B R I 



Bridport, a townfliip in America, in Addifon county, 

 Vermont, on the eaft (hove of lake Cliamplain, about 72 

 miles N. N. W. from Bennington, containing 449 inha- 

 bitants. 



BRIDY, or Bredy, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the 

 Arabian Irak ; 140 miles N.W. of Calfora. 



BRIE, the name, before the revolution, of a diftrift 

 of France, fituated partly in Champagne, and partly in the 

 Ifle of France, and called from its particular iituation " Brie 

 Champenoife," and " Brie Franfoife," or " Brie Parfienne." 

 The principal towns are Meaux, Provins, and Chateau 

 Thierry. 



Uriv. fur Hieret, or Brie Comte Rohert, fo called from 

 Robert of France, count Dreux, a former poflt (Tor, a town 

 of France, in the department of the Seine and Marnc, and 

 chief place of a canton, in the diftridt of Melun, feated on 

 the Yerre, and j^ pofts S.E. of Paris. The place contains 

 2571, and the canton S089 inhabitants ; the territory com- 

 prehends 170 kiliometres, and 15 communes. 



BRIEC, a town of France, in the department of Fini- 

 fterre, and chief place of a canton, in the di'.lrift of Quim- 

 per; 2^ leagues N.N.E. of Qiiimper. The town contains 

 3000, and the canton 4735 inhabitants; the territory in- 

 cludes 3224- kiliometres, and 2 communes. 



BRIEF, formed from the French bref, of the Latin 

 brevis, which fignifies the fame, denotes a thing of fliort ex- 

 tent or duration. It is more particularly ufed for a fummary, 

 or fliort ftate of a thing ; and alfo for an aft or writing 

 drawn up by a notar)-. 



Brief attefted. Breve tejlatum, a public inftrument clothed 

 with the proper formalities. 



Brief of devi/ing, Brevis dlvi/!onalh, denotes a lall will 

 or teftament, or devise. 



Brief of an oath. Breve facramenti, an inftrument made 

 on oath, and authenticated by the fubfcription of wit- 

 nefles. 



Brief is alfo ufed for a judicial epiftle, directed by a lord 

 or other fuperior to his fubjefts or dependents, enjoining fome- 

 thing to be done or forborn. In which fenfe, we fay, the lord's, 

 king's, bifhop's, or pope's brief. 



Brief alfo denotes the territory or diftrifl within which 

 the lord's brief had courfe. In which fenfe, we meet with 

 the bifhop's brief, breve ep'fcopi, the count's brief, breve 

 com'tlls, &c. 



Brief alfo denotes the yearly revenue arifing out of the 

 lands ufually defcribed in briefs. 



Brief, Breve, in Common Laiv, is fo called, quia brev:- 

 ter inlentionem profcrcntis cxp'jmt, becaufe couched in a few 

 plain words without preamble, &;c. See Breve. 



Brief alfo figniliesanabridgmtnt of the client's cafe, made 

 out for the inftrudlion of connfeJ, on a trial at law ; in which 

 the cafe of the party is to be briefly but fully ftated ; the 

 proofs mull be placed in due order, and proper anfwers made 

 to whatever may be objefled again!! the caufe of the client by 

 the oppofite fide ; and in preparing this, great care is requi- 

 fite, that nothing be omitted to endanger the caufe. An 

 attachment has been granted againft a party and his attorney, 

 for furreptitionfly getting poffeflion of the brief of a counfel 

 on the other fide, and applying the fame to an improper pur- 

 pofe in his defence, t Bro. P.C.519. Although a brief is 

 not of itfelf evidence againft the party for whom it is prepared, 

 vet, as a difcovery of the fecrets and merits of his cafe may 

 be produftive of peijury or fubornation of perjury, and 

 thereby obftruft the juftice of the court in which the fuit 

 is depending ; the obtaining of it in a furreptitions manner 

 is an ofrciice highly dcferving cenfnre a«d punilhment. 



Brief, in Scots i-atu, a writ ifTucd from the chancer)', 



B R I 



direfled to any judgc-ordinar)-, commanding .tnd authovjfing 

 that judge to call a JU'V to inquire into the cafe mentioned 

 in the brief, and upon their verdidl to pronounce fentencc. 



Brief a !' Evffquc, denotes a writ to thebifliop, which, in 

 " quare impedit," fliall ;:io to remove an incumbent, urlcfs 

 he recover, or be prefcnted " pendente lite." i Kcb. ■5S6. 



Brii:f is alfo ufed for a letter patent, grantin;;- a liceiicc 

 for collefting money to rebuild clunchcs, lellcrc lofs by 

 lire, &c. 



Churchwardens rre, by ftat. 4 Ann. c. 14, to colleA mo- 

 ney upon thefe briefs', which are to be read in churches, ivc. 

 and the funis coUeiled to be indorfed on the brief in woid;; at 

 length, and figncd by the miniller and churchwarden!;; 

 after which they fliall be delivered, with the money colletUd, 

 to the perfons undertaking them, in a certain time, under 

 the penalty of 20I. A rcgifter is to be kept of all money 

 collefted, &c. : and the undertakers, in two months alter 

 the receipt of the money, and notice to fufferers, arc to ac- 

 count before a mafter in chancery, appointed by %\\c lord 

 chancellor. 



Briefs, apnjlolical, denote letters which' the pope dif- 

 patches to princes and other magiilrates, touching any- 

 public affair. They are thus called, as being verj- concife, 

 and written on paper, without preface or preamble ; by 

 which they are diftinguiflied from buHs, which are more 

 ample, and always wiitten on parchment, and fealed with 

 lead or green wax ; whereas briefs are fealed with red wax; 

 and with the feal of the fifherman, or St. Peter in a boat ; a 

 feal is never applied, but in the pope's prefence. The brief 

 is headed with the name of the pope, apart ; and commences 

 with Dih8o JHio fidatem, et apoftolicam benedidionem, ^c. after 

 which it proceeds direflly to the matter in hand, without fur- 

 ther preamble. Briefs arc not fubfcribed by the pope, nor 

 with his name, but with that of his fecretary. Pope Alexan- 

 der VI. inftitutcd a college of fecretaries for briefs ; fince 

 which time they have been made much longer, and more 

 ample than before. See Adbreviator. Formerly briefs 

 were only difpatched about affairs of juflice; but now they 

 are likewife ufed in matters of benefices, expeftive graces, and 

 difpcnfations. 



Briefs of the dead, Breviii mor/tionim, were letters fent by 

 the monks of one raoiiaftery to thofe of another, with whom 

 they were in fraternity, to inform them of the deaths or 

 obits of their monks, for whom they were to fay the ftated 

 and cuftomary prayers and maffes. 



Thefe were alfo called litcrte currentes, a formula of which 

 we have in the book of the ufages of the Ciflercian order. 



Brief of remnnhnwce, Bre^ie recorddiionis, or rcmemora- 

 inriiim, or mcmorahile, denotes a character, othenvife called 



NOTlTIA. 



BRIEG, in Ceogrnphy, one of the largeft and mofl fer- 

 tile principalities of Silclia, fiirrounded by thofe of Oels, 

 Breflau, Schweidnitz. Munflerberg, Neyfze, Oppcin, and 

 in a detached part of it bordering on Poland. Its form is 

 irregular ; its extent being about j^ miles in length, and 

 from 8 to 21 in breadth. It prcduee? corn, madder, and 

 tobacco. The lird duke of Brieg was Boleflaus III. who 

 obtained it in IJ 14 ; from him it defcended to Frederick II. 

 who embraced Lulheranifm in 1523, and in 1557 concludc'd 

 a comp^ift of fraternity and fnccefTion with Jor.chim II. 

 eleflor of Brandenburg ; and on this We-re foucded the 

 claims of Frederick II. king of Prnilia. The chief towns 

 of this principality are Brieg, Ohlau, Strchlen, Nimptfcli, 

 Creutzburg, and Pitfclien ; and its chief rivers are the Oh. 

 lau and Oder. 



Briec, in Latin Lrrga, a city of Silefia, a circle-town, 



and the capital of the above province ; feated on the river 



S f 2 Oder. 



