B R 1 



up P.iiT.pty'j (i-.ct, by diivliig pilts into llit neck of la nl 

 h.-e>v;:tn tlictwo rij^cJ of lulls, and ihrovviii'j in nartli, tree;, 

 and niiiij of hoiilVs : however, I'omocy failed out and cicapL-J 

 to dccce. In tlic i ;,t!i century, the prince of Taranto 

 fimk fi>;ne (hips in the miildle of the Inrbiiur, to prevent 

 the rovalills from cnterin;^ the port ; a;: J ihtfe oecafioncd an 

 aceu:nnbtion of fan.l aid fen-weeds, which clioaked up the 

 mouth and rendered it impallablc. In ijjz, the evil was in- 

 treafid ; and from that period the port becamc_ a fa-tid, 

 preen lake, full of infection and noxious infeds ; fo that no 

 filh bill etli could live in it, nor any bor\t ply except canots 

 made of a linfile tree. 'I'he low )rnHi:ids at each end were over- 

 flowed with niainu-s.whirh produeedaniiually a grievouspelU- 

 lcne<*, that dellroyed or drove away the \w^A\ portion of the 

 iiihabiiauts. From iS.ooo they were reduced in 1 76'> to yooa 

 livid wretches, tormented with ague's and malignant fevers : 

 and in 177; above 1 ^co perfons died during the auliiMin. 

 Whereas ,; j years before the air of lirindifi was elleemed fo 

 wholefomc and balf.iniic, that the csnvents of Naples were 

 arcutlomed to fend their coufuinpti\e friars to this city for 

 the recovery of their health. It was at length determined 

 to make fomo elTorts for ojiening th.- port afitfli, and plans 

 were drawn up for tliat purpofe. liy means of machines, 

 and of the labour of galley flavef, the channel has been 

 partly cleared, fo aj to liave two fathom of v.ater, and to 

 admit large boats and a free palfage to the fea ; and thus 

 the water of the inn.r port is fet in motion, and once more 

 rendered wholefomc. The plan, however, was found, in 

 1J39, to fail of complete fuecefs, and the canal was again 

 in a great meafure cho;;ked up, fo that the pellilential air 

 prevailed as much as ever. But attempts have been renewed 

 for clearing it again, and opening a pafiage to the waters, 

 an..l draining the adjacent marfiies ; and the inhabitants of 

 Brii.difi had a return of health, and are happy in the prof- 

 pecl of returning commerce and opulence. In cleaning the 

 channel, the workmen have found fonie medals and feals ; 

 and they have drawn up many of the piles that were driven 

 in by Cxfar, which are fmall oaks dripped of their bark, and 

 are found as frefh as if they had been felled only a month, 

 thinigh buried above i3 centuries feven feet under the fand. 

 The foil about the town is li^ht and gf.od, and products 

 excellent cotton, with whic'.i the Brindifians mani:fa£luie 

 gloves and llockings. 



It is not cafy to afcertain who founded Brnndnruim, and 

 who were its firll inhabitants. Strabo fays that it was ori- 

 ginally occupied by the Cretans, who landed here from 

 GnolTus with Thefeui. Others fay that it was founded by 

 tlie Japyges. The Romans took early poflelTion of a har- 

 bour fo convenient for their enterpiizes againit the nations 

 dwelling beyond the Adriatic. They feiu a colony hither, 

 A. U. C. 509. Pompcy fought an afylum in tliis city, and 

 from hence fled- to Greece. Here Odavianus fu II afTumed 

 the name of C»far, and he concluded one of his fliort-lived 

 treatKS of peace with Antony. Brundufium was celebrated 

 Hi the birth-place of the tragic poet Pacnvius, and became 

 rcmarktble for the death of Virgil. The barba-ians, who 

 ravaged every corner of Italy, did not fpare fo rich;.- town ; 

 and ill S,;6, the Saracens gave a finilhing blow to its for- 

 tunes. The Greek emperors were dcfuous of relloring it 

 to its ancient ilrength and fplendour, if the Normans 

 had allowed them opportunity ; but after obflinate 

 ilruggles, and varieties of fu<;cefs and defeat, they were 

 finally expelled Brindifi by William I. The crufades, 

 which drained other kingdoms of their wealth and fubjuds, 

 contributed to enrich and eilabhih this city, as it was one of 

 the pons where pilgrims and warriors took (liipping. Tt 

 wasalfo benefited by the refiJenceof the emperor Frederick, 



B R I 



whofe frequent annaments for the holy land required his 

 prefence at this place of nndc/vous. At length the lofs 

 of Jerufalem, the fall of tlic Grecian empire, and the ruin of 

 the L'-vait trade, after the Turks had conquered the call, r^.-- 

 duced Brindifi to a (late of inactivity and dcfolation, from 

 whicli/it has never bi-en able to emerge. N. lat. 40° 5*'. 

 E. Ion". iS^ 1'. Swinburne's Travels into the Tivo Sici- 

 lies, vol. ii. 



BRIXDLEY, James, in Bio^^rrjJ.'v, a perfon of extra- 

 ordinar\- genius for mechanical inventions, and dillinguiflied 

 by his'ikill in planning and condnfting inland navigation, 

 was born at Tunlled, in tlie parilli of Wormhill, and county 

 (>f Derby, in the year 1 7 l f). His parents poircficd a fmall free- 

 hold, the income of which his father diflipated by field diver- 

 iions, and by aflbciating with perfons above his rank ; and thus 

 the educaticni of the fon was wholly neglcfted. Urged by the 

 necefTities of !iis family, he contributed to itsfupport till he 

 was nearly 17 years of age, by that kind of labour which, in 

 country places, is affigned to the children of the poor ; 

 but at this age he bound himfelf apprentice to a wheelwright, 

 whofe name was Bennet, near Macclesfield in Chefhire, and 

 foon became expert in I'.is bufmcfs, difcovering, at the fame 

 time, a lingular genius for the extenfion and improvement 

 of the mechanic arts in general. Accordingly, in the early 

 period of his apprenticelhip, he performed feveral parts of 

 the bufinefs without any inllruAions from his mafter, and 

 gave fo much fatisfadion to the millers who employed him, 

 that he was always confulted in preference to his mailer or 

 any other workman ; and before the expiration of his fer- 

 vitude, when Mr. Bennet, by his age and intirmities, became 

 unable to work, he carried on the bufinefs with repuiratioji, 

 and provided a comfortable fubfillcnce for the old man and 

 his family. About this time his mailer was employed ir» 

 conllrufting an engine paper-mill, the firll of the kind that 

 had been attempted in thcfe p?.rts; hut as he was likely to 

 fail in the execution of it, Mr. Brindley, without communi- 

 cating his defign, fet out on Saturday evening after the 

 bufinefs of the day was finilhed^ and having infpeded the 

 work, returned home on Monday morning, after a journey 

 of 50 miles, informed his mailer of its defeds, and completed 

 the engine to the entire fatisfadion of the proprietors. Mr. 

 Brindley afterwards engaged in the miU-wright bufinefs on 

 his own account, and foon acquired the reputation of a moll 

 ingenious mechanic. The fame of his inventions and con- 

 trivances was in a little while fpread far beyond his own 

 neighbourhood ; and in 1752, he was employed to ered a 

 curious water-engine at Clifton in Lancafiiire, for the pur- 

 pofe of draining coal-mines, which had before been performed 

 at an enormous cxpence. The water for the u(e of this 

 engine was conveyed from the river Irwell by a fubterraneous 

 channel, nearly 600 yards long, which palTed through a 

 rock ; and the wheel was fixed 30 feet below the fuvface 

 of the ground. In i-',j, he conllruded a new filk millat 

 Conglcton in Chelhire, according to the plan propofed by 

 the proprietors, after the execution of it by the original un- 

 dertaker had failed ; and in the completion of it he added 

 many new and ufeful improvements. He introduced one 

 contrivance for winding the filk upon the bobbins equally, 

 and not in wreaths ; and another for Hopping, in an inllant, 

 not only the whole of this exlenfive fyflem, in all its various 

 movements, but any individual part of it at pleafiu-c. He 

 likewife invented machines for cutting the tooth and pinion 

 wheels of the ditTtrent engines, in a manner that produced a 

 great faving of time, labour, and expcnce. He alfo intro- 

 duced into the mills, ufed at the potteries in StafTordlhire 

 for grinding flint-ftones, feveral valuable additions, which 

 greatly facihtated the operation. In I75<^, he con- 



ilwided 



