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BRISSON mechanics' institute, school of arts, general hos- pital, and botanical gardens which are laid out with great taste and excellently kept. There were published in 1871 one daily newspaper, two tri-weeklies, one weekly, and one monthly. Steamers run to Sydney, and to the northern ports; there is also regular communication with London by sailing vessels. Owing to the bar at the mouth of the river, only vessels of a limited size can come up to the city. IJKISSOY. Matlmrin Jacques, a French savant, born at Fontenay-le-Cornte, April 30, 1723, died at Boissy, near Versailles, June 23, 1806. He was instructor to the children of the royal family of France in physics and natural history. He was also royal censor, member of the acad- emy of sciences and of the institute, and suc- ceeded Nollet in the chair of natural philos- ophy at the college of Navarre. He translated Priestley's work on electricity, although he opposed his theories, and still more those of Franklin. The best of his writings are on specific gravity and on ornithology. Buffon quotes frequently from the latter work. BRISSOT, Jean Pierre, a Girondist leader, sur- named De Warville after the village of Ouar- ville, near Chartres, where he was born, Jan. 14, 1754, died by the guillotine, Oct. 81, 1793. He had abandoned the law for literature, when a seditious publication, wrongly imputed to him, caused him to be imprisoned. Afterward he repaired to London, where he conducted a French journal ; he then went to the United States, where he wrote against slavery, having previously been one of the original founders qf la societe des amis des noirs. Returning to France off the outbreak of the revolution of 1789, he became the editor of Le Patriote Franfaig, and a member of the commune of Paris; and having labored assiduously, and with uncommon ability, in the interest of the revo- lution, he was chosen member of the legislative assembly, where he soon took a conspicuous position as a leader of the Girondists, who from him were frequently called Brissotins. After the king's flight, he put himself at the head of those who demanded his deposition, and event- ually taking his seat in the convention as a representative of the department of Eure-et- Loire, he was instrumental in bringing about the declaration of war against Austria, England, and Holland. He made himself obnoxious to Robespierre and his party by opposing the im- mediate execution of the king, though he voted for his death, and was finally doomed to die on the same day with 20 of his political associ- ates. (See GIRONDISTS.) He was the author of a great number of works and memoirs, chiefly on law, politics, and metaphysics. His work on the United States (1791) was translated into English, German, and Dutch. His biography was published in 4 vols. (Paris, 1829-'32). Itlils l i:i. I. John, an Episcopal clergyman and author, born in Dorsetshire, England, in 1778, died at Bristol, R. I., Feb. 23, 1855. He was educated at Winchester, studied law, came BRISTOL 291 to America in 1806, and practised in New York. In 1820 he married a daughter of John Jacob Astor. Having studied divinity under Bishop Griswold, he succeeded him in 1829 as rector of the church of St. Michael at Bristol, which office he discharged till 1843. Among his works are : " A Pedestrian Tour through part of the Highlands of Scotland" (2 vols. 8vo, London, 1804); "Critical and Philosophical Essays " (1804) ; " Edward and Anna," a novel (1805); "The Resources of the United States" (New York, 1818); and "Thoughts on the Anglican and Anglo-American Churches" (1822). II. Charles Astor, an American author, son of the preceding, born in New York in 1820. Having completed the course at Yale college, he entered in 1840 the university of Cambridge, England, and graduated at Trinity college in 1845, with high honor as a classical scholar. He has since passed many years in Europe, has written much for newspapers and magazines, usually under the signature of Carl Benson, and has published several books, among which are : "Selections from Catullus," with notes (1849); "Letter to Hon. Horace Mann," being a reply to attacks made upon Stephen Girard and John Jacob Astor; "The Upper Ten Thousand of New York " (1852) ; " Five Years in an English University " (1852 ; new ed., 1872) ; and " The Interference Theory of Government " (1867). He was one of the original trustees of the Astor library. BRISTOL. I. A 8. E. county of Massachu- setts, bounded S. E. by Buzzard's bay, and W. by Rhode Island, and drained by Taunton and Pawtucket rivers; area, 517 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 102,886. It is diversified by many irreg- ularities of surface. Its seacoast, about 18 m. in extent, is indented by numerous bays and good harbors. Iron ore is found in large quantities. Manufacturing is extensively car- ried on, particularly at Fall River. New Bed- ford is the chief whaling port of the country. The Boston and Providence, New Bedford and Taunton, Taunton branch, and Fall River rail- roads pass through the county. There are 27 cotton mills, 2 calico print works, 2 woollen mills, 4 shoddy mills, 6 brass founderies, 13 flour mills, 6 tanneries, 54 saw mills, 3 manufactories of spool cotton, 10 rolling and splitting mills, and numerous other manufactories. The chief productions in 1870 were 7,928 bushels of rye, 82,256 of Indian corn, 40,003 of oats, 237,675 of potatoes, 27,091 tons of hay, and 223,986 Ibs. of butter. There were 2,668 horses, 5,671 milch cows, 3,908 other cattle, 2,281 sheep, and 3,773 swine. Capitals, New Bedford and Taunton. II. An E. county of Rhode Island ; area, 25 sq. in. ; pop. in 1870, 9,421. Mount Hope and Narragansett bays bound it E., S., and W. The surface is uneven, and presents a variety of beautiful scenery. The soil is very fertile. A railroad from Bristol to Providence passes through the county, and another extends from Fall River to Warren. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 13,521 bushels of Indian