BRIEF, commonly called CHURCH BRIEF, or KING'S LETTER. This instrument consisted of a kind of open letter issued out of Chancery in the king's name, and sealed with the privy seal, directed to the archbishops, bishops, clergymen, magistrates, church-wardens, and overseers of the poor throughout England. It recited that the crown thereby licensed the petitioners for the brief to collect money for the chari table purpose therein specified, and re quired the several persons to whom it was directed to assist in such collection. The origin of this custom is not alto gether free from doubt ; but as such documents do not appear to have been issued by the crown previously to the Reformation, they may possibly be de rived from the papal briefs which, froth very early periods of the history of the church, were given as credentials to men dicant friars, who collected money from country to counvy, and from town to town, for the building of churches and other pious uses. It is probable that, as soon as the authority of the pope ceased in England, these briefs began to be issued m the king's name. They appear to have been always subject to great abuse ; and the 4 Anne, c. 14, after reci ting that " many inconveniences arose and frauds were committed in the com mon method of collecting charity money upon briefs," enacted a variety of pro visions for their future regulation, and, among others, prohibited, by heavy pe nalties, the practice which had previously prevailed, of farming briefs, or selling, upon a kind of speculation, the amount of charity-money to be collected. Still these provisions were evaded, and heavy abuses arose ; and the collection by briefs in modern times was found to be a most inconvenient and expensive mode of raising money for charitable purposes. According to the instance given in Burn's' Ecclesiastical Law,' tit. "Brief;"
the charges of collecting 6141. 12s. 9d., for repairing a church in Westmoreland, amounted to 3301. 16s. 6d., leaving there fore only a clear collection of 2831. 16s. 3d. The patent charges amounted to 76L 3s. 6d., and the " salary" for 9986 briefs at 6d. each, to 2491. 13,., and an additional "salary" for London 5/. This expensive and objectionable machi nery (in the exercise of which the in terests of the charity to be promoted were almost overwhelmed in the payment of fees to patent officers, undertakers of briefs and clerks of the briefs, charges of the king's printers, and other contingent expenses) was abolished by the 9 Geo. IV. c. 42, which wholly repealed the statute of Anne, except as to briefs then in course of collection. B' the 10th section of 9 Geo IV. c. 42, it is enacted, " that as often as his Majesty shall be pleased to issue his royal letters to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York respectively, au thorizing collection within their provinces for the purpose of aiding the enlarging, building, rebuilding, or repairing of churches and chapels in England and Wales, all contributions so collected shall be paid over to the treasurer of the • Incorporated Society for promoting the enlargement, building, and repairing of churches and chapels,' and be employed in carrying the designs of the society into effect." This statute does not interfere with the authority of the crown as to granting briefs ; its only effect is to abo lish the machinery introduced by the statute of Anne. Briefs may be issued under the common law authority of the crown. The latest brief, or king's letter, was issued for the purpose of collecting subscriptions to relieve the distress of the manufacturing districts in 1842.