B R I 
dlfpenfation whatfoever. i Hawk. P. C. c. £7. It is (aid 
the ftatute does not extend to the plantations. To bribe 
perfons, either by giving money or promifes, to vote at 
elections of members of corporations, which are ereCted 
for the fake of public government, is an offence for which 
an information will lie. 1 Biackfl. 383. An attempt to in¬ 
duce a man to advife the king, under the influence of a 
bribe, is criminal, though never carried into execution. 4 
Burr. 2499. Offering money to a privy counfellor, to pro¬ 
cure the reverfion of an office in the gift of the crown, has 
been adjudged a mifdemeanour, and punifhable by infor¬ 
mation. 1 Hawk. P. C. c. 67. Taking money to excufe 
perfons from ferving on juries, fubjeCts the offender to a 
fine, not exceeding iol. at the difcretion of the judge. 
Stat. 3 Geo. II. 
BRICHER AS'CO, a town of Piedmont, in the diftriCt 
of the Four Vallies: two miles and a half fouth-fouth- 
vveft of Pignerolo. 
BRICIA'NI,yi a military order, inftituted by St. Brid¬ 
get, queen of Sweden, who adopted the rules and confti- 
tutions of thofe of Malta and St, Auguffin. This order 
was approved by pope Urban V. They were to fight for 
the burying of the dead, to relieve and affifl widows, or¬ 
phans, the lame, Tick, blind, &c. 
BRICK, J. [brick, Du. briquc , Fr. according to Menage 
from imbrex , Lat. whence brica.~\ A mafs of burnt clay, 
fquared for the ufe of builders. A loaf of bread fhaped 
like a brick. 
Among the numerous branches of the general art of 
falhioning argillaceous earths into ufeful forms, and after¬ 
wards hardening it by fire, the art of making bricks and 
tiles is by no means one of the leaft ufeful. By this art 
we poffefs the advantage of obtaining the materials for 
confiruCting edifices at chea-p rates, in almoft every nuta¬ 
tion, without the expence of carrying (tone from remote 
quarries ; and this is fo far from being the only advantage, 
that it is extremely probable that thefe artificial compofi- 
tions, if properly made, would prove fuperior in durabi¬ 
lity to every natural (tone. The ftreets in Holland are 
every where paved with a hard kind of brick, known by 
us under the name of clinkers, and ufed in this country 
for paving {tables and court-yards ; and the houfes in Am- 
fterdam appear to be not at all decayed, but look perfect¬ 
ly frefh, as if new, though molt of thofe in the vicinity 
of the Exchange have Rood at leaft two centuries. The 
fpirit of improvement may perhaps effeCt at fome future 
period, in this country, what the ftimulus of neceflity has 
done on that naturally poor fpot. 
The firfl ffep in the procefs of brick-making is catling 
the clay, or earth. The next ffep is to tread or temper it; 
which ought to be performed doubly of what i§ ufually 
done, lince the goodnefs of bricks depends chiefly on this 
firfl preparation. The earth itfelf, before it is wrought, 
is generally brittle and dufty ; but, adding fmall quantities 
of water gradually to it, and working and incorporating 
it together, it opens its body, and tinges the whole with a 
tough gluey band or fubftance. If, in the tempering, 
they be over watered, they become dry and brittle, almoft 
as the earth they are made of: whereas, if duly tempered, 
they become fmooth and folid, hard and durable.* A brick 
of this fort takes up near as much earth as a brick and a 
half made the contrary way ; in which the bricks are fpon- 
gy, light, and full of cracks, partly through want of due 
working, and partly by mixing of afhes and light fandy 
earth, to make it work eafy and with greater difpatch ; 
as alfo to fave culm or coals in the burning. We may 
add, that, for bricks made of good earth, and well tem¬ 
pered, as they become folid and ponderous, fo they take 
.up a longer time in drying and burning than the corrimon 
ones; and that the well drying of bricks before they ai;e 
burned, prevents their cracking and crumbling when fub- 
mitted to the procefs of burning. 
Bricks are burnt either in a kiln or clamp. Thofe that 
are burnt in a kiln, are firfl fet or placed in it; and then, 
the kiln being covered with pieces of bricks, they put \n 
Vol. Ill. No. 137. * 
B R I 
fome vyood to dry them with a gentle fire; and this they 
continue till the bricks are pretty dry, which isdcnown by 
the (moke’s turning from a darkilh colour to tranfparent 
finoke : they then leave off putting in wood, and proceed 
to make ready for burning; which is performed by put¬ 
ting in brufh, furze, fpray, heath, brake, or fern, faggots ; 
but, before they put in any faggots, they (top up the mouth 
or mouths of the kiln with pieces of bricks (which they 
call Jhinlog) piled up one upon another, and clofc.it up 
with wet brick-earth inftead of mortar. The fbiniog they 
make fo high, that there is but juft room above it to thruft 
in a faggot; 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 flacken the fire for 
an hour, and let all cool by degrees. This they continue 
to do, alternately heating and flacking, till the ware be 
thoroughly burnt, which is ufually effected in about for¬ 
ty-eight hours. In the vicinity of London they chiefly 
burn in clamps, built of the bricks thetnfclves, after 
the manner of arches in kilns, with a vacancy between 
each brick for the fire to pals through ; but with this dif¬ 
ference, that, inftead of arching, they fpan it over by ma¬ 
king the bricks project one over another on both (ides of 
the place, for the wood and coals to lie in till they meet, 
and are bounded by the bricks at the top, which clofe all 
up. The place for the fuel is carried up ftraigjtt on both 
tides, till about three feet high ; then they almoft fill it 
with wood, and over that lay a covering of fea-coal, and 
then overfpan the arch; but they drew fea-coal alio over 
the clamp, betwixt all the rows of bricks; lafliy, they 
kindle the wood, which gives fire to the coal ; and, when 
all is confumed, they conclude the bricks are fufficiently 
burnt. Bricks burnt in fuch an heat as is juft fufficient to 
vitrify or glaze their outer furface, would be infinitely 
more durable than the common brick. In many country 
towns we fee glazed bricks chequered with the common 
fort, fo that it is to be prefumed there is no difficulty in 
the procefs. 
A valuable improvement in the manufacture of bricks, 
has lately been fuggefted by the Rev. Edmund Cartwright, 
A. M. of Doncaiter in Yorkfhire; the principal advan¬ 
tage refulting from which, appears to be, that by having 
the bricks grooved, or made upon a principle fomewhat 
fimilar to the mortice and tenon, all kinds of buildings, 
walls, arches, &c. can be connected by one univerfal tie 
running completely through the whole, precluding the 
neceflity of bond-timbers, key-ftones, &c. This inven¬ 
tion is fecured to Mr. Cartwright by letters patent, dated 
April 14, 1795; and weunderftand the method has already 
been adopted by feveral builders of eminence. The prin¬ 
ciple of this invention will readily be comprehended, by 
fuppofing the two oppofite fides of a common brick to have 
a groove or rabbet down the middle, which groove muff: 
be a little more than half the width of the fide of the 
brick in which it is made; there will then be left a fhoul- 
der On each fide of the groove, each of which fhoulders 
will be nearly equal to one quarter of the width of the 
fide of the brick, or to one half of the groove or rabbet. 
A courfe of thefe bricks, being laid fltoulder to fhoulder, 
will form an Indented line, of nearly equal divifions ; the 
grooves or rabbets being fomewhat wider than the two ad¬ 
joining fhoulders, to allow for mortar, See. When the 
next courfe comes on, the fhoulders of the bricks which 
compofe it will fall into the grooves of the firfl; courfe ; 
and the fhoulders of the firfl courfe will fit into the 
grooves or rabbets of the fecond ; and fo on. This 
mqde of fhaping the bricks is to be preferred, as being 
perfectly fimple ; the principle, however, will be pre¬ 
served, in whatever manner they may be made to lock into 
each other, by whatever form of indenture, or whether 
by one .groove, or more. But it muft be obferved, in 
whatever manner the variation from the fimple form is 
made, except by a ftraight line, the two fides of the brick, 
&c. muff: proportionally vary, fo that, when they come 
together in work, they may correfpond and fit each other. 
5 G It 
