B R I 



B R I 



n Hen. IV. all judges and officers of the king, convlfled 

 of bribery, faall forfeit treble the bribe, be puniflied at the 

 king's will, a:iJ be difcharged from the king's Itrvice for 

 ever. 



Officers of the cuftoms taking any bribe, whereby the crown 

 rn:iy be defrauded, forfeit locl., and are rendered incapable 

 of Hny office ; and tlie pcrfon giving the bribe or oftering any 

 bribe to officers of the cnfloins, to indnce them to connive 

 at the running of goods, (hiil forfeit 50I. See Customs. 

 Candidates that bribe cleftors, after the date or ttjle of the 

 writs, or after the vacancy, by giving or promifing any 

 money or entertainment, are difablcd to ferve for that place in 

 parliament ; and he that takes as well as he that offevo a 

 bribe, forfeits ^col. and is for ever difablcd from voting, 

 and holding any ottice in any corporation, unlcfs, before con- 

 vitlion, he difcovers fome other offeiider of the fame kind, 

 v.'herebv he is indcmnifi;.d for his own offence. The oath 

 againft bribery, in the clcftion of members of parliament, is 

 as follows : " 1 do fwear, I have not received, or had, by 

 myfelf, or any perfon whatfoever, in trull for me, or for my 

 ufe and beneht, direftly or indireftly, any fum or funis of 

 money, office, place, or employment, gift, or reward, or 

 any promife or fecurity, for any money, office, employ- 

 inent, or gift, in order to give any vote at this eleftion." 

 Upon thi; oath, archdeacon Paley (Principles of Moral and 

 Political Pliilofophy, vol. i. p. 208.) remarks, that the 

 feveral contrivances to evade this oath, fuch as the eleftcrs 

 accepting money under colour of borrowing, and giving a 

 prorniffory note, or other fecurity for it, which is cancelled 

 after the eleftion ; receiving money from a llranger, or a 

 perfon in difguife, or out of a drawer or purfe, left open 

 for the purpofe ; or promifes of money to be paid after the 

 eleflion ; or if ipulating for a place, living, or other private 

 advantage of any kind , if they efcape the legal penalties of 

 perjury, incur the moral guilt : for they are manifeflly 

 within the mifchief and defign of the ftatute, which impofcs 

 the oath; and within the terms indeed oF the oath itftif; 

 for the word "indiredfly" is inferted on purpofe to compre- 

 hend fuch cafes as thefe. See Parliament. Blackllone's 

 Comm. vol. i. p. 179. vol. iv. p. 139. 



BRIBEIvOU, in Gnography, a town of Africa, on the 

 Gold Coaff. 

 • BllIBfESCA. See Briviesca. 



BRfCE, St., a tou-n of 1" ranee, in the department of 

 the lUe and Vilaine, and chief place of a canton, in the di- 

 ll rift of Fougercs; z\ leagues N.W. of Fougeres. The 

 town contains 119;;, and the canton 13,830 inhabitants; 

 the territory comprehends \^o kiliometres, and 11 com- 

 munes. — Alfo, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Seine and Oife ; j leagues N. of l-'aris. — Alfo, a town of 

 France, in the department of the Yonne ; 2 leagues S.E. 

 of Auxerre. — Alio, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Marne, and in the dillridl of Rtims ; 1 league N.W. 

 cf Reims. 



BRfCliERASCO, a town of Piedmont, in the dlftria 

 of the Four Vallies ; 2^ miles S.S.W. of Pignerolo. 



BRICIANI, Kmghts of St. Bridget, a military order, 

 refembling that of Malta, cftablilhed by St. Bridget, prin- 

 cefs of S.veden, in 1366, and approved of by pope Urban V. 

 who gave it the rule of St. Augullin. The arms of the 

 Briciani were a crofs azure, like that of the knights of 

 Malta ; under which was a tongue of fire, to exprefs the 

 ardour of their zeal : their office was to fight againfl; here- 

 tics, bnry the dead, aflill widows and orphans, &t. 



BRICK, a kind of faAitinus (lone, compofed of an argil- 

 laceous earth, tempered and forraed in mouldsj dried in the 

 fun, or burnt in ki'ns. 



The ufe of bricks is of the higheft antiquity. The earliefl 

 l)nildiiigs of Alia were of bricks, dried in the fun, and ce- 

 mented with bitumen. In this manner, we learn from the 

 liillorlcal boiks of the Old Tcllamtnt, Nineveh was built by 

 Nimrod ; and the famous walls of Babylon, reckoned by the 

 Gi-ecks among the wonders of the world, were of the f:ime 

 materials. 



Unburut bricks were ufed in Egypt : the making (jf 

 them was one of the opprcflions to which the Ifiaclites were 

 fubie£led during their fervitude in that countiy. The an- 

 tique edifices which at prefcnt exill in Egypt are principally 

 of Hone : however, Pococke defcribes a pyramid of unburnt 

 brick, called " Kloube-el-Meiifliieh (the bricks of Men- 

 fhich), from a village near, called Me-nlhieh-Dafliour. It 

 was doubtlefs built near the plain, on account of the bricks, 

 which I'eem to be made of the earth brought by the Nile, 

 being of a black fandy earth, with forae pebbles and ihelis in 

 it. It is mixed up with chopped (Iraw, in ( rder to bind the 

 clay together ; as they now make unburnt bricks in Egypt, 

 and many other eaftern parts, which they ufe very much in 

 their buildings. I found fome of thefe bricks 13^ inches 

 long, 6!- inches broad, and .\ inches thick; and others IJ 

 inches long, 7 inches broad, and 4I inches tliick. I ob- 

 ferved on the north fide the bricks were laid lengthways 

 from north to louth, but not every where in that direftion ; 

 however, I particularly took notice that they were not laid 

 fo as to bind one another. It is much crumbled and ruined, 

 but as it is I meafured it, and found it to be 157 feet on the 

 north lide, and 210 feet on the well fide ; it is ijo feet high. 

 By what I could judge, from the prefent flopc of it, I con- 

 cluded that it was built with five degrees, like the pyramid of 

 Saccara, each being about 10 feet broad and 30 deep, fo 

 that the afcent to it is eafy, as the bricks are crumbled 

 away." 



The Greeks and Romans alfo ufed this material, both fun- 

 dried and burnt. Vitruvius inflances feveral celebrated 

 buildings, as the walls of Athens ; the cells of the temples of 

 Jupiter and Hercules, which were of brick, the furrounding 

 columns ai-.d entablature being of ftone ; the ancient walls 

 of Arczzo in Italy ; the houfe built by the Attalic kings at 

 Tralles, which was always given for the habitation of thofe 

 who bore the oflice of priefls in that city. The paintings 

 which were brought from Lacedaimon to oreamcnt tlie 

 Comitium, in theedile(hip of Varro and Murcna, were cut 

 from walls of brick ; the houfe of Cro:fus at Saidis ; and 

 the celebrated tomb of Maufolus, in which, though the 

 ornaments were all of Proconnefian marble, the walls were 

 built of brick, and (fays Vitruvius) remain to this time ex- 

 ceedingly fubllantial, and the incruliation appears as poliflied 

 and {lulling as glafs. 



The iollowing direflions for making unburnt bricks are 

 given by Vitruvius. They Ihould not be made of faudy, 

 ftony, or gravelly loam, for fuch kind of earth renders them 

 heavy ; and upon being wetted with rain alter being laid in 

 the wall, they fwell and diffolvc, and the llraw which is put 

 in them does not adhere on account of their roughrefs : 

 the earth of which they are formed fliould be light chalky 

 white or red. They (liould be made in fpring or autumn, 

 as being the bed time for drying ; for the intenfe heat of 

 fummer parches the outfide before the infide is dry, which 

 afterwarcis drying in the building, caufesthem to fhrink and 

 break. They are belt when made two years before they are 

 ufed, as they cannot be fufficiently dry in lefs time. If 

 they arc ufed when newly made and moid, the plaller work 

 v.hich is laid on them remaining firm and llih'", and they 

 fhrinking, and confequently not preferving the fame height 

 with the incru."u.tion, it is, by fuchcontriiction, loofened and 



feparated. 



