865 



BRIEF. 



BRIGANTES. 



386 



qualities according to the nature of the court in which the proceedings 

 are pending, and of the occasion in which the services of the advocate 

 are required ; but in general they contain the names and descriptions 

 of the parties, the nature and precise stage of the suit, the facts of the 

 litigated transaction, the points of law intended to be raised, the 

 pleadings, the proofs, and a notice of the case which may be raised on 

 the other side. 



BRIEF, commonly called CHURCH BRIEF or QUEEN'S LETTER. 

 This instrument consisted of a kind of open letter in the royal name, 

 and sealed with the privy seal, directed to the archbishops, bishops, 

 clergymen, magistrates, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor 

 throughout England. It recited that the crown thereby licensed the 

 petitioners for the brief to collect money for the charitable purpose 

 therein specified, and required the several persons to whom it was 

 directed to assist in such collection. The origin of this custom is not 

 altogether free from doubt ; but as such documents do not appear to 

 have been issued by the crown previously to the Reformation, they 

 may possibly be derived from the papal briefs, which, from very early 

 periods of the history of the Church, were given as credentials to 

 mendicant friars, who collected money from country to country, and 

 from town to town, for the building of churches and other pious uses. 

 It is probable that, as soon as the authority of the pope ceased in 

 England, these briefs began to be issued in the name of the sovereign. 

 They appear to have been always subject to great abuse ; and the stat. 

 4 Anne, c. 14, after reciting that "many inconveniences arose and 

 frauds were committed in the common method of collecting charity 

 money upon briefs," enacted a variety of provisions for their future 

 regulation, and, among others, prohibited, by heavy penalties, the 

 practice, which had previously prevailed, of farming briefs, or selling, 

 upon a kind of speculation, the amount of charity money to be collected. 

 Still these provisions were evaded, and heavy abuses arose ; and the 

 collection by briefs in modern times was found to be a most inconvenient 

 nd expensive mode of raising money for charitable purposes. (' Burns's 

 Ecclesiastical Law,' tit. Brief.) The machinery provided by the statute 

 of Anne was abolished by 9 Geo. IV., c. 42, which enacted " That, as 

 often as his Majesty shall be pleased to issue his royal letters to the 

 Archbishops of Canterbury and York respectively, authorising col- 

 lection within their provinces for the purpose of aiding the enlarging, 

 building, rebuilding, or repairing of churches and chapels in England 

 and Wales, all contributions so collected shall be paid over to the 

 treasurer of the ' Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement, 

 building, and repairing of churches and chapels,' and be employed in 

 carrying the designs of the society into effect." This statute does not 

 interfere with the authority of the crown as to granting briefs ; Queen's 

 letters have accordingly been issued till within the last few years ; but 

 they are now considered permanently abandoned. 



BRIEF (PAPAL) is the name given to the letters which the pope 

 addresses to individuals or religious communities upon matters of 

 discipline. The Latin name is "brevis," or " breve," which in the 

 latinity of the lower ages meant an epistle or written scroll. The 

 French in the old times used to say " brief " for a letter, and the 

 Germans have retained the word " brief " with the same meaning to 

 this day. The difference between a Brief and a Bull in the language of 

 the Papal Chancery is this : the briefs are less ample and solemn 

 instruments than bulls, and are like private letters addressed to 

 individuals, giving the papal decision upon particular matters, such as 

 dispensations, release from vows, appointment* to benefices in the gift 

 of the see of Rome, indulgences, &c. ; or they are mere friendly and 

 congratulatory letters to princes and other persons high in office. The 

 apoatolical brief was formerly written on paper, but is now usually 

 written on parchment ; with the difference that the bull is written on 

 the rough side in ancient characters, the brief is written on the smooth 

 ride in the modern characters ; it is sealed in red wax with the seal of 

 the Fisherman ( tub annulo Pucataru), which is a symbol of St. Peter 

 in a boat casting his net into the sea. (Ciampini, 'Dissertatio de 

 Abbreviatorum Muuere,' cap. iii ) A bull is a solemn decree of the 

 pope in his capacity of head of the Roman Catholic Church : it relates 

 to matters of doctrine, and as such is addressed to all the members of 

 that church for their general information and guidance. The bulls of 

 excommunication launched by several popes against a king, or a whole 

 state, are often recorded in history. The briefs are not signed by the 

 pope, but by an officer of the Papal Chancery, called ' Segretario dei 

 Brevi : ' and they are indited without any preamble. The bulls are 

 always on parchment, and sealed with a pendent seal of lead or green 

 wax, representing on one side the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, and 

 on the reverse the name of the pope, and the year of his pontificate : 

 their name comes from the Latin ' bulla,' a carved ornament or stamp. 

 The bulls of indulgences are general, and addressed to all the members 

 of the church ; the briefs of indulgences are addressed to particular 

 individuals, or monastic orders, for their particular benefit. 



BRIEVE, a term once of much more frequent use in the law of 

 Scotland than it is at the present day. It would appear that when 

 the supreme civil court consisted of a committee of Parliament, per- 

 mission to sue before that body was granted by brievo from the Chapel 

 Royal of Chancery, containing the questions on which a decision or 

 answer was required. It is now a writ, served by authority of the 

 crown, directing an inquiry to be made by means of a jury, into certain 

 matters specified. Of the inquiries conducted by brieves, the most 



important was, till lately, the brieve for service of heirs. This form 

 was necessary for establishing the title of an heir in his ancestor's 

 landed property. The brieve for this purpose was abolished bv 10 & 

 11 Vic. c. 47. [HEIR.] 



The brieves still known in the law of Scotland are : the brieve of 

 Tutory, by which an inquiry is made as to the person legally entitled 

 to be tutor (guardian) to a pupil (that is a child under 14 years -of age 

 if a male, 12 years if a female), the brieves of 'Idiotcy and Furiosity, 

 by which inquiry is made as to the question of a person's imbecility 

 or insanity, before he is judicially deprived of the management of his 

 affairs ; the brieve of Terce, for establishing the right of a widow to 

 terce (dower) ; the brieve of Division, dividing the lands of heirs 

 portioners (coparceners). 



BRIG, BRIGANTINE. [Snip.] 



BRIGADE. This term is generally applied, in military affairs, to 

 the union of two or more battalions or regiments in one corps ; but 

 sometimes to the union of a certain number of men or guns in one 

 subdivision. Thus from two to six battalions of infantry, or squadrons 

 of cavalry, constitute a brigade. The British Rifle Brigade is com- 

 posed of four battalions. The term brigade is also applied to a small 

 party of Sappers consisting of eight men, which is divided into two 

 demi-brigades of four men each, one demi-brigade only being employed 

 in the execution of a trench by single sap. Six pieces of ordnance 

 form a brigade of artillery. According to Pere Daniel, commander* 

 having the charge of several regiments, and the title of brigadiers, were 

 instituted, in France, by Louis XIV. In the British service the com- 

 mander of each brigade is entitled brigadier-general : his rank, which 

 is only a temporary one while immediately in command, is imme- 

 diately above that of colonel ; and, to assist him in the performance 

 of his duties, there is appointed a brigade-major, who is usually a, 

 captain, or if a subaltern, he holds in the brigade the rank of junior 

 captain. An effective field-officer of a regiment is not eligible to this 

 post. 



The British army is not usually organised into brigades in time of 

 peace except at the camps, but on active service the commanders of 

 regiments make their reports to the brigadier-general ; the latter 

 transmits them to the general of the division, and through him they 

 are communicated to the adjutant-general or to the commander in- 

 chief. 



Not only the number of battalions which are united to form a 

 brigade, but also the number of brigades which constitute a division, is 

 various ; both brigade and division depending upon the strength of the 

 several regiments and upon the nature of the service. It may be 

 sufficient to mention, that at the battle of Corunna, where the British 

 army consisted of about 25,000 men under arms, the first line was 

 formed of three divisions, the division constituting each wing con- 

 sisted of three brigades, and the centre division of two ; some of the 

 brigades were composed of four battalions, some of two, and one of 

 them of three. The infantry in the second line was, in like manner, un- 

 equally divided ; the centre consisted of two brigades of cavalry, one 

 formed of three regiments, and the other of two; and thera were 

 eleven brigades of artillery. 



As the separation of au army into two or more principal divisions 

 permits the greater changes of disposition in the line to be effected 

 with a unity of design which is essential to their utility, so the 

 secondary evolutions are accomplished with a corresponding advantage 

 by the subdivision into brigades. The battalion being considered the 

 unit of the modern tactical system, the brigade is the first multiple, 

 the division the second, varying in numbers according to the exigencies 

 of the service. The head of the army having communicated the 

 general plan of the action to the officers who are immediately under 

 him, relies on them for the execution of his plans, and is thus relieved 

 from the necessity of following with his own eyes the movements of 

 each particular battalion; while those officers, having the power of 

 distinguishing themselves, either by a faithful adherence to the orders 

 they may receive, or by the exercise of their judgment in modifying 

 such orders according to the varying circumstances of warfare, are 

 thereby prompted to display all their energies in making the necessary 

 dispositions, and subsequently in animating the troops who are to 

 execute them. 



BRIGANTES, a tribe of ancient Britons who occupied that part of 

 England which includes the counties of York, Lancaster, Cumberland, 

 Westmoreland, and Durham, with the exception of the SE. corner of 

 Yorkshire between the Humber and the sea as far as Flambornugh 

 Head, which was inhabited by the Pavisii (Camden's ' Britannia '). 

 The Brigantes first occur in Roman history under the reign of 

 Claudius, when, having partially risen against the Romans during the 

 war between the latter and the Iceni, they were defeated by the 

 Prtetor M. Ostorius, when some of their leaders were killed, and the 

 rest submitted and obtained peace (Tacitus, ' Annal." xii. 32.) During 

 the civil wars of the empire, after Galba's death, the Brigantes revolted 

 against their queen Cartismaudua, who was an ally of the Romans, and 

 who had forsaken her husband Venutivis for a lover. Cartismandua 

 escaped with great difficulty and by the assistance of some Roman 

 cohorts, and Venutius remained master of the country of the Brigantes, 

 and at war with Rome ^Tacit. ' Hist.' iii. 45). Under Vespasianus the 

 Brigantes were totally defeated by the Prsetor Petilius Cerealis, after a 

 severe struggle, and the Romans took possession of the greater part of 



