B R. I 
went of logarithms (fo ufeful for fhortening arithmetical 
calculations) he had a conliderable fliare. 
BRIGGS (William), .an eminent phyfician, fon of Au- 
guftine Briggs, Efq. who was defcended of an ancient 
family in Norfolk, and had been four times member of 
parliament for the city of Norwich, where his fon was 
born. At thirteen years of age he was lent to Bennet- 
college in Cambridge, and placed under the care of Dr. 
Thomas Tenil'on, afterwards archbilhop of Canterbury. 
He took both his degrees in arts, and was cholen fellow 
of his college in November 166S. His genius leading him 
to the ftndy of ph)fic, he travelled into France, where he 
attended the leisures of the famous anatomift M. Vieuffens ■ 
at Montpelier; and, after his return, publifhed his Oph- 
thalmograpliia in 1676. The year following he was crea¬ 
ted M. D, at Cambridge, and foon after made fellow of 
the college of phyficians in London. In 1682 he quitted 
his fellowlhip to his brother; and the fame year his Theory 
ofVifion was publifhed by Hooke. In 1683 he fent to 
the Royal Society a continuation of that difcourfe, which 
was publifhed in their Tranfadtions ; and the fame year 
was by Charles 11 . appointed phyfician to St. Thomas’s 
hofpital. In 1684 he communicated to the Royal Society 
two remarkable cafes relating to vifion, which were like- 
wife printed in their Tranfadtions; and in 1685 publifhed 
a Latin verlion of his Theory of Vifion, at the defire of 
Sii‘ Ifaac Newton, with a recommendatory epiflle from him 
prefixed to it. And, for completing this curious and ufe¬ 
ful fubjedt relating to the eye, he promifed, in the pre¬ 
face, two other trearifes, one De Ufii partium Oculi; and 
the other De ejufdcm Affedtibus; neither of which, how¬ 
ever, appears to have been ever publifhed : but, in 1687, 
came out a fecond edition of his Ophthalmographia. He 
wasafterwards made phyfician inordinary to king William, 
and continued in great efteem for his (kill in his profellion 
till he died, Sept. 4. 1704. He married Hannah, foie 
daughter and heirefs of Edmund Hobart, grandfon to Sir 
Henry Hobart, lord chief juftiee of the common pleas in 
the r\eign of James 1 . by whom he left three children, 
Mary, Henry, and Hannah. 
BRTGHT, adj. [beort, Sax.] Shining; full of light: 
Then fhook the facred fhrine, and hidden light 
Sprung thro’ the roof, and made the temple bright. Dryd. 
Shining, as a body refledting light : 
Bright as the fun her eyes the gazers flrike. Pope. 
Clear; tranfpicuous ; evident.—He muff not proceed too 
fwiftly, that he may with more eafe, with brighter evi¬ 
dence, and with furer fuccefs, draw the learner on. ll r atts. 
—Refplendent with charms : 
O Liberty, thou goddefs heav’nly bright, 
Profufe of blifs, and pregnant with delight! Addifon. 
Illuminated with fcience ; fparkling with wit : 
If parts allure thee, think how Bacon fhin’d, 
The wifed, brightejl, meaneff, of mankind. Pope. 
11 lu flrious ; glorious : 
This is the word, if not the only, flain, 
I’ th’ brightejl annals of a female reign. Cotton. 
To BRIGHT'EN, v. a. To make bright; to make to 
fhine : 
The purple morning, rifing with the year, 
Salutes the fpring, as her celeflial eyes 
Adorn the world, and brighten up the fkies. Dryden. 
To make luminous by light from without: 
An eeffafy, that mothers only feel, 
Plays round my heart, and brightens all my forrow. 
Like gleams of funfhine in a louring fky. ' Philips . 
To make gay, or cheerful: 
Hope elevates, and joy 
Brightens his creft, Milton. 
B R I 403 
To make illudrious.—- The prefent queen would brighten 
her character, if (he would exert h&r authority to indil 
virtues into her people. Swift. —To make acute, or witty. 
To BRIGHT'EN, v. n. To grow bright; to clear up; 
as, The fky brightens : 
But let a lord once own the happy lines, 
How the fill t brightens, how the fenfe refines! Pope. 
BRIGHTH ELM'STONE, a well-built improving mar¬ 
ket town, of fome.antiquity, in Suffex. It (lands upon the 
fea-fliore, and is fheltered from the north by that exten- 
five range of hills, Called the South Downs, ltsdiflance 
from London is fifty-four miles; and it bears nearly louth 
from that metropolis. It is diflant from Lewes eight miles, 
from Chiehefler thirty-two, from Newhaven nine, and from 
New Shoreham fix; which two lafl places are its neared 
ports. It has no harbour, but (hips of near 200 tons bur¬ 
then fometimes lie afhore to difeharge coals, timber, Sec. 
in moderate weather, or when the wind blows from the 
land. But, as this, is feldorri certain, the fhip-maders ga¬ 
ther wifli to difeharge in one of the above ports, than wait 
for an opportunity of laying their veflels ailtore at Brigbt- 
helmdone. The fea has of late made conliderable in- 
croachments upon this town, but the inhabitants, at an 
immenfe expence, have eredted groins, or fences, of tim¬ 
ber, which have confiderably checked the ravages of that 
boillerous element. A large fort was erected here by the 
duke of Richmond, when mafter of the ordnance; but this, 
together with the mader-gunner’s houfe and magazine, was 
totally dedroyed by an high tide in November 1786. This 
town, though very confiderable in.its number of inhabi¬ 
tants, which are edimated at near 6000, can boad of no 
manufacture of any kind, unlefs making a few nets for the 
fifhery can be called fuch : for thefe the materials are pre¬ 
pared at, and brought from, Bridport. The fifhery em¬ 
ploys about a hundred veffels, carrying fome three, fome 
four, and others five, men each. The mackrel fedfon 
commences in April, the herring feafon in October; and 
are together faid to produce io,oool. per annum. 
On the fifhery, and the numerous vifitants during the 
bathing-feafon, the inhabitants depend for fupport. This 
place, from its vicinity to the metropolis, judly ranks as 
one of the fird fafhionable watering-places, in the king¬ 
dom. Befides its eafy communication with London, the 
falubrity of the air, which is never obfeured by fogs, mids, 
or vapours of any fort, the clearnefs and brightnefs of the 
water, and the convenient machines and attentive guides, 
all unite to give it a pre-eminence. Here are two aflem- 
bly-rooms, two public libraries on the Steine, and a hand- 
fome theatre. The town alfo derives additional celebrity 
from the prince of Wales’s pavilion. Thurfday is the 
principal market-day; but the market is open every day, 
except Sunday, and is well docked with the bed provi- 
fions. The mutton of this place, being modly fed on the 
South Downs, is deferVedly admired for its fine flavour- 
independent of mackrel and herrings, different forts of 
excellent fifh are taken in great quantities. The Steine, 
which is a fine lawn on the eadern part of the town, and 
the parade for autumnal vifitors, has been judly admired 
for its pkafing and delightful fituation. The promenade 
commences modly after the heat of the day, and lads till 
dark, during which time a band of muiic is continually 
playing. The South Downs afford healthful rides and 
fine land and fea profpeCts. The race-ground, which is 
fenced in, is alfo judly admired. Here are a fuite of hot, 
vapour, and cold, falt-water baths, for fuch as like not to 
plunge into the ocean, or whole medical diredtions are to 
ufe the former, in preference to cold fea-bathing. 
The tow n of Brighthejmdone has been often admired 
for the cleannefs and neatnefs of its dreets, which inter¬ 
red! each other nearly at right angles, and are made from 
chalk and fea-beach or gravel, with a fpaeious fpot-pave- 
ment of bricks on each fide; and, as mod of them have 
a gentle defeent, are entirely dry almod immediately after 
the 
