ation in 1906 of 4883 (urban population 3130),
while the permanent garrison was 2641--in all 7524 inhabitants.

Briancon was the _Brigantium_ of the Romans and formed part of the kingdom
of King Cottius. About 1040 it came into the hands of the counts of Albon
(later dauphins of the Viennois) and thenceforth shared the fate of the
Dauphine. The Brianconnais included not merely the upper valley of the
Durance (with those of its affluents, the Gyronde and the Guil), but also
the valley of the Dora Riparia (Cesanne, Oulx, Bardonneche and Exilles),
and that of the Chisone (Fenestrelles, Perouse, Pragelas)--these glens all
lying on the eastern slope of the chain of the Alps. But by the treaty of
Utrecht (1713) all these valleys were handed over to Savoy in exchange for
that of Barcelonnette, on the west slope of the Alps. In 1815 Briancon
successfully withstood a siege of three months at the hands of the Allies,
a feat which is commemorated by an inscription on one of its gates, _Le
passe repond de l'avenir_.

(W. A. B. C.)

BRIAND, ARISTIDE (1862- ), French statesman, was born at Nantes, of a
bourgeois family. He studied law, and while still young took to politics,
associating himself with the most advanced movements, writing articles for
the anarchist journal _Le Peuple_, and directing the _Lanterne_ for some
time. From this he passed to the _Petite Republique_, leaving it to found,
with Jean Jaures, _L'Humanite_. At the same time he was prominent in the
movement for the formation of labour unions, and at the congress of working
men at Nantes in 1894 he secured the adoption of the labour union idea
against the adherents of Jules Guesde. From that time, Briand became one of
the leaders of the French Socialist party. In 1902, after several
unsuccessful attempts, he was elected deputy. He declared himself a strong
partisan of the union of the Left in what is known as the _Bloc_, in order
to check the reactionary deputies of the Right. From the beginning of his
career in the chamber of deputies, Briand was occupied with the question of
the separation of church and state. He was appointed reporter of the
commission charged with the preparation of the law, and his masterly report
at once marked him out as one of the coming leaders. He succeeded in
carrying his project through with but slight modifications, and without
dividing the parties upon whose support he relied. He was the principal
author of the law of separation, but, n