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290 BRINVILLIERS BRISBANE many, and was in the diplomatic service from 1792 to 1810. The university of Upsal, to which he presented his library, made him doc- tor, and he was also made a baron and a mem- ber of the academy. His first poems were pub- lished in Leipsic (2 vols., 1789), under the name of Selmar; his PhilosophiacJie Ansiehten und Oedichte appeared anonymously in Berlin (1801); and his poem Die Welt des Genius (1821) received the first prize of the acade- my. He was erroneously regarded as the author of K. L. von Woltmann's anonymous Memoiren des freiherrn von & a (3 vols., Prague, 1815). BKINVILLIERS, Marie Marguerite d'Anbray, mar- chioness de, a French woman, convicted of poisoning her father, her brothers, and many others, executed at Paris, July 16, 1676. She was highly educated, and moved in the best French society. Her father was Dreux d'Au- bray, a prominent public officer of Paris. In 1651 she married the marquis de Brinvilliers. Shortly after the marriage she fell in love with one of his friends, an adventurer named Gaudin de Sainte-Oroix. Her husband did not inter- fere, but her father caused the arrest of Gau- din, who was incarcerated in the Bastile. Hav- ing there been taught by an Italian named Exili the preparation and application of a pecu- liar kind of poison, he became the instructor of the marchioness, who initiated her husband into the secret. The marquis having ruined himself by extravagance, the death of his wife's family was resolved upon, that they might ob- tain the property. He prepared the poison, and she experimented with it upon the sick in the Paris hospital, upon her guests, and upon her chamber maid. She made eight unsuccessful attempts upon her father before causing his death. She next poisoned her two brothers, and then attempted the death of her husband, who was saved by an antidote. Her paramour died of the effects of the poison while he was pre- paring it ; a box was found in his house con- taining the poison and her love letters and other conclusive evidences of her crime, and she left Paris. Lachauss6e, a servant who had assisted her in poisoning her brothers, put in a claim upon the effects of Sainte-Croix for wages due him. Being suspected, he was arrested and sentenced to death. Before his execution he made a full confession. Madame Brinvil- liers, who had taken refuge in a convent at Li6ge; was arrested by a policeman, who gained access to her cell under the garb of a priest, and to her confidence under the character of a lover. He also secured her papers, among which one was found intended to be read after her death, in which she confessed that she had set fire to a house and poisoned her father, her brothers, one of her children, and herself. This paper was put in as evidence at the trial. On her refusing to admit its truth, she was taken to the torture room, when she confessed not only the crimes enumerated in the paper, but others which the government withheld from public knowledge. Madame de Sevign6 in her letters gives a graphic account of her execu- tion. The poison she used was aqua tofana. BKIOiV, Lois, admiral of Colombia, born at Cnracoa, July 6, 1782, died Sept. 20, 1821. He was sent at an early age to Holland to receive his education, his father being a native of that country ; he entered the Dutch army, and af- terward visited the United States, where he studied navigation. Upon the death of his father he bought a vessel, made several voy- ages, established a mercantile house at Cura- coa, and in 1811 was appointed captain of a frigate in the service of the republic and state of Caracas. At his own expense he fitted out a fleet of vessels, and attacked the Spanish forces at the island of Margarita, where he gained a signal victory. Brion distinguished himself at the conquest of Guiana, and also at Santa Marta and Cartagena. The latter part of his life was rendered unhappy by a misunderstanding with Bolivar, which so preyed upon his mind that he became ill, and leaving the squadron re- turned to Curacoa, and soon died in poverty. BRIOCDE, a town of Auvergne, France, in the department of Haute-Loire, near the left bank of the Allier, on the site of the ancient town of Brivas, 29 m. N. W. of Puy ; pop. in 1866, 4,932. The old bridge at La Vieille Brioude, long celebrated as being the widest in span of any known, fell down in 1822. In the 16th century many of the inhabitants of Brioude rose in favor of Protestantism, but were sub- dued by the Roman Catholic party. Lafayette was born near this place, at Chadagnac. A considerable traffic in grain, hemp,- and wine is carried on. The principal buildings are the college and the church of St. Julian. There is also a small public library. The railway from Clermont to Le Puy passes through it. BRISACH. See BBEIBACH. BRISBANE. I. A N. E. county of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, bordered on the S. by Hunter and Goulbourn rivers, and on the N. hy the Liverpool mountains ; area, 2,344 sq. m. ; pop. in 1866, about 1,400. It consists chiefly of table land, diversified by a few plains and some high peaks, one of which, called the Burning mountain, or Mount Win- gen, is in a state of combustion. The burning portion is from 1,400 to 1,500 feet above the sea. In 1866 there were 3,500 acres of land under cultivation, chiefly in wheat. There were 5,866 horses, 29,154 cattle, and 175,786 sheep. The principal towns are Murrurundi and Scone. II. A town of Australia, capital of Queensland and of Stanley county, situated on the river Brisbane, about 25 m. from its entrance into Moreton bay, and 440 m. N. N. E. of Sydney ; pop. in 1871, 19,413, of whom 15,029 belonged to the city proper and the remainder to the sub- urbs. The town is divided into four parts, North and South Brisbane, Kangaroo Point, and For- titude Valley. The two former are connected by an iron bridge. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic and an Anglican bishop, and has a