BRI 



sule five-celled ; seed solitary. There is 

 but on^ species, viz. B. disticha, a native 

 of NVw Caledonia, and the Isle of Tanna 

 in ihe So-ith Seas. 



BRIBERY, in common law, is when a 

 person, occupying a judicial place, takes 

 any fee, gift, reward, or brokage, fordo- 

 ing his office, or by colour of his office, 

 except of the king only. In a larger sense, 

 bribery denotes the receiving or offering 

 of any undue reward, to or by any person 

 concerned in the administration of public 

 justice, as an inducement for acting con- 

 trary to duty ; and sometimes it signifies 

 the taking or giving of a reward for a 

 public office. In England, this offence of 

 taking bribes is punished, in inferior offi- 

 cers, with fine and imprisonment ; and in 

 those who offer a bribe, though not taken, 

 the same. But in judges, especially the 

 superior ones, it has always been regard- 

 ed as a very heinous offence ; insomuch, 

 that anciently it was punished as high 

 treason, and the chief justice Thorp was 

 hanged for it in the reign of Edward III. 

 and at this day it is punishable with for- 

 feiture of office, fine, and imprisonment. 

 Officers of the customs taking any bribe, 

 whereby the crown may be defrauded, 

 forfeit WOl. and are rendered incapable of 

 any office ; and the person giving the 

 bribe, or offering any bribe to officers 

 of the customs, to induce them to con- 

 nive at the running of goods, shall forfeit 

 50/. Candidates that bribe electors,^fter 

 the date or teste of the writs, or after the 

 vacancy, by giving or promising any mo- 

 ney, or entertainment, are disabled to 

 serve for that place in parliament ; and he 

 that takes, as well as he that offers, a 

 bribe, forfeits 500/. and is for ever disabled 

 from voting, and holding any office in any 

 corporation, unless, before conviction, he 

 discovers some other offender of the same 

 kind, whereby he is indemnified for his 

 own offence. 



BRICK, a well known substance, four 

 inches broad, and eight or nine long, made 

 by means of a wooden mould, and then 

 baked or burnt in a kiln, to serve the pur- 

 poses of building. 



Bricks are of great antiquity, as ap- 

 pears by the sacred writings, the tower 

 and walls of Babylon being built with 

 them. In the east they baked their bricks 

 in the sun ; the Romans used them un- 

 burnt, only leaving them to dry for four 

 or five years in the air. The general pro- 

 cess of the manufacture of bricks here is 

 as follows : the earth should be dug in 

 the autumn ; it should lie during the 

 whole of the winter exposed to the frost, 



VOL. II. 



BRI 



as the action oi vt he air, in penetrating 

 and dividing th^particles of the earth, 

 facilitates the subsequent open.u^ns of 

 mixing and tempering. During this rime 

 the earth should be repeatedly turned 

 and worked with -the spade. In the 

 spring, the clay is broken in pieces and 

 thrown into shallow pits, where it is wa- 

 tered, and suffered to remain soaking for 

 several days. The next step is, (hat of 

 tempering the day, which is generally 

 performed by the treading of men or ox- 

 en. In the neighbourhood of London, 

 however, this operation is performed by 

 means of a horse-mill. The tempering 

 of the clay is the most laborious part of 

 the process, and that on which the per- 

 fection of the manufacture essential!} de- 

 pends. U is to neglect in this part" that 

 we are chiefly to attribute the bad qua- 

 lity of modern bricks, in comparison with 

 the ancient. All tiie stones should be 

 removed, and the clay brought to a per- 

 fectly homogeneous paste, using the least 

 possible quantity of water. The earth, 

 being sufficiently prepared in the pits, is 

 brought to the bench of the moulder, who 

 works the clay into the brick-moulds, and 

 strikes off the superfluous earth. The 

 bricks are delivered from the mould, and 

 ranged on the ground ; and when they 

 have acquired a sufficient hardness to ad- 

 mit of handling, they are dressed with a 

 knife, and stacked or built up in long 

 dwarf walls, and thatched over, where 

 they remain to dry. 



T/ie method of burning bricks. Bricks 

 are burnt either in a kiln or clarnp. Those 

 that are burnt in a kiln are first set or 

 placed in it, and then the kiln being co- 

 vered with pieces of bricks, they put in 

 some wood, to dry them with a gentle 

 fire ; and this they continue till the bricks 

 are pretty dry, which is very easily known 

 by those accustomed to the business: 

 they then leave off putting in wood, and 

 proceed to make ready for burning, which 

 is performed by putting in brush, furze, 

 spray, heath, brake, or fern faggots; but 

 before they put in any faggots, they dam 

 up the mouth or mouths of the kiln with 

 pieces of bricks, piled up one upon anoth- 

 er, and close it up with wet brick-earth, 

 instead of mortar ; then they proceed to 

 put in more faggots, till the kiln and its 

 arches look white, and the fire appears at 

 the top of the kiln ; upon which they 

 slacken the fire for an hour, and let all 

 cool by degrees. This they continue to 

 do, alternately heating 1 and slacking, till 

 the ware be thoroughly burnt, which is 

 usually effected in forty-eight hours. 

 O o 



