Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/539

* BRIANCON. 475 BBICE. Brian<;oii has manufactures of silk, cotton, ho- siery, and cutlery. Population, in 1896, 7177. In Roman times the town was called Brigantium, and lay on the direct route from Italy to Em- brun and Gap. It was not fortilied by the French until 1722, and the building of its ten forts has ■joue on from that date until to-day. BRIANSK, bryiinsk, or BRYANSK (Russ., earlier Ihlirt/ansk, Slav. Dibryansk, from dcbri, thicket, forest, for which the neighborhood was quite famous). A district town in the Russian Government of Orel, situated on the right bank of the navigable Desna, about SO miles northwest of Orel (Map: Russia, D 4). It is divided into several parts by a number of short streams, and contains a large number of churches, among ■which the Pokrov Cathedral is the most promi- nent. In the vicinity of the town is situated the monastery of Svensk-Uspensk, dating from the Thirteenth Century and containing a theological seminary. The settlement around the monastery is the place of an important annual fair. Owing to its advantageous position on the Desna, Briansk has a considerable trade in hemp, tim- ber, ropes, grain, and salt. The chief manufac- turing establishments are iron-foundries and glass-works. There is also an important arsenal. Population, in 1888, 20,200: in 1897, 23.520. BBIABETTS, bri-a're-us (Gk. Bpidpews, Bri- areOs i, or .F.c.EOX. One of the three sons of Uranus and G*a. The others were Cottus ajid Gyes, and each of the three had a hundred arms and fifty heads. They assisted Zeus when the Titans made war against Olympus. In Homer Briareus appears alone as a friend of Thetis, and ally of Zeus during a revolt of the gods. In this account he is represented as dwelling in the (Icptlu of the sea. BRIBERY (OF. briberie, from OF. bribe, bit of bread given to a beggar, from Breton breva, to break). The offering, promising, giving, or receiving of money, goods, employment, or per- sonal advantage of any kind with a view to un- lawfully influence the receiver in the exercise of a public duty. Such public duties are those of judges, legislators, executive officers of govern- ment or state, voters in the exercise of suffrage, customs officers, and others. A contract founded on such a consideration is totally void, as being immoral and contrary to public policy. The per- son giving, as well as the one receiving, the bribe is guilty of the crime of bribery. The United States and the several States in their statutes define the offense as applied to courts, officers, and voters within their jurisdiction, and they impose severe penalties of fine or imprisonment, or both, for conviction of bribery. Judicial bribery is defined by Greenleaf as the "receiving or offering any undue reward by or to any person whose ordinary profession or busi- ness relates to the administration of public jus- tice, in order to influence his behavior in office and incline him to act contrary to the rules of honesty and integrity." It is a matter of congrat- ulation that the higher courts of the United States have been almost uniformly free from the taint of suspicion of bribery. The United States Su- preme Court has a spotless record in this respect, as have most of the higher courts of the several States. The offense has been rare, also, in the history of the administration of justice in Eng- land. It was punishable at common law. Per- Voi.. III.— 31. haps the earliest reported case of judicial brib- ery is that of Sir William Thorpe, in 1351. This was followed by the impeachment of Chancellor Michael de la Pole in 1384. Hut the most cele- brated case of judicial bril>cry in England is that of Lord Bacon, who pleaded guilty to corruption in office, and who was sentenced to pay a fine of £40,000, and to imprisonment during the King's pleasure, incapacity for ollice, and ex- clusion from Parliament. The corruption of oilier public officials was also a common-law offense, whether the bribery was employed to induce the officer to act or to refrain from acting in his official capacity. The mere offer of a bribe, though it was refused, con- stituted a common-law misdemeanor. The bribery of jurors is considered under Embbacebt (q.v.). The form of bribery which is most dangerous at present, as well as the one which has called forth the greatest amount of legislation, is that which aims at the corruption of voters at public elections. Modem statutes upon this subject are dealt with under Elector.^l Reform and CoR- BUPT Practic'E.s. An announcement by a can- didate for office that, if elected, he will serve at a less salary than that provided by law has been held to be an offer of a bribe to the voters. Consult the authorities referred to under Elec- tion : Electoral Reform; Corrupt Practices; and Criminal Law. BRIC-A-BRAC (Fr., possibly from OF. de brie et de broc, by hook or by crook, or it may be a reduplication with change of vowel, like rick- rack, riff-raff, etc.). A word of uncertain origin denoting objects of many kinds used for decora- tive purposes, such as old furniture, objets de vertu, or ornaments interesting because of rarity, or merely because they are quaint or obsolete. The term usually designates small objects, and differs from curio in that its connotation extends only to articles that have some claim to aesthetic merit. Indiscriminate collections of such objects were formerly very popular, but have largely gone out of fashion except in a small way. Bric- a-brac is often of archa-ological, and even of ethnological, interest, but the taste sometimes degenerates into a 'fad.' and often results in over- loading spaces in dwellings. When systematic or historic collections are made on a large scale, as of musical instruments, snuff-boxes, fans, etc., they may be extremely useful as preserving for future generations the minor notes of many of the fast vanishing modes of life, manners, and practices of the past which can be traced and revived through their study. BRICE, Calvin Stewart (1845-98). An American lawyer and politician. He was bom in Ohio and served in the Union Army from 1862 to 18G5. He graduated at Miami University in 1803, practiced law for a short time, but soon turned his attention to railroad affairs, and was identified with the East Tennessee, the Richmond Terminal, the Duluth, South Shore and Atlan- tic, and .several other roads. At the time' of his death he was interested in the American China Development Company, the purpose of which was to build a road from Hankow to Canton, and thence to Hong Kong. In politics a Democrat, he was an elector on the Tilden (1876) and Cleve- land ( 1884) tickets; was chairman of the Demo- cratic National Campaign Committee in 1889.