, and succeeded the Abbe* Nollet in the physical 

 chair at the college of Navarre. A warm defender of the Abbe, whose 

 theory of electricity ho supported with all the weapons which his 

 intimate knowledge of Ihe subj ct afforded him, he :i .iiklin, 



and endeavoured to overturn Priestley; bat he, notwithstanding, fairly 

 stnted to his class, in bis capacity of professor, the new theory which 

 hod taken the place of that of the Abbe*, explaining nud discussing tho 

 facts on which it rested. 



The government charged him with the care of providing lightning- 

 conductors for the protection of many public buildings, and api 

 him to examine those which other projectors might bring forward. 

 I V;it!i crept upon him at Broi-si, n nr Versailles, on tho 23rd of June 

 1806, at the age of eighty-three; but for sumo month" before he died 

 he was a melancholy specimen of the body surviving the int. lied. An 

 apoplectic attack had defactd all his idea*, depriving him of the know- 

 ledge which he had so laboriously acquired, and even blotting out iroin 

 his memory the French language. 



His works are numerous : among the most important arc his 

 ' Ornithology,' and hi* treatise ' On the Specific Gravity of Bodies.' 

 The first appeared at Paris in 1760, in 6 volx. 4to, in Latiu and I 

 The second, under the title of ' Pesanteur Spccifique des Corps,' was 

 published in quarto in 1787. 



