Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/582

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BRISBANE. 508 BRISSOT DE WARVILLE. family, near Largs, Ayrshire, July 23, 1773. At the age of 16 he entered the aimy as an ensign, and in the following year, when quartered in Ireland, became intimate with Artluir Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington. W'itli a company that he raised in Glasgow in 1793. Brisbane took part in all the engagements of the campaign in Flanders. Sent to the West Indies in 1796, he distinguished himself under Sir Ralph Abercrom- by, and in 1812. under the Duke of Wellington, in Spain. Appointed Governor of New South Wales, in 1821, he introduced many reform.s, especially in penal treatment, promoted horse- breeding, the cultivation of sugar-cane, wine, tobacco, and cotton, and at the close of his ad- ministration, in 1825, left 50,000 acres of cleared land where he had found only 25,000. The town of Brisbane was named after him, as also the river on which it stands, which was discovered under his auspices. High as Brisbane ranks as a soldier and administrator, as a man of science he holds a still higher place. While in Australia, he catalogued no less than 7385 stars, for which great work, known as the Brisbane Catalogue of Stars, he received the Copley Medal from the Royal Society. On his return to Scotland, he had an astronomical observatory established at his residence at ilakerstoun, and devoted him- self entirely to scientific pursuits. He entered warmly into the plans of the British Association for ascertaining the laws of the earth's magnet- ism, and in 1841 had a magnetic observatory erected at JIakerstoun, the observations made there filling three large volumes. He was made a baronet in 1830, G.C.B. the following year; received from Oxford the degree of D.C.L., and succeeded Sir Walter Scott as president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He died at Largs, January 27, "i860. BRISE'IS (Gk. Bpto/it, Briscis) . In Homer's Iliad, the daughter of Briseus and the captive of Achilles. Agamemnon abducted her, causing the quairel between the two heroes. BRISSAC, bro'silk', Charles ue Cossfi, Count OF (1505-) 503). A marshal of France. He fought against the English and the Imperial troops in 1544-46 and was made a marshal in 1550. In 1559 he became Governor of Picardy, and in 1503 of Nciiniandy. BRISSON, bre'soN', Barxab6 (Lat. Brisso- nius) (1531-91). A French jurist and diplomat, born at Fontenay-le-Comte of a distinguished family. Brisson chose the legal career, and ra])- idly advanced in his profession. In 1575 he be- came King's Advocate, later Councilor of State, and in 1583 President ft Mortier. In this year he was dispatched on a dii)lomatic mission to Eng- land to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth and the Duke of Anjou; and thereafter he was fre- quently sent as envoy to foreign countries. In 1588, when King Henry III. was obliged to flee from Paris, Brisson remained behind, apparently in the hope of reconciling the King and the people. After the King's deatli in August, 1589. Brisson resisted the intrigues of the Spanish ambassador and the claims of the Papal envoy, and had the Duke of Mayenne proclaimed lieutenant-general of the kingdom. He unfortunately fell under suspicion of favoring Henry IV., and, at the orders of the Council of Sixteen, was arrested and hanged, November 15, 1591. Brisson was a man of remarkable judgment and learning, and was held in siieh esteem bv Ilenrv HI. that that monarch declared no king had in his ser- vice so learned a man as he. His literary works were numerous; the most important are the fol- lowing: De Vcrborum Quw Ad Jus Pertinent tiignifieationc, efc. (1557); Observationuin Di- villi Et Humani Juris Liber (1564) ; De Formu- lis Et Soletnnibus I'opxiU h'omani Verbis, etc. (1583), a work of great value not yet supersed- ed, last edited by Conrad (1781); Code de Henri III. (1587); Not(F in Titum Livitim (1588); Opera Minora, chiefly on Roman law and institutions (1600), etc. Consult Le Bas, Dietionnaire eneyelopidique de la France, Vol. 111. (Paris, 1835-63). BRISSON, Eugene Henri (1835—). A French statesman. He began the practice of law in 1859, but engaged also in journalism, and in 1868, together with Challemel-Lacour and AUain- Targe, established the Revue Politique. He was elected to the National Assembly as a Republi- can in 1871, and soon submitted a proposition of amnesty for all political off'enders. He be- came president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1881, was the head of the French Cabinet in 1885 (April to December), was again chosen president of the Chamber of Deputies in 1894, and was once more head of the Ministry from June to October, 1898. In the election for Presi- dent of the Republic to succeed M, Casimir- Perier, January 17, 1895, he received 361 votes to 430 for Francois Felix Faure. As president of the commission on the Panama scandals, and as one of the cliief opponents of rabid anti-Semi- tism and militarism in the Zola and Dreyfus trials, when president of the Chamber, and Pre- mier, he rendered great services to his country. BRISSON, Matiiurin Jacques (1723-1806). A French natural philosopher, born at Fontenay- le-Comte ('endOe). He was instructed by the famous Reaumur, and was ])rofessor of physics in Paris, successively at the Coll&ge de Navarre, the Ecoles Centrales, and the Lycee Bonaparte. In his own day he was widely known as an or- nithologist, particularly through his six-volume Ornithologia (1760; with 500 plates), since (juite superseded. His further works include a DictionnXiire raisonnd de phi/siquc (6 vols., ISOO). BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, br^'s6' de var'vel', Feiix Satur.nix I1S18-92). A French animal painter. He was born at Sens, Yonne, and studied under L. Cogniet at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts (1835).. In liis representation of animal life he reveals a remarkable fidelity to nature. His scenes are laid |)rincipally in Normandy and Touraine, and in the forests of Compi5gne and Fontainebleau. The following are some of his most celebrated works: "The Thicket" (1881); "Leaving the Park" (1883); "The Return" (1884); "Sheepfold" (1885); "Return of the Flock" (1885): "A Corner of the Sheepfold" (1888). BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, Jean Pierre (1754-93). A French jurist and politician. He was born at Chartres, January 14, 1754. Though his father was a 'modest innkeeper,' Brissot received a good education, and was trained for the bar. Two scholarly works on criminal law, Thforie des lots criminelles (1780), and Bihliothdque des lois criminelles, jjublished soon after, established his reputation as a jurist. His passion for political studies