sses freedom from toll. Bridport was incorporated by James
I. in 1619, but Charles II. granted a new charter in 1667, and by this the
town was governed until 1835. The first existing grant of a market and
fairs to Bridport is dated 1593, but it appears from the _Quo Warranto_
Rolls that Edward I. possessed a market there. The town was noted for the
manufacture of ropes and cables as early as 1213, and an act of parliament
(21 Henry VIII.) shows that the inhabitants had "from time out of mind"
made the cables, ropes and hawsers for the royal navy and for most of the
other ships. Bridport was represented in parliament by two members from
1395 to 1867. In the latter year the number was reduced to one, and in 1885
the town was disfranchised.

BRIE (_Briegus saltus_, from Celtic _briek_, clay), an agricultural
district of northern France, to the E. of Paris, bounded W. and S. by the
Seine, N. by the Marne. It has an area of 2400 sq. m., comprising the
greater part of the department of Seine-et-Marne, together with portions of
the departments of Seine, Seine-et-Oise, Aisne, Marne and Aube. The western
portion was known as the _Brie francaise_, the eastern portion as the _Brie
champenoise_. The Brie forms a plateau with few eminences, varying in
altitude between 300 and 500 ft. in the west, and between 500 and 650 ft.
in the east. Its scenery is varied by forests of some size--the [v.04
p.0561] chief being the Foret de Senart, the Foret de Crecy and the Foret
d'Armainvilliers. The surface soil is clay in which are embedded fragments
of siliceous sandstone, used for millstones and constructional purposes;
the subsoil is limestone. The Yeres, a tributary of the Seine, and the
Grand Morin and Petit Morin, tributaries of the Marne, are the chief
rivers, but the region is not abundantly watered and the rainfall is only
between 20 and 24 in. The Brie is famous for its grain and its dairy
products, especially cheeses.

BRIEF (Lat. _brevis_, short), in English legal practice, the written
statement given to a barrister to form the basis of his case. It was
probably so called from its at first being only a copy of the original
writ. Upon a barrister devolves the duty of taking charge of a case when it
comes into court, but all the preliminary work, such as the drawing up of
the case, serving papers, marshalling evidence, &c., is performed by a
solicitor, so that a brief contains a concise summary for the information
of counsel of the ca