Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/583

* BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. 509 BBISTOI,. carried him beyond the narrow bounds of his profession, and. in conjnnotion wilh his friends Clavi&re and Jlirabeau, he piodueed several worlcs on finance. A master of the EnsHsii lan- guage, he attempted to conduct in London a jour- nal entitled Journal des Lycces, but not being suc- cessful, returned to Paris. He was imprisoned in the Bastille for four months, on a false charge of having written a brochure against the Queen. Upon his release he again engaged in the writing of pamphlets upon politics and economics, and was compelled to take refuge in England for a time, on account of his fearless expression of opinion upon the condition of atTairs in France. In 17SS he founded the Society of tlic Friends of the Negroes (Societe des Amis des Noirs),and visited the United States to study the problems of slavery and emancipation and to promote the abolition of the slave trade. At the outbreak of the Revolution he returned to France and en- tered actively into political affairs, establishing a journal, Le Patriole Fran<^ais. which at once became the recognized organ of the Republicans. He became the leader of a strong group of young reformers, who were known as Brissotins, and who afterwards formed the Girondist Party. He was frequently consulted by the Constitu- tional Committee of the Assembly, and in 1791 was elected to that body from Paris, against the opposition of the Court party. He was also a member of the Convention, and used his influ- ence against anarchy and for moderation. He disapproved the execution of the King, and urged that the question be submitted to the people. He thus incurred the distrust and hostility of the extreme Jacobins, who came into power in 1793, and was one of the twenty-one Girondist leaders who were guillotined on October 31 of that year. Consult: Brissot, Memoires pour servir a rhistoire de la Revolution, 4 vols. (Paris, 1830; new edition by Lescure, 1877) ; Desmoulins, The History of the Brissotins, translated from the French (London, 179-t). BRISTED, Charles Astor (1820-74). An American author, the son of the Rev. John Bris- ted and grandson of .lohn Jacob Astor. He was bom in New York, and was educated at Yale and at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. For several years he was a contributor to periodical literature under the signature 'Carl Benson.' He was one of the first board of trustees of the Astor Library. Among his collected works are: The Upper Ten Thousand of -eiv York (1852) ; Five Years in an English University (18.')2); The Interference Theory of Government ( 18(57) ; and Letters to Horace Mann (1850), in which he replied to attacks upon John Jacob Astor and Stephen (iirard. BRISTLE - BIRD. An Australian wren like bird of Uie genus S])henura, having two or three pairs of strong, recurved bristles at the angles of the mouth. Three species are known in south- em and western Australia. "They mostly con- ceal themselves in thickets, especially in marshy places, flying very little, but running very quick- ly, and carrying the tail erect. The nest is built of dry grass, globular in form, and is of large size." BRISTLES (dim. of brust, a bristle; cf. Ger. Biirstc, brush). The strong hairs growing on the back, and to a less extent on the sides, of the hog, wild boar, and some other animals, and extensively used in the manufacture of brushes, and also by shoemakers and saddlers. The qual- ity of bristles depends on the length, stiffness, color, and straightness, white being the most valuable. The best bristles are produced by pigs that inhabit cold countries. The Russian hog is a long, lean animal, and the thinner the hog the longer and stiller the bristles. When the Russian hog is sent to the south and fat- tened, the bristles become soft, and of course depreciate in value. In the summer the hogs are driven in herds through the forests, to feed on soft roots, etc., when they shed their bristles by rubbing against the trees. The bristles are then collected, sewed vip in horse or ox hides, and sent to fairs, whence they find their way, through agents, to all countries. In American slaughter-houses the bristles of the slaughtered hogs constitute one of the by-products, being collected, cleaned, and sorted for the market by the pork-packing establishments of Chicago, Kansas City, and other cities in large quantities. Enormous quantities of bristles are employed in the manufacture of brushes. See Brush and Bboom. BRISTLETAIL. Any small wingless insect of the order Thysanura, regarded as the simplest and lowest of all true insects. It dwells in dark, damp places, under bark, stones, etc., and some- times infests the kitchens of untidy houses or the woodwork of bake-sliops. In the same order are the springtails and podurids. The bristle- tails, or 'silver-fish' (Lepisma), are swift, agile creatures, having flat, fish-shaped bodies, cov- ered with silvery scales, long, thread-like an- tennae, and two or more caudal filaments. They will destroy upholstery, bound books, etc., if neglected. BRIS'TOL (MR. Bristowe, AS. Brieijstoic, the place at the bridge). An important maritime city and civic county in the west of England, situated at the junction of the rivers Frome and Avon, between the counties of Gloucester and Somerset. It is eight miles from the confluence of the Avon with the Severn, which empties into Bristol Channel, and about eleven miles north- west of Bath (Map: England, D 5). The original city was composed of the territory bounded by the two rivers, but it has been ex- tended from time to time, so that it now includes Clifton, Redcliffe, Horfield, Stapleton, Saint Thomas, Saint George, etc., in all about 11,397 acres. The cathedral, formerly an Augustinian church (1148), has little to commend it but its handsome Norman chapter-house, the Early Eng- lish north aisle of the choir known as the Berkeley Chapel, and the Norman west portal. Some remains exist of the ancient castle, built probably by Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances, and improved by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, in the early part of the Twelfth Century. Saint James Church is a good specimen of Norman architecture, and other noted ch'rches are Saint Philip's, Saint Stephen's, All Saii.ts. the Mayor's Chapel, and the Temple Church, but more famous than these, perhaps, is the Church of Saint Mary Redcliffe, which is notable for its symmetrical proportions and richness of design. Its tovter, more than 200 feet high, was partly destroyed by lightning in 1445, but was rebuilt in 1872. Many interesting old houses are to be found in