B R I 
BRIEF, f. [ brief, Dutch, ajetter.] A writing of any 
kind. A lliort extract, or epitome.—The apoftolical let¬ 
ters are of a twofold kind and difference, viz. fome are 
called briefs, becaufe they are comprifed in a fhort and 
compendious way.of writing. Ayliffe. —In mulic, a mea- 
fure of quantity, which contains two ftrokes down in beat¬ 
ing time, and as many up. Harris. 
BRIEF, f. in law, an abridgment of the client’s cafe, 
made out for the inftrudtion of counfel, wherein the cafe 
of the party is to be briefly but fully ftated ; the proofs 
muff be placed in due order, and proper anfwers made to 
whatever may be objected againft the client’s caufe, by 
the oppolite lide ; and herein great care is requilite, that 
nothing be omitted to endanger the caufe. An attach¬ 
ment has been granted againft a party and his attorney, 
for furreptitioufly getting poffeffion of the brief of a 
counfel on the other (ide, and applying the fame to an 
improper purpofe in his defence. Bateman v. Conway, 
i Bro. P. C. 519. Though a brief is not of itfelf evidence 
againft the party for whom it is prepared, yet, as a difeo- 
very of the fecrets and merits of his cafe may be produc¬ 
tive of perjury or fubornation of perjury, and thereby ob- 
liriftt the ju'ftice of the court in which the fuit is depend¬ 
ing; the obtaining of it in a furreptitious manner is an 
offence highly deferving cepfure and puniihment. 
BRIEF AL ’EVESQUE, J'. A writ to the biftiop, 
which in Quare Impedit, fhall go to remove an incumbent, 
unlefs he recover, or be prefented pendente Lite. 1 Keb. 386. 
BRIEFS, or Licences, J'. Are a kind of flatements, 
or petition, carried about to make collection for repairing 
churches, reftoring lofs by fire, &c. 
BRIEF'LY, adv. Concifely ; in few words : 
The modeft queen awhile, with downcaft eyes, 
Ponder’d the fpeech; then briefy thus replies. Dryden. 
BRIEF J NESS, f. Concifenefs; fhortnefs.—They excel 
in grandity and gravity, in fmoothnefs and propriety, in 
quicknefs and briefnef. Camden. 
BRIEG, a principality of Silefia, bounded on the north 
.by the principality of Oels, on the north-eaft by the prin¬ 
cipality of Ratibor, on the eaft by the principality of Op- 
peln, on the fouth by the principality of Nielfe and Mun- 
fterburg, on the welt by the principality of Schweidnitz, 
and on the north-weft by the principality of Breflau ; its 
form is irregular, about fbirty-iix miles in length, and from 
eight to twenty-one in breadth. The country is fertile in 
corn, madder, and tobacco. The firft prince was Bole- 
flaus III. One of his fucceffors embraced the Lutheran 
religion in 1523, and in 1537 concluded a treaty of frater¬ 
nity and fucceffion with Joachim II. elefilor of Branden¬ 
burg ; and on this was founded the claims of Frederic II. 
king of Pruffia. The principal towns are Brieg, Ohlau, 
Lowen, Michelau, Strehlen, Nimtfch, and Warfen ; the 
principal rivers are the Oder and Ohlah. 
BRIEiG, a city of Silefia, capital of the principality to 
which it gives name. It is well fortified, and contains 
four fuburbs, with feveral churches for Roman catholics 
and proteftants. Here is a manufacture of cloth. In ijie 
year 1643, it held out a liege againft the Swedes ; but, in 
1741, the Prullians made themfelves mailers of it in four 
days: the caftle, which was once the refidence of the duke 
of Brieg, was burnt down during the fiege of the city in 
1741. It is ten miles Ibuth of Grottgau, and twenty-two 
fouth-eaft of Breflau. Lat. 50. 51. N. Ion. 3 5. 23. E. Ferro. 
BRIEG, or Bricg, a town of Swifferland, in the Va¬ 
lais. The country atfords excellent paftures; and about 
a fhort league from the town there are fome warm medi¬ 
cinal baths, laid to be ferviceable in rheumatifm and erup¬ 
tions of the fkin, but are not much frequented. It is 
twenty-eight miles eaft of Sion. 
BRIEL, or Brill, a fea-port town of Holland, fitua- 
ted at the mouth of the Meule, on the north lide of the 
Ille of Voorn, with a good harbour ; it formerly was con- 
(idered as part of the province of Zealand, but is now 
reckoned one of the cities of Holland, among which it 
Vol. III. No. 138. 
B R I 405 
holds a fifth rank. Its magiftracy is compofed of two bur. 
gomafters, (even echevins, and a large council of twenty. 
In 1372, the confederates of the United Provinces laid 
here the foundation of their republic, rather by accident 
than defign ; for, being cliaced from the Low Countries 
by the duke of Alva, they retlredlo England, and having 
haftily equipped a final 1 fleet of forty fail, under the con- 
dud of William Marck, comte de Lumay, and William 
de Trelong, they failed towards this coaft, being called 
in derilion the beggars of the fa, and geefe of the fa. The 
duke complaining to queen Elizabeth that they were pi¬ 
rates, ffie obliged them to depart from England, and they 
let fail for Enckhuyfen, in which voyage they took three 
rich (hips belonging tp Antwerp, and another from Bif- 
cay. As the w'ind~ was unfavourable, they accidentally 
(leered to the Ifle of Voorn, attacked the town of Brie), 
and, the inhabitants not being in a (late capable of refin¬ 
ance, made themfelves mailers of the place on the firft of 
April, which they afterwards fortified, and made the firft 
afylum of their liberty. In this town was born the cele¬ 
brated Martin Harpertz Tromp, admiral of Holland. It 
is eight leagues welt from Dort. Lat. 51. 51. N. Ion. zz. 
36. E. Ferro. 
BRIEN'NE, a town of France, in the department of 
the Aude, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrict of 
Bar-fur-Aube : four leagues north-weft of Bar-fur-Aube, 
and fix eaft-north-eaft of Troyes. 
BRIENNOIS', before the revolution, a fmall country 
of France, in Burgundy, near the Loire, of which Semur 
en Briennois was the capital. 
BR 1 ENON', or Briesnon, a town of France, in the de¬ 
partment of the Yonne : two leagues weft of St-. Florentin. 
BRIPIN'TZ, a lake of Swifferland, in the canton of 
Bern, about feven miles long, and one and a half wide. 
BRIEN'TZ, a town of Swifferland,- in the canton of 
Bern, famous for the cheefe made in its neighbourhood : 
twenty-two miles fouth-eaff of Bern. 
BRIEN'ZA, a town of Italy,. in the Principato Citra; 
twenty >miles north of Policaftro. 
BRI'ER,/! [ bmr, Sax.] A plant. The fweet and the 
wild forts are both fpecies of the role, See’ Rosa. 
BRl'ERY, adj. Rough; thorny; full of briers. 
BRIK'TIUS (Philip), a learned Frenchman, born at 
Abbeville in 1601; became a Jefuit in 1619; and died li¬ 
brarian of their college at Paris in 1668. His Parallela 
Geographise Veteris et Novce, publiffied in three volumes 
4to, 1648 and 1649, is a very exadt and methodical work, 
and ornamented with plates well defigned, Thefe volumes, 
however, contain only Europe; and it can never be enough 
regretted, fays Niceron, that lie did not publifh the Pa¬ 
rallels of Alia and Africa, which were affuredly finilhed 
and ready, but unfortunately loft. He publifhed alfo, 
Annales Mundi, in 7 vols. 121110, from the beginning of 
the world to the year of Chrift 1663 ; and Theatrum Geo- 
graphicum Europse Veteris, 1653, in folio. 
BRIET'ZEN, or Wrietzen, a town of Germany, in 
the circle of-Upper Saxony, and Middle Mark of Bran¬ 
denburg, near the Oder, with two churches: thirty-two 
miles eaft of Berlin, and eighteen fouth of Cuftrin. 
BRIEUL'-SU'R- BAR, a town of France, in the de¬ 
partment of the Ardennes, and chief place of a canton, in 
the diftriift of Grandpre: three leagues north of Grandprd, 
BR 1 EY', a town of t prance, and principal place of a 
diftrift, in the department of the Mofelle, formerly a lord- 
ftiip of the bilhops of Metz : four leagues north-weft of 
Metz, and three and a half fouth-weft of ThiOijville. 
BRIG, f. and poffibly alfo Brix, is derived from the 
Saxon brieg, a bridge ; which, to this day, in the northern' 
counties, is call a brigg, and not Abridge. Gibfori’s Camden .. 
BRIG, or Brigantine, f. a (hip with two maffs. This 
term is not univerfally confined to vellels of a particular 
conffruftion, or which are malted and rigged in a manner 
different from all others. It is varioufly applied, by the 
mariners of different European nations, to a peculiar fort 
of veffel of their own marine. Amongft BritUh feamen, 
5 K tht* 
