B R I 



556 



B R I 



Bri-sat. connection, and a work was produced by him in con- 

 junction with Claviere, entitled, " The Commerce of 

 America with Europe, particularly with France and 

 Great Britain, t.tat?d and explained ;" and, on his re- 

 turn from the western world, he published his travels 

 in America ; more remarkable for the display of the 

 sanguine views and wishes of the writer, than for pro- 

 found and just reflection. 



At length, the events which immediately preceded 

 the French revolution, promised to the ardent mind 

 of Brissotthat amelioration of the social state, which 

 had long employed his speculations, and animated his 

 exertions. Previous to the assembly of the states 

 general, he published a plan of conduct for the de- 

 puties of the people. On the storming of the Bastile, 

 the keys were deposited with him. He was appointed 

 president of the Jacobin club. Frequent publications, 

 tending to republicanism, issued from his pen ; and 

 on the flight of the king to Varennes, he no longer hesi- 

 tated to lend his voice to the establishment of that form 

 of government. In the year 1791, he was chosen one 

 of the representatives in the legislative assembly, of 

 which he was also appointed secretary. Though it 

 is certain that several in that celebrated body possess- 

 ed talents, and had made acquirements, far exceed- 

 ing those of Brissot, yet such was his zeal, activity, 

 and reputation for integrity, that he was regarded, as, 

 in some sort, the leader of the party called Girondists ; 

 which party was, in a great measure, composed of 

 men the most distinguished in all France, both for 

 literary and scientific attainment, and for public vir- 

 tue. Brissot himself was an honourable pattern 

 of the self-denying virtues. His abode was up four 

 pair of stairs, and his income arose solely from the 

 sale of a newspaper, of which he was a proprietor, 

 and his stipend as deputy. The fluctuating policy 

 of Louis XVI. induced him to commit to Brissot the 

 appointment of a new and popular ministry, on the 

 removal of Delessart and his colleagues from power. 

 Dumourier, Claviere, and Roland, were appointed, 

 and the ruin of La Fayette was decreed. Articles of 

 accusation against that general were soon exhibited, 

 signed by Brissot and six other members of the as- 

 sembly, in which surmise supplied the place of evi- 

 dence. Though it may be thought that the writings 

 of Brissot at this time naturally prepared the way for 

 the atrocities of the 10th of August, 1792, yet during 

 the massacre of the Swiss guards, he was not inactive 

 on the side of humanity, and several lives were pre- 

 served by his exertions. That event was soon fol- 

 lowed by the suspension of the king's authority ; and 

 the declaration to the neutral powers on that occasion, 

 was the production of Brissot. On the meeting of 

 the national convention, a body very differently con- 

 stituted from the assembly which preceded it, though 

 Brissot took his place as member for the department 

 of Eure and Loire, he soon found himself engaged in 

 an unequal conflict, with a faction formidable for their 

 intrepidity and ferocity, if not for their talents, and 

 now rendered invincible by possessing the favour of 

 the Parisian populace. This party, which was de- 

 icribed by the name of the Mountain, consisted part- 

 ly of the partizans of the profligate Duke of Orleans, 

 partly of ambitious demagogues, who wished to abuse 

 the name of liberty to the worst purposes of tyranny, 

 and perhaps of a small number of honest but fierce 

 and intractable supporters of pure democracy. 



Against such men as Marat, Danton, Robespierre, 

 and their fit coadjutors and adherents, the compara- - 

 tive moderation and mild policy of the friends of 

 Brissot were not likely long to maintain their ground. 

 In vain did Brissot and his companions attempt to 

 save the king from the scaffold, after having found 

 him guilty at the bar. In vain did they warn the peo- 

 ple of their danger from factious leaders and artful 

 declaimers. The invading army was within the fron- 

 tiers of the republic ; Dumourier had abandoned his 

 post ; and the manifesto of the Duke of Brunswick 

 threatened Paris with desolation. Terror has an easy 

 conflict with reason; and the only true friends of the 

 people that yet remained in the metropolis were ren- 

 dered objects of popular suspicion by their adversaries. 

 In the months of May and June, 1793, the arrest of 

 the faction of the Girondists was decreed. Brissot 

 was taken in his attt mpt to fly into Switzerland, after 

 an interval of several months, on October 24, 1793. 

 Raised upon a seat amidst his companions, Brissot 

 was brought to a mock-trial before the revolutionary 

 tribunal. They were condemned to the guillotine. 

 The night preceding their execution, they passed 

 together, and on the fatal morning, Brissot fell be- 

 neath the knife, the seventeenth upon the list, without 

 betraying any marks of anger or dismay. That he 

 mingled in the struggles of a revolutionary period 

 without guilt, will scarcely be believed ; but candour 

 may allow, that his errors arose, rather from an excess 

 of ardour, than any defect of principle or humanity. 

 See Life of Brissot, prefixed to his Works, (j. M.) 



BRISTOL, the Cacr Brilo of the Britons, and 

 Brigfilstotv of the Saxons, stands on an elevated pe- 

 ninsula, formed by the rivers Frome and Avon, part- 

 ly in Somerset, and partly in Gloucestershire ; and 

 for wealth, trade, and population, is the second 

 city of England. According to a tradition of Wil- 

 liam of Worcester, Bristol was built by Brennus, a 

 prince of the Britons, 380 years before the Christian 

 sera ; in allusion to which, two statues are placed 

 over St John's gate, emblematic of Brennus and Be- 

 linus, who are said to have reigned conjointly after 

 the decease of their father. However this may be, 

 it is evident that Bristol was, at an early period of 

 our history, a place of considerable importance. It 

 is mentioned by Gildas under the name of Caer Bri- 

 to, among the fortified cities of Britain, as early at 

 A. D. 430 ; and also by Nennius in 620, in his enu- 

 meration of the 28 cities of Britain. It was first en- 

 compassed with a strong wall by Robert, the illegi- 

 timate son of Henry I., who, in 1130, also rebuilt 

 and improved the castle, which, excluding the out- 

 works, was 450 feet in length, and 300 in breadth. 

 This fortress was long considered a place of great 

 strength, and stood for seven centuries the subject of 

 much negociation and contention. It was razed to 

 the ground by order of Oliver Cromwell, in 1665, 

 and the only vestiges which remain, are now incorpo- 

 rated with other buildings. Though Bristol has 

 often been the scene of contention, and has frequent- 

 ly suffered from the vicissitudes of war, yet it has 

 been continually increasing in extent and opulence, 

 until it has attained its present eminence as one of 

 the principal cities of Europe. Besides the peninsu- 

 la between the Frome and the Avon, which contain* 

 the old town, St Michael's hill and King's Down on 

 the north, College Green on the west, and RadclifFe 



