Bridgewater, Francis

EGERTON, second DUKE OF, the "Father of Inland Navigation in Great Britain," was B. 1736. Early inheriting great wealth, and actuated by scientific tastes, he devoted himself to the development of the resources of his large estates, and the prosperity of his tenantry and neighbors. For the purpose of connecting the two rising cities of Liverpool and Manchester, he conceived the idea of cutting a navigable canal, which would commercially unite their interests; and, accordingly, in spite of the scepticism of the men of science of his day, he succeeded with difficulty in getting an Act of Parliament pa ed in 1758-9, to enable him to enter upon the project. With the a istance of his celebrated engineer, Brindley (q. v.), and after enormous expense, and years of difficulty, this great undertaking was succe fully accomplished in 1761. He afterwards promoted the Grand Trunk Canal Navigation, and by the two schemes, for a while, so impoverished himself that he was frequently at a lo for $50, lived in a style of the closest frugality, and denied himself almost the commonest comforts of life. He became ultimately the po e or of immense wealth, realized from the results of his life's labors, and D. in 1803. The annual value of -Short of duration; lasting but a little time; as, a brief the "Bridge water Canal Estate" is estimated at about $1.250,000. Brid'port, in Vermont , a post-township of Add is on co., 45 m. S.W. of Montpelier, on the E. shore of Lake Cham plain, and opposite Crown Point, in the State of New York. Brief, ( bref ,) a. [Fr. bref , from Lat. brevis , short.] Short; concise; expre ed in but few words; as a brief answer. "The brief style is that which expre eth much in little." Ben Jonson. engagement. "But man, proud man, Drest in a little brief authority."-Shaks. Bridge'water, a seaport of England. co. Somerset, on the Parret, 28 m. S.S.W. of Bristol, and 152 W. of Lon--Common; customary: rife. (Used in some parts of Eng don. B. is a place doing an extensive shipping-trade both coastwise and foreign. Pop. 12,462. Bridge water, in Connecticut, a post-twp. of Litchfield co., 30 m. N.W. of New Haven. Manf. Hats. Bridge water, in Maine, a post-township of A roos took co., 130 m. N.N.E. of Bangor. Bridge water, in Ma achusetts, a post-township of Plymouth co., 27 m. S. by E. of Boston. Manf. Machinery. land and the U. States.) -n. [Ger. brief , a letter.] A short or concise writing; a short extract or epitome rendered in a few words. "There is a brief , how many sports are ripe: Make choice of which your highne will see first."- Shaks. (Law.) An abridged statement of the facts in a cause before a court, and of the evidence in support thereof, with observations of the attorney or solicitor engaged for the party on whose behalf it is prepared, and refer ences to decided cases affecting any legal points in dispute. The object of the B. is to inform the person who tries the case, of the facts important for him to know, to present his case properly; when it has been prepared by another person, as is the general practice in England, and to some extent in this country, or as an aid to the memory of the person trying a case, when he has prepared it himself. In some of the State courts, and in the Supreme Court of the United States, it is customary or requisite to prepare briefs of the case for the perusal of the court. These are written or printed. În the English Prayer-Book, the name B. denotes the sovereign Letters-Patent authorizing a collection for a charitable purpose. ( Papal Brief .) A pontifical letter dispatched from the court of Rome to princes or other high personages. A papal brief is i ued to decide affairs of inferior importance to those adjudicated upon by a papal bull, and differs from it by being le ample, and in being always written upon paper sealed with red wax, with the pope's private seal, "the fisherman's ring;" hence it concludes with Datum Romæ, sub annulo piscator is (given at Rome, under the ring of the fisherman). - A papal bull , on the other hand, is always written upon the rough side of a sheet of parchment, and in ancient Gothic characters. Brief, v . a. To make an abridgment of; as, to brifa cause.