B R I 



B R I 



of war, decreed !iy tlie national anembly, apaiiid tlic king 

 ■of Hungary and Bohejnia ; arid BrifTot, durinr; tlie exillence 

 of tliis adminillration, which ternninated fooji, was confider- 

 ed as the moll powerful pcrfon in France. AJKnit this time, 

 BrilTot began to entertain fccret jealoufy and fiifpicion, with 

 regard to the views of La Fayette ; and he concurred with 

 ether members of the affembly, in figning an accufation 

 againft him, which, however, he was not able to fubltan- 

 tiate. He, and his republican party, were likewife indullri- 

 ous in their endeavours to throw an odium on the court, by 

 alleging, that a private correfpondence was carried on be- 

 tween the king and queen and the emperor; and they even 

 averred, that an " Aullrian committee," and a confpiracy 

 in favour of the cnemif^ of the country, exiilcd among the 

 friends of the court. The charge fccmed to be unfupportcd 

 by lufficient evidence ; the king publicly contradifted thefe 

 accufations as calumnies ; neverthclefs, they made no fmall 

 impreflion on the minds of the public. To the writings and 

 conduft of Briflot, the horrid maflacres at the Tnilleries, 

 on the loth of Augull 1792, have been principally afcrib- 

 ed, though he is faid to have prcfcrvcd the lives of fevcral 

 of the Swifs guards on that fatal day. He was employed 

 to draw up the declaration to the neutral powers concerning 

 the fufpenfion of the king's authority ; but he is faid to 

 have regarded with hoiTor the fanguinary fpirit that was 

 flow predominant among the leaders of the jacobins. Whilll, 

 indeed, he was afcending to the pinnacle of power, he feems 

 to have been the ardent advocate of infurreftion and the re- 

 volutionary power : but as he found himfelf raifed to that 

 ftation, he began to inculcate " order and the conftitution." 

 To him we may not unjuftly apply that erpreffion in Taci- 

 tus, which he cites againft the anarchifts in the national 

 convention : " Rerum potiri volunt ; honores, quos quieta 

 repubhci dtfperant perturbata, confequi fi pofle arbitran- 

 tur." In the fhocking maffacre of the prifonevs at Paris 

 in September, he had probably no concern. When the 

 " National convention," the idea of which is faid to have 

 been fuggefted by him, affumed the direilion of the Hate, 

 and affembled on the 20th of September 1792, he was re- 

 turned as member for the department of Eure and Loire, 

 his native country. In this affembly, he openly avowed 

 himfelf an advocate for a republican government, in oppofi- 

 tion both to the Jacobins and Orleanifts ; and was expelled 

 the Jacobin club. On this occafion, he wrote a vindication 

 of his public conduft, under the title of " An Addrefs to 

 all the Republicans." He appears to have been fhocked by 

 the profpeft of the fatal iilue of the king's trial, and to have 

 attempted th-e prefervation of his life, by deferring his exe- 

 cution, till the conftitution fhould be perfcfted. The war 

 with England, which foon followed the death of I^ouis, is 

 afcribed to his ardour and credulity ; for he was led to ima- 

 gine, that the confequencc of it would be a civil war in this 

 •country ; and it is faid, that this, as well as the war with 

 Holland, was decreed in the national convention, Feb. i, 

 1 793, at his motion. This charge, however, he retorts on 

 Ids accufers, and fays, that the anarchifts, by voting the 

 <leath of the king, were themfelves the authors of the war. 

 See his " Letter to his conftituents, on the fituation of the 

 national convention ; on the influence of the anarchifts, and 

 the evrls it has caufed ; and on the necefllty of annihilating 

 that influence, in order to fave the republic." Englifh tranf- 

 lation, Svo. 1794. 



Brifl'ot's influence gradually declined ; and his party was 

 at length overpowered by a more violent and fanguinary fac- 

 tion, denominated the "Mountain," fo called, from its 

 iincmbers ufually fitting in the convention, on the upper 

 feats of the hall, at the tead of which was Robeljiierre, of 



Vol. V. 



execrable memory. The treachery and deftition of Du- 

 mourier likewife contributed to haftcn the downfal of this 

 party. To their imb.cility or perfidy, the public calami- 

 ties that tiireatened the country, were generally afcribed ; 

 and, alter the cftabliflnncnt of the " Revolutionary tribu- 

 nal," for the purpofe of ti7ing crimes committed againft 

 the ftate, in March 1793, a petition was prcfenttd in the 

 following month by the communes of the 48 feftions of 

 Paris, requiring, that tlie chiefs of the Girondifts, or Brif- 

 fotins, denounced in it, ftiould be impeached, and expelled the 

 convention. In May and June, decrees of arreft were ilTued 

 againft them ; and againft BrifTot among the reft, who at- 

 tempted to make his efcape into Swiffcrland. But he was 

 flopped and imprifoned ; and in the following Oftober, he 

 and 21 of his aflbciates were brought before the revolution- 

 ary tribunal. BrUfot, who was elevated in the midft of 

 them, maintained a firm and tranquil mind ; but, though 

 their accufers could fupport their charges by little more 

 than mere furmifes, the whole party was immediately con- 

 demned to the fcaffold. This band of friends, among 

 whom were feveral of the moft virtuous public charafters of 

 the time, pafl'ed together an heroic night, and were next 

 morning led to execution. " There Briffot," fays one of 

 his biographers, " after feeing the blood of 16 alTociatcs 

 ftream from the fcaffold, fubmitted to the ftroke, with the 

 utmoft compofure, and thus expiated the pohtical faults of 

 his life." Thefe confifted, perhaps, more in vanity, cnthu- 

 fiafm, and precipitation, than in bad intentions ; though he 

 cannot be pronounced untainted with the vices, infeparable 

 from a courfe of ambition. In the relations of private life, 

 his chai-after ftands without reproach. Life of J. P. Briffot, 

 faid to be written by himfelf. Gen. Biog. 



BRISSUS, in Natural H'tjlory. See Echinus. 



BRISTLE, a thick glofly kind of hair, wherewith the 

 fwine kind more efpecially are covered. The name is fome- 

 times alfo applied to the quills of porcupines, and the mufta- 

 ches or whilkers of cats. Hogs' briftlts are hard, tranfparent, 

 horny fubftances, of a prifmatical figure, without any appear- 

 ance of cavities or pores in them, difeovcrable even by the 

 microfcope. Cats' briftles have a large fohd pith in the middle. 



Hogs' briftles conftitute an important article of exporta- 

 tion in Ruflia. In 1793, the value of thofe that were 

 fhipped off amounted to 742,000 rubles. 



Bristle-^/c^, a fort of falfe dice, furnifticd with a piece 

 of hog's briftle ftuck in the corners, or other places to hinder 

 their falling on ceitain fides, and make them run high or low 

 at pleafure. 



BaiSTLE-fBo/f, in Botany. See Orthrotichum. 



BRISTLED, in Heraldry, is a term ufed to denote the 

 hair on the neck and back of a boar, which is ufually of a 

 different colour. 



BRISTOL, in GfOfra/Aj>. This fecond city of England 

 is fituated on the fouthern extremity of Gloucefterdiire, and 

 the northern of Somerfetftiire, and once formed part of both 

 counties. It is fcatcd principally on a peninfula between the 

 rivers Frome and Avon, and hes in 51° 30' N. lat. 2° 46' 

 W. long, and is in a bearing weft 1 1 7 miles from London, 

 and 12 from Bath. Various conjeftures have been formed 

 relative to its ancient and prefent name. Barret, in his large 

 hiftory of this city, fays it received the appellation of Caer- 

 Oder at an early period; but is at a lofs for t' e origin of 

 Oder. Caer-Brito, its original defignation, was evidently the 

 generic name it obtained while a protefted city of the' Bri- 

 tons, under the Roman forces, which were ftationed at 

 Abone in its immediate vicinity. From this it was changed 

 to Brightftow, or Brighticftow, perhaps a tranflnion of 

 Caer-Brito j or it might have taken that name from 

 U n Brightick, 



