Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 / "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"

Bright had much literary and social recognition in his later years. In 1882 he was elected lord rector of the university of Glasgow, and Dr Dale wrote of his rectorial address: "It was not the old Bright." "I am weary of public speaking," he had told Dr Dale; "my mind is almost a blank." He was given an honorary degree of the university of Oxford in 1886, and in 1888 a statue of him was erected at Birmingham. The 3rd marquess of Salisbury said of him, and it sums up his character as a public man: "He was the greatest master of English oratory that this generation?I may say several generations?has seen.... At a time when much speaking has depressed, has almost exterminated eloquence, he maintained that robust, powerful and vigorous style in which he gave fitting expression to the burning and noble thoughts he desired to utter."

See The Life and Speeches of the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P., by George Barnett Smith, 2 vols. 8vo (1881); The Life of John Bright, M.P., by John M^cGilchrist, in Cassell's Representative Biographies (1868); John Bright, by C.A. Vince (1898); Speeches on Parliamentary Reform by John Bright, M.P., revised by Himself (1866); Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, by John Bright, M.P., edited by J.E. Thorold Rogers, 2 vols. 8vo (1868); Public Addresses, edited by J.E. Thorold Rogers, 8vo (1879); Public Letters of the Right Hon. John Bright, M.P., collected by H.J. Leech (1885).

(P. W. C.)

BRIGHTLINGSEA (pronounced Brittlesea), a port and fishing station in the Harwich parliamentary division of Essex, England, on a creek opening from the east shore of the Colne estuary, the terminus of a branch from Colchester of the Great Eastern railway, 62½ m. E.N.E. of London. Pop. of urban district (1901) 4501. The Colchester oyster beds are mainly in this part of the Colne, and the oyster fishery is the chief industry. Boat-building is carried on. This is also a favourite yachting centre. The church of All Saints, principally Perpendicular, has interesting monuments and brasses, and a fine lofty tower and west front. Brightlingsea, which appears in Domesday, is a member of the Cinque Port of Sandwich in Kent. Near the opposite shore of the creek is St Osyth's priory, which originated as a nunnery founded by Osyth, a grand-daughter of Penda, king of Mercia, martyred (c. 653) by Norse invaders. A foundation for Augustinian canons followed on the site early in the 12th century. The remains, incorporated with a modern residence, include a late Perpendicular gateway, abbots' tower, clock tower and crypt. The gateway, an embattled structure with flanking turrets, is particularly fine, the entire front being panelled and ornamented with canopied niches. The church of St Osyth, also Perpendicular in the main, is of interest.

BRIGHTON, a watering-place of Bourke county, Victoria, Australia, 7½ m. by rail S.E. of Melbourne, of which it is practically a suburb. It stands on the east shore of Port Phillip, and has two piers, a great extent of sandy beach and numerous beautiful villas. Pop. (1901) 10,029.

BRIGHTON, a municipal, county and parliamentary borough of Sussex, England, one of the best-known seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, 51 m. S. from London by the London, Brighton & South Coast railway. Pop. (1901) 123,478. Its ready accessibility from the metropolis is the chief factor in its popularity. It is situated on the seaward slope of the South Downs; the position is sheltered from inclement winds, and the climate is generally mild. The sea-front, overlooking the English Channel, stretches nearly 4 m. from Kemp Town on the east to Hove (a separate municipal borough) on the west. Inland, including the suburb of Preston, the town extends some 2 m. The tendency of the currents in the Channel opposite Brighton is to drive the shingle eastward, and encroachments of the sea were frequent and serious until the erection of a massive sea-wall, begun about 1830, 60 ft. high, 23 ft. thick at the base, and 3 ft. at the summit. There are numerous modern churches and chapels, many of them very handsome; and the former parish church of St Nicholas remains, a Decorated structure containing a Norman font and a memorial to the great duke of Wellington. The incumbency of Trinity Chapel was held by the famous